Overview:

This document serves as a guide to answer questions generated by Apple's recent major update to MacOS 11, "Big Sur", and their recent transition to a new processor architecture, "Apple Silicon." Apple Silicon offers greater performance and more efficient battery life, but currently comes with a few drawbacks. See below.

If you require any further assistance, or would like us to specifically test an application on MacOS 11 "Big Sur" or on Apple Silicon, please send an email to help@ece.cmu.edu with details. 

Apple Silicon/M1 Chip Considerations: 

Software Compatibility: See the full chart here.

• "Apple Silicon" is a new processor architecture, meaning that most software will have to be rewritten to work "natively" on the platform. Apple does have some tooling within MacOS called "Rosetta 2" that will allow applications written for Intel Macs to run on the new hardware - however certain pieces of software are currently incompatible with this architecture. If you are reliant on an older piece of software that is no longer actively developed, you may want to proceed with caution. Our chart linked above lists what software is compatible with Apple Silicon.

• While Rosetta allows Intel Mac applications to run on Apple Silicon Macs, many apps are being ported to being "Apple Silicon Native", which offers some performance boosts. When downloading software for your Mac, make sure to download the version that is labelled "Apple Silicon", if available, for the best possible performance. 

Multi-Monitor Output:

• At the time of writing, Macs with the M1 chip will only support one external monitor. There are a few DisplayLink docks on the market that claim to enable multi-monitor output, but these have not been tested by ECE ITS and are considered unsupported. If you require more than one external monitor, it may be best to purchase an Intel Mac or wait until Apple Silicon Macs can support dual displays. 

Windows Virtualization:

• At the time of writing, virtualizing Windows OS on Apple Silicon Macs is in the early stages. Parallels Desktop currently supports M1 chips in their technical preview, but not in the general release. Currently, the University offers a license for VMware Fusion through the VMware VMAP program, but VMware Fusion is not currently available for Apple Silicon Macs. If you are reliant on a Windows program that requires you to run a Windows Virtual Machine on your Mac, it may be wise to stay on an Intel Mac for now until support for Apple Silicon Macs is more widespread. 

Should I upgrade my Mac to MacOS 11?

• Computing Services has completed a compatibility audit of MacOS 11, and it is now supported. More information is available at this link.
  
  
• In ECE ITS' testing, our standard application stack works well on MacOS 11 when upgraded to the latest versions. If you run into any issues with a piece of software after upgrading to MacOS 11, please upgrade the software title first. 
  
  
• If you rely on a piece of legacy software that is not in active development, it may be worthwhile to check with the software developer to ensure compatibility before upgrading.