Urfii
Contributor
Contributor

Fusion 13 installation on M1 MacBook with existing M1 not compatible version on the machine

Hi, I am trying to install Fusion on a M1 MacBook pro. This MacBook already has older fusion installed when I was using intel based MacBook. I copied everything from my Intel to M1 MacBook including Fusion since I did not want to lose data. When I install Fusion 13.0, it invokes Fusion and I cannot continue installation since Fusion complains about not being compatible with M1. Please guide how to install Fusion 13 without losing my previous windows VM and data in it.

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Technogeezer
Immortal
Immortal

Fusion 13 is compatible with your M1 Mac. The VMs that you built on the Intel MacBook are not.

The M1 is not an Intel/AMD CPU chip - it is an ARM architecture CPU chip. VMs built on Intel Macs (or PCs) will not run on the M1 as they require Intel chips. Fusion does not emulate an Intel chip. While Rosetta bridges the gap for Intel Mac applications to run on M1 Macs, it does not provide the capability for Fusion (or any other virtualization solution) to run an Intel VM.

You will need to build a Windows 11 ARM virtual machine and migrate your data and applications to it. See The Unofficial Fusion 13 for Apple Silicon Companion document for helpful hints on how to build a Windows VM with Fusion 13 on Apple Silicon

- Paul (Technogeezer)
Editor of the Unofficial Fusion Companion Guides
ColoradoMarmot
Champion
Champion

I wish they'd build code into Fusion to detect an attempt to run an intel VM and just link to your guide :slightly_smiling_face:

Technogeezer
Immortal
Immortal

like I said, the Companion is the document that VMware should have published, but didn’t.

they could have delivered documentation or release notes that spells this out completely. Or by making this clear on their product web page.

- Paul (Technogeezer)
Editor of the Unofficial Fusion Companion Guides