Microsoft on Friday announced a change to the minimum operating requirements for Windows 11, though the slack restrictions are unlikely to affect Mac compatibility (or lack thereof).
The software giant detailed the minimum requirements of the Windows 11 system in a blog post, highlighting specifically the processors and base equipment that are compatible with the next operating system.
As previously announced, Windows 11 requires a 64-bit CPU of 1 GHz or more, 4 GB of RAM, and 64 GB of storage. Machines must also be compatible with UEFI’s secure boot, version 2.0 of the Trusted Platform Module (TPM), and include a DirectX 12-compliant graphics card.
Microsoft today added Intel Core X and Xeon W CPUs, as well as the Core i7-7820HQ from Surface Studio 2, to the list of processors compatible with Windows 11. The addition is a gesture for users who, despite owning hardware quite modern (Core X and Xeon W are 7th generation Intel designs), they were apparently out of the cold when the operating system was announced.
Microsoft clarified the situation The Verge, saying it will only apply installation restrictions when users try to switch from Windows 10 to Windows 11 using the Windows Update mechanism. Users with older computers that do not meet the company’s recommendations can download an ISO of the operating system and install it manually, according to the report.
That said, Windows 11 is unlikely to run efficiently on Intel Mac computers due to the Microsoft TPM 2.0 requirement. Although some Macs produced between 2016 and 2019 have CPUs that incorporate TPM 2.0, Apple has not implemented security protocol support.
Currently, there is a solution that involves editing the names of certain system files before installation to avoid Windows 11 checks, but the process does not guarantee success.
Another avenue is PC virtualization through software like Parallels, which in August pledged to offer full compatibility with Windows 11 for Mac when the operating system launches.