VMware Fusion adding 3D acceleration for Windows 11 on Apple Silicon Macs

VMware Fusion is a popular virtualization software that lets users create and run virtual machines on Mac computers. The company behind the software recently announced a major update coming to VMWare Fusion, which will enable full 3D acceleration for Windows 11 virtual machines on Apple Silicon Macs.

VMWare Fusion gets full 3D acceleration on Apple Silicon Macs

As announced in a blog post, VMware Fusion Tech Preview 2023 – the latest beta version of the software – marks a giant leap forward for virtualization on macOS. The update enables full hardware-based 3D acceleration for Windows 11 on ARM platforms. This means users can run graphics-intensive apps and games based on the DirectX 11 API.

“Now, not only can you take full advantage of your Mac’s computing power for productivity tasks, but you can also immerse yourself in a breathtaking gaming or multimedia experience,” VMWare explains.

Full 3D acceleration works not only for apps and games built for ARM, but also for emulated 32-bit and 64-bit software. The news comes as a big surprise to gamers, but even those who don’t use VMWare Fusion to play games will benefit from the overall performance enhancements. But there are other improvements coming with VMWare Fusion 2023 as well.

The new version of VMWare Fusion also includes VMware Tools for Windows 11 virtual machines running on Apple Silicon Macs. These tools enable things like drag-and-drop and clipboard sharing between macOS and Windows. In addition, the update has enhanced security and enhanced initial compatibility with macOS Sonoma.

VMware Fusion 2023 is now available as beta software, and you can download it from VMWare’s website. There’s no word on when the official release will be made available.

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