
To understand the difference between both in more detail, check out our article on the best way to run Windows on Mac. Parallels is also the only way to run Windows on an M1 Mac. With Boot Camp on the other hand, you have to shutdown your Mac and restart it in Windows.Īlthough Boot Camp allows your Mac to devote all of its resources to running SolidWorks (thus in theory giving you smoother performance) both Macs and Parallels have become more powerful in processing speed and RAM size meaning SolidWorks now works almost as well using Parallels as it does using Boot Camp. Using Parallels means you don’t have to restart your Mac when you want to use SolidWorks – you can just switch to macOS as you do when you want to use any other application. Virtual machines like Parallels are not free but allow you to run macOS and Windows at the same time which is far more convenient as you can switch between your Mac and Windows in one click. It does not work on Apple Silicon M1 Macs though so it’s not an option to run SolidWorks for M1 Mac owners. There are two ways to install SolidWorks on a Mac:īoot Camp is free in macOS but only allows you to run either Windows or macOS at one time.

There’s plenty of amazing CAD software for Macs nowadays but unfortunately SolidWorks for Mac still does not exist.
