Oracle’s VirtualBox Emulator Now Runs on Apple Silicon Macs

VirtualBox is now available for Apple Silicon-based Macs, bringing exciting new possibilities for Mac users. However, there’s a catch—its x86 support is still a bit unreliable. Let’s dive into what this means and how you can start using it.

What is VirtualBox?

VirtualBox is a free emulator that allows you to run different operating systems on your Mac, PC, or Linux computer. Historically, VirtualBox only worked on Intel x86-based Macs, but that changed in August with the release of a “work in progress” version for Apple Silicon. This new milestone makes the app available for users of Apple’s M1 and M2 chips.

Developed initially by a German company, VirtualBox was later acquired by Sun Microsystems in 2008. After Sun’s closure, Oracle took over, inheriting not only VirtualBox but also technologies like Java and the Sun SPARC CPU architecture.

How Does It Work on Apple Silicon?

The Apple Silicon version of VirtualBox is still under development, so it’s not fully polished yet. From user experiences on the VirtualBox Mac forums, some older x86 Windows versions, like Windows XP and Windows 7, do run but with limitations and occasional crashes. Windows 10 and 11 are also supported, but performance and stability aren’t yet optimal. On the other hand, many Linux distributions—especially ARM-based ones like Ubuntu 24 and Ubuntu Server—perform much better, though there are still some minor crash issues.

How to Install VirtualBox on Apple Silicon Macs

1. Head over to the VirtualBox website and download version 7.1.4 (current as of this writing) along with the extension pack.
2. Open the downloaded .dmg file and run the installer to install VirtualBox in the Applications folder.
3. Drag the extension pack file onto the VirtualBox icon and follow the on-screen steps to complete the setup.

After the installation, you’ll find a detailed user guide in the .dmg file, or you can access an online HTML version for reference.

Getting Startet

When you launch VirtualBox, you’ll see an empty list on the left and a toolbar at the top. To create a new virtual machine (VM), click New and follow these steps:

• Choose where to store the VM file.
• Provide the path to an .iso image file of the OS installer.
• Select the type, subtype, and architecture of the OS.

Once configured, click Finish. You can also import existing .ova appliance files from the File menu, though some .ova files might not work reliably in this version.

After creating a VM, you can adjust its settings—like storage, video, and hardware configurations—by clicking Settings. When everything is ready, hit Start to launch the virtual machine. Note that unsupported architectures will trigger an error, and you may need to tweak settings to resolve issues.

Important System Settings

You might encounter warnings requiring you to enable Input Monitoring or Accessibility in macOS System Settings. Don’t worry—this is safe and necessary for VirtualBox to capture your keyboard input. VirtualBox doesn’t log keystrokes for any malicious purposes.

Performance Insights

The Apple Silicon version of VirtualBox shows promising performance improvements. Virtual machines start faster compared to the Intel version, especially when running ARM-based operating systems. However, it’s still a work in progress, so bugs and crashes are to be expected. The Intel version of VirtualBox itself has known issues, so perfection is still a way off.

Despite its limitations, the prospect of a fully functional native Apple Silicon VirtualBox is exciting. Once complete, it will allow users to run a variety of operating systems on Macs with improved performance. It could even enable emulation of older ARM-based macOS versions alongside native macOS on Apple Silicon hardware.

Conclusion

While it’s not yet ready for production use, VirtualBox’s Apple Silicon release marks a significant step forward. Its potential to run diverse operating systems on Macs with great performance makes it one of the most exciting developments in free emulators. For now, users should approach this version as an experimental tool, but its future looks bright. Check it out on the official VirtualBox website and explore what’s possible!