Caution:
Users running ArcGIS Pro on a Mac can contact Esri Technical Support for questions and troubleshooting. However, all troubleshooting for defects is only performed against certified Windows x64 systems.
Minimum hardware recommendations
To use ArcGIS Pro on a Mac, the following are recommended:
- A quad-core Intel processor or M-series (Apple Silicon) processor
- 256 GB storage
- 8 GB RAM or more
Macs with Intel processors
Note:
Running ArcGIS Pro on a Windows virtual machine (VM) with an Intel processor requires Parallels Desktop version 15 or later and Windows x64 installed as the guest operating system.
For hardware requirements for the host machine, see the ArcGIS Pro system requirements.
Run ArcGIS Pro natively on a Windows partition (Boot Camp) on Intel processors
Note:
Boot Camp is available only on Mac machines with Intel processors.
Boot Camp allows you to install Windows in a dedicated hard disk partition on your Mac. In this configuration, Windows runs natively, accessing the Mac hardware directly. You can access Windows by restarting your Mac and pressing and holding the Option key while selecting the disk partition that contains your Windows operating system. The limitation is that you cannot access macOS and its applications at the same time. To switch between Windows and macOS, you must restart your Mac.
To run ArcGIS Pro in Windows installed natively with Boot Camp, you must have your ArcGIS Pro installation files and a Windows x64 installation DVD or disc image (.iso), if you haven't already set up Boot Camp.
The Boot Camp Assistant helps you install Windows in a dedicated hard disk partition. You can access the Assistant from the Utilities folder in the Applications folder in macOS. For more information, see the Apple Support site.
Run ArcGIS Pro in a virtual environment on Intel processors
ArcGIS Pro can also run in a virtual environment, such as Parallels Desktop, on a Mac with an Intel-based processor. This allows you to run Windows as a guest operating system without creating a partition on your machine.
Recommended settings
To run ArcGIS Pro with Parallels Desktop version 15 or later, the following are recommended:
- Run the macOS Mojave operating system or later.
- Disable the Auto graphics switching option in the Mac system settings and Parallels Desktop.
- Set the GPU memory assignment to Auto.
- Assign at least two virtual CPUs to the machine.
Macs with M-series (Apple Silicon) processors
Note:
Running ArcGIS Pro on a Windows VM on a Mac with an M-series processor requires Parallels Desktop version 18 and Windows 11 Advanced RISC Machine (ARM) installed as the guest operating system. Install the Microsoft .NET Desktop Runtime 6.0.5 or later Windows x64 installer.
Run ArcGIS Pro in a virtual environment on M-series processors
The only way to run ArcGIS Pro on a Mac with an M-series processor is within a virtual environment, such as Parallels Desktop. This allows the user to run Windows as a guest operating system running within macOS.
Recommended settings
To run ArcGIS Pro with Parallels Desktop version 18 or later on M-series processors, it is recommended that you run the macOS Ventura operating system or later.
Known limitations
The following are known limitations:
- Tools that require access to the AVX instruction set will not work on a machine running Windows 11 ARM on an M-series processor.
- Access to the GPU is through the virtualization of the M-series processor GPU cores as a display in Windows. This means some tools, including the minimum system requirements verification tool, may have trouble detecting this GPU and reporting on its capabilities.
- The GPU and emulation only support DirectX11. DirectX12 features will not be available on this environment, and will fall back to DirectX11. If you choose OpenGL, you will receive an error stating no compatible graphics adapter was found, and rendering will fall back to CPU emulation.
- Only Visual Studio 2022 versions starting at 17.4 are supported on Windows 11 on ARM.