Parallels Desktop 27.1.0 is Out--Fixes the False Non-SSD Warning, iCloud Folders in Windows 11 Under macOS 27 and OpenGL Crashes in CAD Apps, and Marks Start-with-Mac, the TPM Toggle and the Floppy Drive for Removal

2026November 2, 2026Macs Only!Software
A Mac desktop with a Parallels Desktop window titled Ubuntu 24.04.3 ARM64, inside which an Ubuntu terminal shows the command ollama run llama3.1:8b, a model download at 100 percent and 66 percent, and a chat reply describing Parallels Desktop for Mac, with the Ubuntu dock at the left and the macOS Dock along the bottom of the screen.
Image: Parallels · A Mac desktop with a Parallels Desktop window titled Ubuntu 24.04.3 ARM64, inside which an Ubuntu terminal shows the command ollama run llama3.1:8b, a model download at 100 percent and 66 percent, and a chat reply describing Parallels Desktop for Mac, with the Ubuntu dock at the left and the macOS Dock along the bottom of the screen.

Parallels Desktop 27.1.0, build 58756, came out on October 29, and Parallels' release notes for version 27 give it the longest list of fixes since version 27 shipped on August 25: a TRIM option wrongly switched off with a false "non-SSD" warning after the upgrade to 27, Windows 11 virtual machines that lost their shared iCloud folders once the Mac moved to macOS 27 Golden Gate, and OpenGL crashes in a dozen CAD and 3D programs. It is also the first release of 27 to list the features Parallels will remove in a future major version, among them starting a virtual machine when the Mac starts, the TPM toggle and the floppy drive.

What 27.1.0 fixes

Parallels says the update "addresses the overall stability issues" and lists the rest. For Windows virtual machines the big one is graphics: OpenGL and 3D rendering glitches and crashes in CAD and 3D modeling software, with Rhino 8, DraftSight, SolidWorks, FormZ, ZW3D, PrusaSlicer and the Unigine Heaven and Valley benchmarks among the programs named, and a note to try an unlisted OpenGL program again. Also fixed: pop-up windows opened behind the main window in Coherence mode, Excel drop-down menus vanished in Coherence, and dragging a file from the Mac into a full-screen Windows machine failed.

For Linux: Parallels Tools would not install in headless mode on Ubuntu, Shut Down from the Parallels Desktop menu did not shut an Ubuntu machine down, and virtual machines with nested virtualization turned on, Ubuntu 26.04 and Proxmox among them, froze on Macs with M4 and M5 chips. An encrypted macOS virtual machine no longer starts to a black screen. The Enterprise edition gains a policy that locks every virtual machine to one view mode.

What Parallels will remove

The notes carry a section headed "What was deprecated or removed from Parallels Desktop 27.1.0." Everything in it still works, Parallels says, and goes in a future major release: "We're retiring low-use features so we can focus on the capabilities most of our users rely on." The list:

  • The "Start when Mac starts" startup mode, choosing a boot device at startup, the startup delay and Adaptive Hypervisor.
  • Recent files for Windows programs in the Dock, the Windows Applications folder in the Dock and the Windows taskbar in Coherence.
  • Windows gamma settings in full screen, scale to fit screen, the F6 show-and-hide shortcut and the sticky mouse pointer at window edges.
  • The option to add or remove a TPM chip as a virtual device, the floppy disk device, and for Linux machines the "Use Rosetta to run x86 binaries" option.
  • Bash completion scripts for the command-line tools, because, as Parallels puts it, "macOS now uses zsh as its default shell." Apple's page on zsh dates that to macOS 10.15.

What it needs, what it costs, and the Intel line

Parallels' system requirements for version 27 are an Apple silicon Mac, 8 GB of memory with 16 GB recommended, and macOS Sonoma 14.7 or newer; the OpenGL 4.3 driver needs Sequoia 15 or newer, and full acceleration needs an M3 or newer. Parallels' August 21 post on version 27 puts the supported chips at M1 through M5 and says the Metal-based driver ran OpenGL workloads up to 2.6 times faster in its own tests. Macworld's review, updated October 14, lists Standard at $99.99 a year or $219.99 outright, Pro at $119.99 a year and Business at $149.99 a year, with the Windows license extra, and calls Parallels "our leading choice for Mac users who need a full Windows environment for work or development."

Intel Macs cannot install any of this. Parallels' August 25 press release calls version 27 "designed exclusively for Apple silicon Macs," and Parallels' page on Intel Macs says version 26 "fully supports Intel-based Mac computers" and that this will not change, with free email support through August 26, 2027. Since our October 6 warning on CVE-2026-90894, the version 26 release notes have gained 26.5.0, build 57613, on October 13, which "addresses the overall stability and security issues." As of November 2 neither set of notes names the CVE.

Then and now

On November 2, 2006, Bill Fox wrote up Parallels Desktop for Mac Build 1970, which added Shared Networking and an Installation Assistant that set up Windows XP or Vista with one click; he installed it and ran Windows Vista RC1. In June 2006 the first final version listed at $79.99 and sold for $49.99. Twenty years on, the Intel Macs it was written for are on a branch of their own, and the point release is about CAD graphics, iCloud folders and which old switches to retire. We have not installed 27.1.0; if you run CAD software in Windows on a Mac, it is the one update of version 27 so far worth going to get.

Sources

  1. Parallels, “Parallels Desktop 27 updates summary” accessed Nov 2, 2026Last Review October 29, 2026: Parallels Desktop for Mac 27.1.0 (58756), released October 29, 2026, "addresses the overall stability issues and includes the following additions and improvements"; fixed: the TRIM option was erroneously disabled and a false "non-SSD" warning appeared after upgrading to Parallels Desktop 27; multiple OpenGL and 3D graphics rendering issues, glitches and crashes in CAD and 3D modeling software, naming twelve CAD and 3D programs including Rhino 8, DraftSight, SolidWorks, FormZ, ZW3D and PrusaSlicer plus the Unigine Heaven and Valley benchmarks, with a note to try an unlisted OpenGL app again; Windows 11 virtual machines could not access shared iCloud folders after upgrading macOS to Golden Gate 27; pop-up and child windows opened behind the main window in Coherence; Excel drop-down menus disappeared in Coherence; drag-and-drop from the Mac failed in full-screen mode; Parallels Tools headless install on Ubuntu failed; virtual machines with nested virtualization enabled (Ubuntu 26.04, Proxmox) froze on Macs with M4 and M5 chips; Shut Down from the Parallels Desktop menu did not shut down an Ubuntu machine; encrypted macOS virtual machines started with a black screen; Enterprise: administrators can enforce a View mode for all virtual machines by configuration policy; the section "What was deprecated or removed from Parallels Desktop 27.1.0", whose features still work in this version but will be removed in a future major release, "We're retiring low-use features so we can focus on the capabilities most of our users rely on", listing the "Start when Mac starts" startup mode, boot device selection at startup, the startup delay option, Adaptive Hypervisor, recent files for guest apps in the Dock, the Windows Applications folder in the Dock, the Windows taskbar in Coherence, Windows gamma settings in full screen, scale to fit screen, the F6 show/hide shortcut, the mouse pointer sticking at window edges, the option to add or remove a TPM chip as a virtual device, the floppy disk device, the "Use Rosetta to run x86 binaries" option for Linux machines, and Bash completion scripts for the command-line utilities, "macOS now uses zsh as its default shell"; 27.0.3 (58680) of October 7, 2026 and 27.0.0 (58628) of August 25, 2026 in the release-dates table; accessed November 2, 2026.
  2. Parallels, “Parallels Desktop 26 updates summary” accessed Nov 2, 2026Last Review October 13, 2026: Parallels Desktop 26 for Mac 26.5.0 (57613), released October 13, 2026, "addresses the overall stability and security issues"; the release-dates table ending at 26.5.0 of October 13, 2026 above 26.4.2 of September 8, 2026; the string CVE appears nowhere on the page; accessed November 2, 2026.
  3. Parallels, “Parallels Desktop for Mac System Requirements” accessed Nov 2, 2026Last Review September 17, 2026: Parallels Desktop 27 requires any Apple silicon chip, 8 GB of RAM minimum and 16 GB or more for best performance, and macOS Sonoma 14.7 or newer as the minimum operating system (Golden Gate 27.0, Tahoe 26.0, Sequoia 15.5 and Sonoma 14.7 listed); footnote that the new graphics driver with OpenGL 4.3 support is available starting with macOS Sequoia 15 and that full hardware acceleration is available starting with Apple M3 and newer; footnote that support for Intel Macs continues in Parallels Desktop 26; accessed November 2, 2026.
  4. Parallels, “Parallels Desktop compatibility with Intel-based Mac computers” accessed Nov 2, 2026Last Review August 25, 2026: "Parallels Desktop 26 fully supports Intel-based Mac computers today, and that will not change"; starting with Parallels Desktop 27 the app requires a Mac with Apple silicon; Intel users can keep using Parallels Desktop 26 and expect future security and maintenance updates; "Free email support for Parallels Desktop 26 runs through August 26, 2027"; accessed November 2, 2026.
  5. Parallels, “What's new in Parallels Desktop 27” accessed Nov 2, 2026Parallels, August 21, 2026: "Parallels Desktop 27 introduces a Metal-based OpenGL 4.3 graphics driver"; "In testing conducted by Parallels, OpenGL workloads ran up to 2.6 times faster than with the previous driver"; "Parallels Desktop 27 supports Apple silicon Macs from M1 through M5"; "Parallels Desktop 27 is available exclusively for Apple Silicon Macs"; accessed November 2, 2026.
  6. Parallels, “Parallels Desktop 27 Expands Professional Windows App Support with Faster Graphics and AI Acceleration” accessed Nov 2, 2026Austin, Texas, August 25, 2026: "Parallels Desktop 27 for Mac is designed exclusively for Apple silicon Macs and is available in Standard, Pro, Business, and Enterprise editions"; the press-kit image Parallels-Desktop-27_Local_AI_Acceleration_Linux VM.png, captioned "A local AI workload running in a Linux virtual machine with Parallels Desktop 27, leveraging Scalable Matrix Extension (SME) support for faster AI and machine learning development"; accessed November 2, 2026.
  7. Macworld, “Parallels Desktop 27 for Mac review: Still the best way to run Windows” accessed Nov 2, 2026Cliff Joseph and Karen Haslam, updated October 14, 2026, testing the Pro edition of Parallels Desktop 27: prices of Standard at $99.99 annual subscription or $219.99 perpetual license, Pro at $119.99 annual subscription, Business at $149.99 annual subscription; "Windows licensing is separate"; the verdict "Parallels Desktop remains our leading choice for Mac users who need a full Windows environment for work or development"; accessed November 2, 2026.
  8. Apple Support, “Use zsh as the default shell on Mac - Apple Support” accessed Nov 2, 2026Published June 15, 2026: "Starting with macOS 10.15, your Mac uses zsh as the default login shell and interactive shell"; "bash is the default shell in macOS 10.14 and earlier"; accessed November 2, 2026.

Then and now

All pairings

In 2006 Build 1970 added Shared Networking and an Installation Assistant, and we ran Vista RC1 in it; in 2026 version 27.1.0 fixes CAD graphics and names the switches Parallels will retire.

Also on November 2, other years

Every November 2 since 1997

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