I just got a M3 Max and I can’t use it

[throAU]

As someone else pointed out in this thread, but I question if this software and drivers for the dongle would work with even Windows 11.

If it works with windows 10 it will likely work with Windows 11.

But yes, if you're running crusty old software from 10-15 years ago there's no guarantee that even a native windows box will run it either, but at least if you're on a native x86 based machine you can at least run an old OS on it - and if there's no drivers for your hardware to run it on bare metal (e.g.., missing storage or chipset driver) you can at least virtualise it on a newer x86 OS and pass through the hardware to the x86 based VM to use an x86 driver for it.

On ARM that isn't an option, whether its a Surface Pro X, something from Qualcomm or a MacBook running an ARM architecture based platform.

 

[Ethosik]

If it works with windows 10 it will likely work with Windows 11.

But yes, if you're running crusty old software from 10-15 years ago there's no guarantee that even a native windows box will run it either, but at least if you're on a native x86 based machine you can at least run an old OS on it - and if there's no drivers for your hardware to run it on bare metal (e.g.., missing storage or chipset driver) you can at least virtualise it on a newer x86 OS and pass through the hardware to the x86 based VM to use an x86 driver for it.

On ARM that isn't an option, whether its a Surface Pro X, something from Qualcomm or a MacBook running an ARM architecture based platform.

11 is quite different. Even I faced issues trying to play older games from 2000 that ran just fine on 10.

Does Windows 11 support the new processors? I thought there was something specific about the P-Cores and E-Cores that Windows 11 does much better.

 

[throAU]

11 is quite different. Even I faced issues trying to play older games from 2000 that ran just fine on 10.

I know 11 quite well, have been running it for over a year and built the new company SOE on it.

Driver support - pretty much the same drivers install to 10 and 11, yes there are some obscure edge cases with games, but business software is pretty compatible on it. I've actually had issues running games from later than 2000 on Windows 10 as well so...


In terms of driver support, most hardware drivers supplied by vendors are for Windows 10/11 (both) in the same package.

 

[wonderings]

and if they haven't updated it since 2015 it won’t be. OP, you should have been told before buying that. If you‘re in AEC or ind. design, and still want to do it all on one single Mac, the 2019 mbp is the end of the line. Apple’s solution beyond that is, get a MS Surface and then decide if whatever budget you have left over goes into a second, more powerful workstation to do whatever the surface wont, or take a nice vacation somewhere sunny and warm this winter.

Age of the software does not really matter. I have run software that is 20+ years old and it runs perfectly fine under Windows 11 in VM on my M1 Max. If it does not work though, which is a possibility, I would go with what others have suggested and get a Windows laptop. Not sure what the needs are with the software, but there are also online Windows OS subscriptions you can use as well if you are happy with a monthly fee to have a cloud based Windows.

 

[Ethosik]

I know 11 quite well, have been running it for over a year and built the new company SOE on it.

Driver support - pretty much the same drivers install to 10 and 11, yes there are some obscure edge cases with games, but business software is pretty compatible on it. I've actually had issues running games from later than 2000 on Windows 10 as well so...


In terms of driver support, most hardware drivers supplied by vendors are for Windows 10/11 (both) in the same package.

Yeah it’s certainly a toss up if an old game would work. But I have some that work on 10 but not 11. But this is why I have old Windows XP and Windows 98 systems around for those cases. They seem to run a bit better with generational accurate hardware.

 

[Bustermd]

As someone else pointed out in this thread, but I question if this software and drivers for the dongle would work with even Windows 11.

Well, then we have an essentially impossible to solve problem: he must use some equipment that is very niche and expensive, only runs with old and never-updated windows software, and has to be used in a remote area with no possible internet access. But despite the software not having been updated in over a decade, his 2019 Intel MacBook Pro is not powerful enough to manage the data it generates somehow.

Something seems off.

 

[JustAnExpat]

Well, then we have an essentially impossible to solve problem: he must use some equipment that is very niche and expensive, only runs with old and never-updated windows software, and has to be used in a remote area with no possible internet access. But despite the software not having been updated in over a decade, his 2019 Intel MacBook Pro is not powerful enough to manage the data it generates somehow.

Something seems off.

It doesn't seem off to me honestly. If he was running some type of VM environment with the old MacBook, it could slow the capture of the data he's collecting. Here's how these types of equipment work:

1. A device measure something (Probably something to do with the amount of ethylene or propylene or something that's in the air/ water/ ground).
2. The device is connected to the computer, probably using a USB port.
3. There are drivers written, for Windows, that interact with the device.
4. The drivers are written at a low level/ clobbered together quickly (because the business isn't in the software driver writing industry).
5. Windows, on pure hardware, is able to capture the data as required.
6. He uses a program to analyze the data (Excel? Or a specialized program).

HOWEVER...

When you put a VM between the hardware and Windows, and there's a low level driver, slowdowns can happen. The slowdowns can either happen because the speed of the ports are slowed down, or because there's overhead virtualizing the software. Without knowing exactly what the software is, we can only guess.

MY ADVICE:

Always listen to the manufacturer about computer requirements. Clearly, this equipment is not designed for Apple, and does not interact with Apple products at all.

 

[Raafat]

Have you tried using x86 Windows on UTM? Is the performance acceptable?

 

[steve123]

You can download Crossover and try it free for 30 days as I recall. Or, you can download Wineskin Winery from github for free. Wine has support for USB so it may work. Worth a try.

 

[theorist9]

They recommend 64 GB ram and I have seen it run on high powered windows desktops. It takes a lot of computing HP.

The program is very processor intensive. It also takes a lot of ram. It is doing finite element analysis on large data sets. I have seen it run on fast windows desktops.

That was virtualization, not emulation. Virtualization can generally run at near-native performance for CPU tasks (generally 90-95%), since there is no instruction translation required.

Virtualization and emulation are not the same thing; this would have been virtualized on the Intel Mac, which performs substantially better than emulation.

I'm wondering if the main reason your 2019 MBP is struggling isn't the CPU load, but rather the needed RAM. As chrfr and ArkSinguarity pointed out, you'd have nearly the same CPU performance runnning this in Parallels as you would if you were running it natively in BootCamp.

But that's not necessarily the case when it comes to available RAM. How much RAM does your 2019 MBP have, and how much of it do you allocate to the Parallels VM?

I assume you have the Pro Edition of Parallels, rather than the standard one, since the standard version only allows you to assign 8 GB RAM to your VM, which would be far too low for your needs. The Pro Version allows up to 128 GB for the VM.

The best way to test if this is an issue would be to set up a Bootcamp partition on your MBP, run the app natively, and see if you get a significant performance improvement.

 

[Mehmet T]

Hello,
I'm having the same problem right now, I guess there is no solution yet?

I've been trying to solve it for 20 days.
Parallels gives an error. But I wish it worked, I liked it very much
UTM is extremely slow. Never ever.
I'm currently working with crossover, but it's slow too.

 

[bdog1234]

Well, then we have an essentially impossible to solve problem: he must use some equipment that is very niche and expensive, only runs with old and never-updated windows software, and has to be used in a remote area with no possible internet access. But despite the software not having been updated in over a decade, his 2019 Intel MacBook Pro is not powerful enough to manage the data it generates somehow.

Something seems off.

Sorry I haven’t posted an update to this situation.

The 2019 MBP works but just was slow. Recording the data is no problem and not computer intensive. Processing it is. When this system was first developed the volume of data it collected was small. My 2019 MBP could process that amount of data in seconds. The volume of data that our customers want seems to grow every year. More samples at smaller intervals. Processing data got to where it was taking several hours to even days in some cases.

While the software hasn’t been updated in a decade it works fine on windows 11 on a native windows machine.

I gave up on my new MBP and sent it back and bought the highest spec windows laptop I could find. It works great for processing the data. Cut the time in half if not faster.

I have got the hang of using it but I miss my Mac daily. Preview is the app I miss the most I used it for everything and haven’t found a windows alternative that I like as much or does everything I want all in one program. I also miss being able to send and receive text messages from my laptop. There is a very clunky iMessage app for windows but it only shows messages that arrive when it is open and you can’t receive or send any pictures.

 

[jakey rolling]

I also miss being able to send and receive text messages from my laptop. There is a very clunky iMessage app for windows but it only shows messages that arrive when it is open and you can’t receive or send any pictures.

There is "Link to my Phone" which you can install on both your Windows PC (may already be there) and onto your iPhone. It will allow you to send and receive text messages through your phone on your PC. There are a few limitations when used with an iPhone, but I think it will still allow you to send texts along with pictures.