Running the ARM version of Windows 11 on a Mac, running software, and even playing AAA games may soon become easier! Open-source virtual machine app UTM Announce UTM 5.0 official release supports DirectX 11 to 12, essential for gaming on Windows, using newly developed experimental drivers (game compatibility is still being improved); it also includes Linux Vulkan 1.3, snapshot management, USB sharing for macOS virtual machines, and other features, solving in one go the poor support that previous versions were most criticized for.
Windows finally has accelerated graphics: DX11 uses DXMT, DX12 uses D3DMetal.
The biggest highlight this time is that Windows 11 finally has modern accelerated graphics. DirectX 11 goes through DXMT, and DirectX 12 goes through D3DMetal (where available); both are firsts in UTM history. But the official wording is very clear: the drivers are still experimental, and game compatibility is limited. They recommend doing a fresh install of Windows 11 and then selecting the experimental graphics driver; for older systems, changing drivers requires first running the uninstall script in the guest tools disc. D3DMetal on Apple Silicon requires Rosetta; without it, it falls back to DXMT, which only supports DX11. The first question under the tweet is about game performance, and the second is whether the experimental driver supports Intel Macs; officials have not yet given figures.
Linux gets Vulkan 1.3; don’t use it for desktop rendering for now.
Linux VM containers get Vulkan 1.3 via Mesa’s VirtIO Venus driver, plus Apple Core OpenGL backend support for OpenGL 4.1 (macOS only). But there’s a catch: Linux desktop environments don’t render correctly under Vulkan because indirect drawing for geometry shaders isn’t supported, and the official recommendation is for desktops to use the older VirGL Gallium driver for now.
Snapshots are here: save and load, and if an update breaks things, just rewind.
“Snapshots” is the most requested feature this time. The new Snapshots tab lets you save, overwrite, restore, rename, and delete snapshots. QEMU virtual machines can use it on macOS and iOS 26, while Apple Virtualization requires macOS 27. From now on, if a VM update or testing a new feature breaks something, you can just rewind, making experimentation and trial-and-error much cheaper. Scripts can use snapshots too; utmctl has gained snapshot and discard-state commands.
Apple backend in macOS 27: USB passthrough, Secure Boot, stateless execution
The Apple Virtualization backend in macOS 27 fills in three long-requested wishes at once: USB device passthrough to virtual machines, Secure Boot for Linux, and running without saving, plus a new network mode for VM-to-VM interconnection. For USB passthrough, you first assign the virtual machine accessory from the menu bar to UTM. macOS virtual machine containers can also share USB now.
iOS version: major touch overhaul, adds foldable iPhone laptop mode
The iOS version has quite a lot going on this time. Touch gestures respond instantly, middle- and right-click dragging have been added, there’s a drag-to-scroll touch mode, the keyboard accessory bar has been redone for iOS 26, and the Options and Home buttons on game controllers can be mapped. Disk Utility comes to iOS: you can free up space, compress, resize, and convert to QCOW2 right on your phone. The wildest part is iPhone Duo support—when the foldable is opened up like a laptop, the lower half becomes a keyboard or trackpad for the virtual machine.
From v5.0.5 to v5.0.8: Here’s what was fixed in three months
Version 5.0 actually entered public beta in early September, with fixes continuing through v5.0.8 on October 17. v5.0.5 first updated the DXMT and MoltenVK graphics backends, and iOS gained DirectX 11, but the developers openly stated that the iOS version has worse game compatibility than macOS because the OS is old. v5.0.6 added snapshot paging and SPICE audio fixes, fixing microphone popping and screen freezes under memory pressure. v5.0.7 fixed a bug where Windows guests on high-refresh-rate monitors lost 3D acceleration; monitors above 125Hz previously had no acceleration at all, and now they follow the host refresh rate. ARM64 virtual machines now use the GICv3 interrupt controller by default, with performance also improving for 8 cores or fewer.
Chinese users can note this: Traditional and Simplified Chinese localization is maintained by @changanmoon and updated with every release. Accessibility has also improved: VoiceOver now announces filenames, and Terminal has added a find bar. QEMU custom parameters have moved to a separate page, where the full command line is displayed read-only and can be copied, making things much more convenient for people who like to experiment with custom parameters.
VMware users can give it a try.
UTM has long been a free open-source option on Mac, competing with Parallels and VMware Fusion (both currently only support DX 11). Before 5.0, its biggest shortcoming was that Windows virtual machines had no accelerated graphics and could only provide basic display output, so games and 3D software were out of the question. With the experimental DirectX driver added, at least people are now asking whether Aero effects in Vista and Win7 can render correctly, and nostalgia fans are already clamoring for it. Game compatibility in the official release is still limited, and it is still far from fully replacing paid solutions, but achieving this for free makes switching over to test the waters worthwhile.
UTM 5.0 free update, App Store version awaiting review
The official emphasizes that whether you download it from the official website or paid for UTM 4 on the App Store back then to support development, 5.0 is a free update; the App Store version is still awaiting Apple’s review. Remember to shut down before upgrading; paused virtual machines may not wake up after the update. The minimum system requirements are now macOS 12 and iOS 15, so machines that are too old should stay on v4.7.x. The official has also openedDevelopment BlogThe first post digs into how to bring DirectX into QEMU; if you want the implementation details, you can follow along.
Before upgrading, read this: suspended virtual machines may not wake up.
The official upgrade warning is very blunt: suspended virtual machines may not resume correctly after the update, so it is recommended to shut them all down before updating. If you want to use the new graphics driver on Windows 11, the official recommendation is a clean install; experimental drivers breaking the system is to be expected. D3DMetal requires Rosetta; if it is not installed, it automatically falls back to DXMT, and installing it does no harm. For the Linux desktop, use VirGL first; don’t rush to Vulkan. If you want to use the area beside the notch in full screen, it can now be enabled on macOS 12 and later; previously it was limited to 27-inch models. On quit, you can set all virtual machines to shut down gracefully, so you don’t have to worry about killing them directly and losing data.
UTM – GitHub
AI agents can also command virtual machines
Someone asked whether UTM plans to support AI agents turning virtual machines on and off and changing settings. The official reply was that the scripting interface has been around for a long time, agents can understand it, and it was used extensively for testing during development. Snapshots, USB devices, and VLANs can all be scripted, macOS virtual machines can be created and installed via commands on the Apple backend, and the IP of Apple virtual machines can also be looked up.
Conclusion
UTM 5 is the biggest update in recent years, finally adding Windows accelerated graphics and snapshots, and the iOS version hasn’t been left out either. But the DirectX driver is still labeled experimental, so how well games run will have to wait for real-world testing. There’s no reason to hesitate over a free update—shut down first, then upgrade. For Windows 11, a clean install is recommended; it will run more normally.
Source: KOCPC Chinese