flyguy Posted February 25, 2022 Share Posted February 25, 2022 Hi - I'll be purchasing a new Apple Mac Mini computer next week. For a long time I've had a Dell Inspiron computer, and I've used Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002, and a couple years ago purchased X-Plane 11, both of which I've used on my Dell Inspiron. The Apple rep on the phone told me that there is a Mac version of X-plane 11, but I would need to get a virtual machine (Parallels or VMware - not sure of the cost or how involved that would be),in order to install the Windows OS so I can use the same copies. I will be getting their "Superdrive, which is basically a CD/DVD player that would allow me to install the X-Plane 11 on the Mac Mini. The rep also said he did not think the Microsoft 2002 is compatible with the Mac Mini. Do you know of the Mac version of X-Plane 11 and if it's any good? Any other ides/suggestions for using a flight simulator on my Mac Mini? Thanks! flyguy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrankPilot Posted February 25, 2022 Share Posted February 25, 2022 I thought XP was originally designed on Macs for Macs and that Mac XP is identical to Windows XP. For years when I was a Mac-only person, XP was the only real choice. Cheers. Frank’s MS Flight Sim https://youtube.com/channel/UCqCzobOlQLeGycCFnavVrPg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
il88pp Posted February 26, 2022 Share Posted February 26, 2022 xplane 11 runs on Windows, mac and linux Operating Systems. xplane 10 on windows and some mac Platforms. No separate installers for mac or Win. Both 11 has one installer for all. So does 10. What version did you buy? xplane11 steam edition? that will run most modern OS versions. There's a link to the xplane 11 Steam specsifications on this page: https://www.x-plane.com/product/x-plane-11-steam/ Here are the specs for the xplane 10 CD version: https://www.x-plane.com/product/x-plane-10-dvd/ Also check out if your system meets the other system requirements. You need a pretty powerful computer to run Xplane. [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyguy Posted February 26, 2022 Author Share Posted February 26, 2022 Thanks for your reply! In answer to your question, I have the X-Plane 11 Global Edition (comes with 8 discs). I'm not super tech savvy, so do you know what the rep meant when he told me I'd have to get a virtual machine (Parallels or VMware)? My understanding is that the Mac Mini is pretty powerful. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loki Posted February 26, 2022 Share Posted February 26, 2022 The Apple rep may have been confused and thought you were trying to install a copy of the Windows version. Running MSFS 2020 would require using Parallels, but on top of that you have to get the insider preview version of Windows 11 for ARM. As for the SuperDrive, if you haven't bought it yet, I would look around. There are cheaper options that work just fine with Macs. Note that while the new M1 based Macs are powerful, the caveat is that they're powerful for the amount of power they use. A high end gaming PC is still going to perform better than an M1 Mac Mini. Something else to note is that the RAM on M1 Macs is shared between the CPU and GPU, unlike traditional PCs which have separate system and video RAM. If you have an 8GB M1 Mac Mini, you could find yourself limited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyguy Posted February 26, 2022 Author Share Posted February 26, 2022 Ok thanks for the info; much appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyguy Posted February 27, 2022 Author Share Posted February 27, 2022 I haven't bought the SuperDrive yet, but I was wondering if you had any suggestions as to what would work with the Mini Mac? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loki Posted February 27, 2022 Share Posted February 27, 2022 Asus and LG are usually good ones to look for. This link has a couple options to check out. https://www.imore.com/best-cddvd-drives-mac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyguy Posted February 27, 2022 Author Share Posted February 27, 2022 Thank you so much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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