How to Install VMware on macOS (and Enable 3D Acceleration)

AvatarByEric Dawson Computers & Software

VMware Fusion installs on macOS like any other Mac app: sign in to the Broadcom Support Portal, download the .dmg, open it, and drag the VMware Fusion icon into your Applications folder. Launch it from there, click Open at the security prompt, type your Mac administrator password twice, and accept the license agreement. Since November 11, 2024, Fusion Pro has been free for personal, educational and commercial use, so there is no license key to enter. Enabling 3D acceleration is a separate job, and it starts with powering the virtual machine all the way off.

How to Install VMware Fusion on macOS

The download lives on the Broadcom Support Portal rather than at an old VMware address, so plan on making a free account before anything else. Everything after that is a standard Apple disk image install. No Terminal commands are involved, and no serial number is needed.

Download the Installer from Broadcom

Registration is free and takes a couple of minutes. Broadcom asks for a Basic account, not a paid one, and the portal will not hand over the installer until you are signed in. If you would rather read the vendor instructions alongside these steps, they sit in the Broadcom knowledge base article on downloading and installing VMware Fusion.

  1. Sign in or register. Open the Broadcom Support Portal and log in, or create a free Broadcom Basic account.
  2. Find Fusion. Go to the VMware Fusion downloads in the portal and pick the release you want.
  3. Save the .dmg. Download the disk image somewhere you can find it again, usually the Downloads folder.

Move Fusion into Applications and Approve It

Six short steps finish the job, and two of them are macOS asking permission rather than Fusion doing anything.

  1. Mount the image. Double-click the downloaded .dmg file. A window opens showing the VMware Fusion icon.
  2. Drag to install. Drag the VMware Fusion icon onto your Applications folder.
  3. Launch from Applications. Open the Applications folder and double-click VMware Fusion.
  4. Clear the security warning. macOS flags an application downloaded from the internet. Click Open.
  5. Enter your password. Type your Mac administrator password when asked. Fusion asks for it twice.
  6. Accept the license. Read the license agreement and accept it. Setup finishes and Fusion opens its Virtual Machine Library.

Nowhere in that sequence does a license key get typed. Fusion Pro opens with every feature already available, which is the part that surprises anyone coming back to it after a few years away.

Keeping an Older Fusion Version Alongside a New One

Installing Fusion 13 replaces an existing installation automatically. That catches people who still need an old virtual machine tied to Fusion 12. Broadcom’s workaround is renaming: give the older copy in Applications a distinct name such as VMware Fusion 12 before the new installer runs, and both versions can sit on the same Mac. Rename first, install second.

What VMware Fusion Costs as of September 2026

Nothing. On November 11, 2024 VMware announced that Fusion Pro and Workstation Pro were free for all users, and the paid subscription tiers were retired at the same time. Neither product can be bought any more, because there is no longer anything to buy.

What the Free License Covers

Commercial, educational and personal use all sit under the same free license, so a small business gets the same build as a hobbyist. VMware’s announcement describes the free release as keeping “all the features you’ve come to rely on from the paid version”, which rules out a cut-down home edition. A free Broadcom Basic account is the only gate on the download.

What Replaced Paid Support

Support changed shape on the same date. Contracts already running stay valid to their end date with enterprise support attached, but once those expire, ticketing goes away for good. Free users get the community forums, the product documentation and the knowledge base instead. Anyone planning to put a production workload on Fusion should weigh that before the old contract lapses.

System Requirements for VMware Fusion on a Mac

Requirements move with the release, and the step from Fusion 13 to the 25H2 build is a large one. 25H2 wants macOS 15 Sequoia or later, where Fusion Pro 13.0.0 was content with macOS 12 Monterey. Older Intel-only builds reach back further still.

Version Minimum macOS Minimum RAM Disk for the App Disk per VM
Fusion Pro 25H2 (latest) macOS 15 Sequoia 8 GB 1.5 GB 5 GB
Fusion Pro 13.0.0 and later macOS 12 Monterey 8 GB 1.5 GB 5 GB
Fusion 12.2.0 and later macOS 11 Big Sur, Intel Macs only 8 GB 750 MB 5 GB

Those figures come from Broadcom’s system requirements page for Fusion Pro, read September 2026. Check them against your own Mac before downloading, because the 25H2 installer is no help on a machine still running macOS 14.

Apple Silicon Macs and Fusion 13

M1, M2, M3 and M4 Macs need Fusion 13.x.x or newer. Earlier builds predate Apple Silicon support entirely, a point the Kali Linux documentation repeats when it tells Apple Silicon users to get Fusion 13 or later before touching its Arm images. Intel Macs have the wider choice, since 12.2.0 and later still cover macOS 11 Big Sur.

How Much RAM and Disk Space to Plan For

Broadcom’s floor is 8 GB of memory, with 16 GB or more recommended once several virtual machines run at once. Disk math is easier to do in advance. Fusion Pro itself takes 1.5 GB, and each virtual machine needs at least 5 GB, so a Mac hosting a Windows 11 guest, an Ubuntu guest and a spare test guest starts at 1.5 plus 15, or 16.5 GB, before a single application is installed inside any of them.

Treat those as minimums rather than targets. A Windows guest that gets real use, with updates and a couple of applications, outgrows 5 GB quickly, and memory is tighter still: an 8 GB Mac running one guest is splitting that memory between the host and the guest, which is exactly why Broadcom names 16 GB for multi-machine work.

How to Enable 3D Acceleration in VMware for macOS

Accelerated graphics is a per-machine setting, not a global preference, and it is off until you switch it on. One rule governs the whole procedure: the virtual machine has to be fully powered off. Suspending it is not enough, and a running machine leaves the controls unavailable.

  1. Shut the guest down. Power off the virtual machine from inside the guest operating system rather than suspending it.
  2. Open the library. Go to the Virtual Machine Library window and select the machine you want to change.
  3. Open Settings. Click Settings, then choose Display under System Settings.
  4. Switch it on. Select the Accelerate 3D graphics checkbox.
  5. Pick a battery profile. Choose the battery optimization option you want from the dropdown.
  6. Set shared graphics memory. Choose how much shared graphics memory the guest is allowed to use.
  7. Power back on. Start the virtual machine so it picks up the new display hardware.

Shared Graphics Memory and Battery Options

Two dropdowns sit next to the checkbox. One controls shared graphics memory, the pool the guest borrows from the Mac’s graphics hardware. The other sets battery optimization, and that is the one to revisit on a MacBook which spends time away from a charger.

Why the Controls Are Grayed Out

Broadcom’s documentation is explicit that these settings cannot be adjusted while a virtual machine is powered on or suspended. Suspending a guest looks like stopping it, but Fusion is still holding the machine’s state and its virtual hardware stays defined, so the display options remain locked. Choose Shut Down inside the guest, wait for the library entry to go quiet, then reopen Settings.

Which Guest Operating Systems Get 3D Acceleration

Support depends on two things at once: the guest operating system and the virtual machine’s hardware version. Broadcom publishes the working combinations, and they are worth checking before anyone blames a driver.

Guest OS Graphics Support Hardware Version Needed
Windows 7 and later DirectX 11 with OpenGL 4.3 20 or higher
Windows 7 and later DirectX 11 with OpenGL 4.1 18
Windows Vista and later DirectX 10 with OpenGL 3.3 12
Windows XP and later DirectX 9.0c with Shader Model 3 and OpenGL 2.1 Not stated
Linux OpenGL 4.1 18
Linux OpenGL 4.3 20 or higher

Hardware Version and What It Means

Hardware version describes the virtual motherboard, not the Mac. A machine created years ago keeps whatever version it was built with even after Fusion itself is upgraded, which is why an old Windows guest can sit at DirectX 10 on a brand new Apple Silicon Mac. Raising the virtual hardware to version 20 or higher is what opens up the DirectX 11 and OpenGL 4.3 row in the table above.

macOS Guests and 3D Acceleration

Running macOS inside macOS is a different story. As of September 2026 there is no 3D acceleration for macOS guests on a macOS host, so a virtual copy of Sequoia gets a software-rendered desktop and nothing better. Windows guests are the ones with real graphics support, Windows 11 on Apple Silicon included, which VMware first showed in its Fusion 2023 tech preview.

Creating a Virtual Machine with the Right Hardware Version

Building the machine on a current release of Fusion is the simplest way to start on a current hardware version, the setting that determines which 3D graphics features are available. Fusion builds machines from ISO images, so the next download is whatever operating system is going inside. That same library is where every later settings change begins, including the 3D acceleration steps above.

Installing a Guest from an ISO Image

Point Fusion at the ISO file and it builds a machine around it, with defaults for memory, disk and virtual hardware. Those defaults decide the hardware version, which is the detail worth watching when 3D performance matters. A guest created on a current Fusion release starts on a current hardware version, and that is the simplest route to version 20 or higher without editing anything by hand.

Matching the Hardware Version to the Graphics You Want

Decide the graphics target before the machine is built. Retrofitting an old guest is more work than getting the choice right once.

Windows Guests

Version 20 or higher buys DirectX 11 with OpenGL 4.3. Drop to hardware version 18 and the pairing becomes DirectX 11 with OpenGL 4.1, which is still enough for most desktop software. Anything at version 12 is limited to DirectX 10 with OpenGL 3.3, and a Windows XP-era guest tops out at DirectX 9.0c with Shader Model 3 and OpenGL 2.1.

Linux Guests

Linux tracks the same two tiers without the DirectX half of the equation. Hardware version 18 supports OpenGL 4.1, and version 20 or higher supports OpenGL 4.3. Practical advice ends up identical: build the machine on a current Fusion release and leave the hardware version alone.

My call is to choose hardware version 20 or later when creating a Windows or Linux virtual machine that might need 3D work. Version 18 can still enable DirectX 11 or OpenGL 4.1, so it is not a bad fallback for an older setup. But version 20 gives those guests the higher OpenGL 4.3 option, and choosing it at the start is simpler than discovering later that the virtual hardware is the limit. I would only stay on an older version when compatibility with an existing VM matters more than graphics capability.

If 3D Acceleration Still Does Not Work

Most failures trace back to one of four things, and none of them call for a reinstall: whether the machine is fully off, whether the hardware version supports the feature, whether the guest operating system supports it, and whether Fusion itself is new enough for the Mac.

Checks to Run in Order

  1. Confirm the machine is off. Suspended counts as on. Shut the guest down properly, then reopen Settings and Display.
  2. Check the hardware version. A guest below version 18 cannot reach OpenGL 4.1, and one below version 20 cannot reach OpenGL 4.3 or the newer DirectX 11 pairing.
  3. Check the guest operating system. macOS guests get no 3D acceleration on a macOS host, and a Windows XP-era guest caps out at DirectX 9.0c.
  4. Check Fusion against your Mac. Apple Silicon needs Fusion 13.x.x or later, and the 25H2 build needs macOS 15 Sequoia or later on the host.

Take a worked example. Someone on an M2 MacBook Air running Fusion 13 opens a Windows 10 guest copied from an Intel Mac, ticks Accelerate 3D graphics, and still sees poor frame rates. Fusion version is fine and the guest is supported, so the hardware version is the suspect: a machine originally built under Fusion 10 carries version 16, below the 18 needed for OpenGL 4.1. Upgrading the virtual hardware, not the Mac, is the fix.

Where to Ask Once the Checks Run Out

Free users no longer have a support ticket to open. Broadcom directs them to the community forums, the product documentation and the knowledge base instead. Bring four details to any question: the Fusion version, the host macOS version, the guest operating system, and the virtual hardware version. Those four decide every answer in the tables above.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I Need a License Key for VMware Fusion?

No. Fusion Pro has been free for every user since November 11, 2024, and the installer never asks for a key. A free Broadcom Basic account is needed to reach the download, but that is the only credential involved.

Can I Run macOS in a Virtual Machine on My Mac?

You can create macOS guests in Fusion, but as of September 2026 they run without 3D acceleration on a macOS host. Graphics-heavy work inside a macOS guest will feel slow, because the desktop is drawn in software. For anything that needs real 3D, a Windows or Linux guest is the better target.

Does VMware Fusion Work on Apple Silicon Macs?

Yes, from Fusion 13.x.x onward. M1, M2, M3 and M4 Macs all need that release or newer, and older builds are not an option. Windows 11 on Apple Silicon also gained accelerated graphics, which VMware introduced through the Fusion 2023 tech preview.

Why Is Accelerate 3D Graphics Grayed Out?

The virtual machine is powered on or suspended. Broadcom’s documentation states that these display settings cannot be changed in either state. Shut the guest down from inside its own operating system, then open Settings and Display again.

How Much Disk Space Does Each Virtual Machine Need?

At least 5 GB per virtual machine, plus 1.5 GB for Fusion Pro itself on current releases. That is a floor rather than a working figure, since a Windows guest with updates and applications will want far more. Two guests on one Mac therefore start at 11.5 GB before anything useful goes inside them.

Can Two Versions of Fusion Coexist on One Mac?

Yes, as long as the older copy is renamed before the newer one is installed. Installing Fusion 13 over an existing setup replaces it automatically, so rename the old application to something like VMware Fusion 12 first. Both then live in Applications side by side.

Set up the Broadcom account first, because the support portal is the only route to the installer now. After that, installation is a drag into Applications and two password prompts, with no key to hunt for. Save the 3D acceleration work for a moment when the guest is fully shut down, check the hardware version before assuming the feature is broken, and remember that a macOS guest on a macOS host will not get accelerated graphics whatever you tick.

What This Page Does Not Publish

  • I do not compare Intel and Apple Silicon performance here; choose based on your own workload.
  • I do not list every supported guest operating system; this guide stays with Windows, Linux and macOS.
  • I do not set disk speed targets for virtual machine storage.

References

Author Profile

Eric Dawson
Eric Dawson
I'm Eric Dawson, the writer behind The Money Watch. I live in the Columbus, Ohio area and I write about the ordinary questions that turn out to be complicated: computers, shopping, food, travel, parking, small businesses, fees, rules and products. Every article starts with the official page, the maker or the agency, then the sources that check it, and I say plainly where they disagree and what I would do. More about how I work is on the About page.