

The next thing we need to do, is to copy the install.wim file from the Windows 11 ISO to the sources directory on the USB drive. Then I create the sources folder and copy all files from sources with the exception of install.wim: Prepare to split the Windows 11 install.wim I typically start by copying all separate files and folders, except for the sources folder: Once you did this, open it in Finder alongside the newly created partition on the USB drive, which I called WIN11 in Disk Utility. Double-check to make sure you’re mounting the Windows 10 one and not the one for Windows 11. Start by double-clicking on the Windows 10 ISO, called Win10_21H1_English_圆4.iso, in order to mount it.

To do so, we need to copy all files from the Windows 10 ISO, with the exception of sources/install.wim to the USB drive. As mentioned, the way I use to get around the hardware requirements check is to use the Windows 10 installer to install Windows 11. Copy Windows 10 files to the USB driveĪfter the previous step, our USB drive is prepared. Finally click “Erase” to complete the process. In the dialog, enter a name for the drive (WIN11 here), choose to format as “MS-DOS (FAT)” and “Master Boot Record” as scheme. Then, on the left side, select your USB drive from the list and click Erase on the top left menu. In Disk Utility, choose to show all devices: Insert the drive in your Mac and start Disk Utility. While both the ISOs are downloading, we can prepare our USB drive. Prepare the USB drive for the Windows installer
The approach will be to use the “old” Windows 10 installer and combine that with the Windows 11 installation files. Creating the bootable Windows 11 USB installer Nevertheless, nothing stops you in using a M1 Mac to create the USB installer.

There is an ARM-based version of Windows 11 on the way but I haven’t tested that yet. Keep in mind that running Windows 11 natively on a M1 Mac currently is not working with this method. For this article I used a Macbook Air Early 2015 which has a Core I5-5250U and 8GB of RAM and with a few minor tweaks, I got Windows 11 to install and everything working just fine, including updates. As by default, due to the specific hardware requirements mentioned above, it refuses to get installed without any further changes. Windows 11 is about to be released at the time of writing this and I was very curious to find out if I would manage to get it to work on one of my Macs.
