Running macOS virtual machines (VMs) on Apple silicon Macs has been a goal for Apple, but the experience is different from virtualizing macOS on Intel Macs. Apple introduced virtualization as one of the three pillars for supporting software diversity on its new M-series Macs, along with Universal apps and Rosetta 2. With the release of Big Sur, Apple included Virtualization Extensions based on Arm’s AArch64 virtualization, but the real difference lies in the device support. Apple built device support into macOS using Virtio drivers, simplifying the process of creating a virtualizer app. This approach gives Apple control over hardware and feature support, ensuring excellent performance in VMs and flexibility for the future. The availability of lightweight virtualization and Virtio is likely to increase the popularity of virtualization on Apple silicon Macs in the coming years.
https://eclecticlight.co/2023/12/29/why-are-apple-silicon-vms-so-different/