Oh, anything is possible. But if the low level structure of the ARM chip doesn't follow the Intel architecture (and it would be patent issue if it did, in addition of blocking the idea that Apple has to allow iOS apps to run on the Mac and vice-versa) then it will be much more of a challenge to create emulators of Intel-based software to run on the ARM architecture. And Apple really has very little reason to care about anyone who wants to run Windows. When they shifted from the PowerPC chip to the Intel chip, it make running Windows very easy, so people jumped on it as a good thing. Given enough time, it might be possible for Parallels or VMware or Oracle to figure out how to run Intel architecture on ARM hardware, but it's more of a challenge and one that is full of risk. Apple can, at any time, make an architecture change that suites them just fine, but which would push the emulators back to square one.
Patrick, I will nurse the system I have as long as I can, obviously. And as long as Apple provides support, that's fine. But I'm worried about when they abandon the Intel machines totally and the macOS updates no longer run or apply. Maybe it won't be an issue before we decide to close the business totally and the printer is no longer needed.
Charlie, the AMD/Intel issue is much different from the ARM/Intel difference. ARM basically reverse-engineered the Intel architecture and produced chips that are (mostly) compatible with Intel. ARM is a totally different architecture internally, more like the PowerPC to Intel change Apple made some time back. Rosetta was the bridge, then Apple abandoned it and all the PowerPC apps died. Maybe Apple will have Rosetta2 to keep Intel apps going for a while (it would make sense to do so) and maybe Parallels would bridge off that to have Windows still run in Virtual Machines. If the demand is there, someone will do it.
