Waves V12 focuses on productivity and modern display support:

Officially supported on macOS 10.13.6 (High Sierra) through 11.5.2 (Big Sur).

Waves V12 was built primarily for Intel-based Macs and older macOS versions:

A new search engine allows you to find and audition presets instantly via text search while your track is playing.

V12 does not have native support for M1/M2/M3 chips; it may run on these systems only through the Apple Rosetta 2 emulator.