Boot Camp (software) explained

Boot Camp Assistant
Developer:	Apple Inc.
Genre:	Software assistant for dual booting
License:	Proprietary

Boot Camp Assistant is a multi boot utility included with Apple Inc.'s macOS (previously) that assists users in installing Microsoft Windows operating systems on Intel-based Macintosh computers. The utility guides users through non-destructive disk partitioning (including resizing of an existing HFS+ or APFS partition, if necessary) of their hard disk drive or solid-state drive and installation of Windows device drivers for the Apple hardware. The utility also installs a Windows Control Panel applet for selecting the default boot operating system.

Initially introduced as an unsupported beta for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger,^{[1] [2]} the utility was first introduced with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and has been included in subsequent versions of the operating system ever since. Previous versions of Boot Camp supported Windows XP and Windows Vista. Boot Camp 4.0 for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard version 10.6.6 up to Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion version 10.8.2 only supported Windows 7.^[3] However, with the release of Boot Camp 5.0 for Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion in version 10.8.3, only 64-bit versions of Windows 7 and Windows 8 are officially supported.^{[4] [5]}

Boot Camp 6.0 added support for 64-bit versions of Windows 10. Boot Camp 6.1, available on macOS 10.12 Sierra and later, will only accept new installations of Windows 7 and later; this requirement was upgraded to requiring Windows 10 for macOS 10.14 Mojave.

Boot Camp is currently not available on Apple silicon Macs.^[6] Via virtualization, it is possible to run ARM-based Windows 10 (only Windows Insider builds, as they are the only publicly available ARM builds of Windows 10) and Windows 11 through the QEMU emulator,^[7] VMWare Fusion, and Parallels Desktop virtualization software, which also allows Linux.^[8]

Overview

Installation

Setting up Windows 10 on a Mac requires an ISO image of Windows 10 provided by Microsoft. Boot Camp combines Windows 10 with install scripts to load hardware drivers for the targeted Mac computer.

Boot Camp currently supports Windows 10 on a range of Macs dated mid-2012 or newer.^[9] Apple Silicon is not supported due to being ARM-based. Although Windows 11 supports ARM64, the ARM64 version is only licensed to OEMs, and there are no M1/M2 drivers, so it cannot run on Apple Silicon Macs natively.

Start-up Disk

By default, Mac will always boot from the last-used start-up disk. Holding down the option key (⌥) at startup brings up the boot manager, which allows the user to choose which operating system to start the device in. When using a non-Apple keyboard, the alt key usually performs the same action. The boot manager can also be launched by holding down the "menu" button on the Apple Remote at startup.

On older Macs, its functionality relies on BIOS emulation through EFI and a partition table information synchronization mechanism between GPT and MBR combined.^[10]

On newer Macs, Boot Camp keeps the hard disk as a GPT so that Windows is installed and booted in UEFI mode.^[11]

Requirements

Mac OS X 10.7 Lion and OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion

Apple's Boot Camp system requirements lists the following requirements for Mac OS X Lion and OS X Mountain Lion:^[12]

• 8 GB USB storage device, or external drive formatted as MS-DOS (FAT) for installation of Windows drivers for Mac hardware
• 20 GB free hard disk space for a first-time installation or 40 GB for an upgrade from a previous version of Windows
• A full version of one of the following operating systems:
  • Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate (64-bit editions only)
  • Windows 8 and Windows 8 Professional (64-bit editions only)
  • Windows 10 Home, Pro, Pro for Workstation, Education or Enterprise (64-bit editions only)

Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard

Apple lists the following requirements for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard:

• An Intel-based Macintosh computer with the latest firmware (Early Intel-based Macintosh computers require an EFI firmware update for BIOS compatibility).
• A Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard or Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard installation disc or Mac OS X Disc 1 included with Macs that have Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard or Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard preinstalled; this disc is needed for installation of Windows drivers for Mac hardware
• 10 GB free hard disk space (16 GB is recommended for Windows 7)
• A full version of one of the following operating systems:
  • Windows XP Home Edition or Windows XP Professional Edition with Service Pack 2 or higher (32-bit editions only)^[13]
  • Windows Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise or Ultimate (32-bit and 64-bit editions)^[14]
  • Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise or Ultimate (32-bit and 64-bit editions)

Supported Macintosh computers with Windows 8

Officially, the earliest Macintosh models that support Windows 8 are the mid-2011 MacBook Air, 13-inch-mid-2011 or 15 and 17-inch-mid-2010 MacBook Pro(except 13" mid-2010), mid-2011 Mac Mini, 21-inch-mid-2011 or 27-inch-mid-2010 iMac(except the 21.5" mid-2010), and early 2009 Mac Pro.^{[15] [16]} By running the Boot Camp assistant with a compatible version of Microsoft Windows setup disc in the drive and switching to a Windows 8 disc when Mac OS X reboots the machine to begin installing Windows, Windows 8 can be installed on older unsupported hardware. This can also work with Windows 10. Pre-2011 Intel Macs would unofficially run later versions of Windows (Windows 8 through Windows 10).

Limitations

• Boot Camp will only help the user partition their disk if they currently have only a primary HFS partition, an EFI System Partition, and a Mac OS X Recovery Partition. Thus, for example, it is not possible to maintain an additional storage partition.^[17] A workaround has been discovered that involves interrupting the standard procedure after creating the Boot Camp partition, resizing the primary Mac OS X partition and creating a third partition in the now available space, then continuing with the Windows install.^[18] Changes to the partition table after Windows is installed are officially unsupported, but can be achieved with the help of third-party software.^[19]
• Boot Camp does not help users install Linux, and does not provide drivers for it. Most methods for dual-booting with Linux on Mac rely on manual disk partitioning, and the use of an EFI boot manager such as rEFInd.^[20]
• Despite Macs transitioning to Thunderbolt 3 in 2016, Boot Camp does not currently support running Windows with a Thunderbolt 3-powered External GPU (eGPU) unit under macOS High Sierra, macOS Mojave or macOS Catalina. Apple has not publicly commented on why this limitation is in place.^[21]

Boot Camp version history

1.0 beta	April 5, 2006	Original release Contained a software bug that prevented certain users from booting back into Mac OS X
1.1 beta	August 26, 2006	Support for the latest Intel-based Macintosh computers Easier partitioning using presets for popular sizes Ability to install Windows XP on any internal disk Support for built-in iSight cameras Support for built-in microphones Right-click when pressing the right-hand Apple key on Apple keyboards Improved Apple keyboard support including Delete, PrintScreen, NumLock, and ScrollLock keys
1.1.1 beta	September 14, 2006	Support for Core 2 Duo iMacs
1.1.2 beta	October 30, 2006	The Apple USB Modem now works correctly Trackpad scrolling and right-click gestures work correctly Fixed idle sleep bugs Reduced dialogs during Windows driver installation Improved international support Improved 802.11 wireless networking support
1.2 beta	March 28, 2007	Support for 32-bit Windows Vista Updated drivers, including but not limited to trackpad, AppleTime (sync), audio, graphics, modem, iSight camera Support for the Apple Remote (works with iTunes and Windows Media Player) A Windows Notification Area icon for easy access to Boot Camp information and actions Improved keyboard support for Korean, Chinese, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Russian, and French Canadian Improved Windows driver installation experience Updated documentation and Boot Camp on-line help in Windows Apple Software Update (for Windows XP and Vista)
1.3 beta	June 7, 2007	Support for the MacBook Pro's backlit keyboard Apple Remote pairing Updated graphics drivers Improved Boot Camp driver installer Improved international keyboard support Localization fixes Updated Windows Help for Boot Camp
1.4 beta	August 8, 2007	Support for the MacBook Pro's backlit keyboard Adds Apple Remote Pairing Updated graphics drivers Improved Boot Camp driver installer Improved international keyboard support Updates to Windows help for Boot Camp
2.0	October 26, 2007	Updated Boot Camp control panel Updated keyboard support Updated drivers Updated localization Support for the latest Mac models Updates to Windows help for Boot Camp
2.1	April 24, 2008	Support for Windows XP with Service Pack 3 Support for 64-bit Windows Vista
2.2	November 19, 2009	Fixes issues with the trackpad and digital audio ports on portables Adds support for Apple Magic Mouse and Wireless Keyboard
3.0	August 28, 2009	Read Mac Volumes from Windows Read/Copy Files between Mac and Windows Support for advanced features on Apple Cinema displays Improved tap-to-click support Command line version of the Startup Disk Control Panel from Windows^[22]
3.1	January 19, 2010	Support for Windows 7 (Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate) Addresses issues with the Apple trackpad Turns off the red digital audio port LED on laptop computers when it is not being used Supports the Apple wireless keyboard and Apple Magic mouse
3.2	November 18, 2010	Adds support for the ATI Radeon HD 5870 graphics card, Apple USB Ethernet Adapter, MacBook Air SuperDrive Addresses critical bug fixes Drops support for 64-bit Windows Vista
3.3	August 24, 2011	Addresses critical bug fixes Adds support for new hardware Drops support for Windows XP, Windows Vista^[23]
4.0	July 20, 2012	Drops support for all versions of Windows XP and Vista^[24] Currently only available in Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard", Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion", and OS X 10.8 "Mountain Lion" Added Support to Install ISO files from USB
5.0.5033	March 14, 2013	Support for Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro (64-bit only) Boot Camp support for Macs with a 3 TB hard drive Drops support for 32-bit Windows 7 Currently only available in OS X Mountain Lion version 10.8.3 and later
5.1	February 11, 2014	Support for Windows 8.1 and Windows 8.1 Pro (64-bit only)
5.1.2	October 16, 2014
6.0	August 13, 2015	Support for Windows 10 (64-bit only)
6.1	September 20, 2016	Only accept new installations of Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 (64-bit only)
6.1.13	October 26, 2020	Improves audio recording quality when using the built-in microphone Fixes a stability issue that could occur during heavy CPU load on 16-inch MacBook Pro (2019 and 2020) and 13-inch MacBook Pro (2020)
6.1.14	May 17, 2021	Additional security updates^[25]
6.1.15	June 10, 2021	Adds the Precision Touchpad driver for devices with Apple T2 chips
6.1.17	March 19, 2022	Added support for the Studio Display and updates drivers for AMD and Intel GPUs
6.1.16	August 22, 2022	Adds WiFi WPA3 support Fixes a Bluetooth driver issue that could occur when resuming from Sleep or Hibernation modes
6.1.19	August 29, 2022	Additional updates to the Precision Touchpad driver^[26] Addresses other bug fixes

Boot Camp support software (for Windows) version history

!Version!Date!Supported Systems

5.1.5621	Feb 11, 2014	MacBook Air (11-inch & 13-inch, Mid 2011) MacBook Air (11-inch & 13-inch, Mid 2012) MacBook Pro (15-inch & 17-inch, Mid 2010) MacBook Pro (13-inch, & 15-inch, Early 2011) MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011) MacBook Pro (13-inch,15-inch & 17-inch Late 2011) MacBook Pro (13-inch & 15-inch, Mid 2012) MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012) MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012) MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch & 15-inch Early 2013) Mac Pro (Early 2009) Mac Pro (Mid 2010) Mac Pro (Mid 2012) Mac mini (Mid 2011) Mac mini (Late 2012) iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010) iMac (21.5-inch & 27-inch, Mid 2011) iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2011) iMac (21.5-inch & 27-inch, Late 2012) iMac (21.5-inch) Early 2013
5.1.5640	Feb 11, 2014	MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2013) MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2013) MacBook Air (11-inch, Early 2014) MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2014) MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013) MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013) MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014) MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014) Mac Pro (Late 2013) iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013) iMac (27-inch, Late 2013)
5.1.5722	Aug 12, 2015	iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2014)
5.1.5769	Aug 12, 2015	iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014) Mac Mini (Late 2014)
6.1.6655	Sep 25, 2017	MacBook Pro (Retina, 15 inch, 2015) MacBook Pro (Retina, 13 inch, early 2015) MacBook Pro (Retina, 15 inch, mid 2014) MacBook Pro (Retina, 13 inch, mid 2014) MacBook Pro (Retina, 15 inch, Late 2013) MacBook Pro (Retina, 13 inch, Late 2013) MacBook Pro (Retina, 15 inch, early 2013) MacBook Pro (Retina, 13 inch, early 2013) MacBook Pro (Retina, 13 inch, Late 2012) MacBook Pro (Retina, mid 2012) MacBook Pro (13 inch, mid 2012) MacBook Pro (15 inch, mid 2012) MacBook Air (13 inch, early 2015) MacBook Air (11 inch, early 2015) MacBook Air (13 inch, early 2014) MacBook Air (11 inch, early 2014) MacBook Air (13 inch, 2013) MacBook Air (11 inch, 2013) MacBook Air (13 inch, mid 2012) MacBook Air (11 inch, mid 2012) MacBook (Retina display, 12 inch, early 2015) iMac (Retina 5K display, 27 inch, 2015) iMac (Retina 5K display, 27 inch, Late 2014) iMac (21.5 inch, mid 2014) iMac (27 inch, Late 2013) iMac (21.5 inch, Late 2013) iMac (27 inch, Late 2012) iMac (21.5 inch, Late 2012) Mac mini (Late 2014) Mac mini Server (late 2012) Mac mini (late 2012) Mac Pro (late 2013)
6.1.6700	Unknown	MacBook Pro (Retina, 15 inch, 2017)
6.1.6851	Apr 19, 2018	MacBook Pro (Retina, 15 inch, 2017)
6.1.7748	Dec 09, 2019	MacBook Pro (Retina, 16 inch, 2019)
6.1.7800	Unknown	MacBook Pro (Retina, 16 inch, 2019)
6.1.8034	Dec 16, 2021	MacBook Pro (Retina, 16 inch, 2019)

See also

• Parallels Desktop for Mac
• rEFIt and rEFInd
• VMware Fusion
• VirtualBox

External links

• Boot Camp support page and installation instructions
• Using the Apple Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard in Boot Camp
• Troubleshooting Internet Connectivity Issues on Boot Camp with Windows 8

Notes and References

1. Users Find Flaw in Boot Camp. Broersma. Matthew. April 13, 2006. August 2, 2011. PC World. May 3, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190503114425/https://www.pcworld.com/article/125393/article.html. live.
2. News: Boot Camp Turns Your Mac Into a Reliable Windows PC. Walter. Mossberg. The Wall Street Journal. April 6, 2006. August 2, 2011. March 6, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070306112741/http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20060406.html. live.
3. Web site: Boot Camp 4 requires Windows 7 or later . Kessler . Topher . August 1, 2011 . . February 24, 2013 . September 7, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130907225935/http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20086465-263/boot-camp-4-requires-windows-7-or-later/ . live .
4. Web site: Boot Camp 5: Frequently asked questions . . March 14, 2013 . October 10, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141010120243/http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5639 . live .
5. Web site: Apple BootCamp 5.0 only supports 64-bit versions of Windows 7 and 8 . March 15, 2013 . BetaNews . March 17, 2013 . March 19, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130319054744/http://betanews.com/2013/03/15/apple-bootcamp-5-0-only-supports-64-bit-versions-of-windows-7-and-8/ . live .
6. Web site: Warren. Tom. 2020-06-24. Apple's new ARM-based Macs won't support Windows through Boot Camp. 2020-06-25. The Verge. en. February 7, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210207065245/https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/24/21302213/apple-silicon-mac-arm-windows-support-boot-camp. live.
7. Web site: Windows 10 on M1 MacBook Air (Virtualization Sensation) - Krazy Ken's Tech Misadventures . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/MHzGqTgVRuQ . 2021-12-22 . live. Computer Clan . . December 8, 2020 . December 14, 2020.
8. Web site: Just Released: Parallels Desktop 16.5 for Mac Supports Both M1 and Intel Chips. Parallels Blog. 2021-04-14. January 18, 2022. January 20, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220120222034/https://www.parallels.com/blogs/parallels-desktop-m1/. live.
9. News: Use Windows 10 on your Mac with Boot Camp. Apple Support. en-US. 2016-10-29. October 20, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161020203258/https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204990. live.
10. Web site: You need BIOS compatibility and a MBR partition table to boot Windows. rEFIt project. December 9, 2006. July 19, 2009. April 21, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190421033618/http://refit.sourceforge.net/myths/. live.
11. Web site: EFI and Windows on Option Boot Screen. Twocanoes. December 4, 2013. August 23, 2015. December 18, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161218160210/http://blog.twocanoes.com/post/68982862031/efi-and-windows-on-option-boot-screen. live.
12. Web site: Boot Camp: System requirements for Microsoft Windows . March 30, 2010 . January 19, 2010 . Apple Inc. . July 25, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100725054117/http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1899 . live .
13. Web site: Boot Camp 2.0: Which versions of Microsoft Windows are supported? . Apple Inc. . June 17, 2008 . October 3, 2008 . September 13, 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080913205344/http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1888 . live .
14. Web site: Boot Camp: Macs that work with 64-bit editions of Microsoft Windows Vista . Apple Inc. . December 21, 2010 . January 28, 2011 . June 23, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110623062020/http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1846 . live .
15. Web site: Boot Camp: System requirements for Microsoft Windows operating systems . March 14, 2013 . March 14, 2013 . Apple Inc. . March 18, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130318012333/http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5634 . live .
16. Web site: Boot Camp: Frequently asked questions about installing Windows 8 . March 17, 2013 . March 14, 2013 . Apple Inc. . March 18, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130318012328/http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5628 . live .
17. Web site: Set up a Windows partition on your Mac. August 23, 2015. September 23, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150923143104/https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204009. live.
18. Web site: Successful setup of OS X Lion + Data Partition ... - Apple Support Communities. https://web.archive.org/web/20160509211311/https://discussions.apple.com/message/16041377. dead. 2016-05-09.
19. Web site: how to resize my bootcamp partition without del... - Apple Support Communities. August 23, 2015. March 4, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304110949/https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5450324. live.
20. Web site: How to Install and Dual Boot Linux on a Mac. April 21, 2014 . August 23, 2015. August 20, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150820054004/http://www.howtogeek.com/187410/how-to-install-and-dual-boot-linux-on-a-mac/. live.
21. Web site: Use an external graphics processor with your Mac. October 25, 2019. July 3, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190703055606/https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT208544#footnotes. live.
22. Web site: Boot Camp 3.0, Mac OS X 10.6: Frequently asked questions. August 2, 2011. March 16, 2011. Apple Inc.. Apple Inc.. July 14, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110714132104/http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3777. live.
23. Web site: Boot Camp Software Update 3.3 for Windows. August 30, 2011. September 25, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110925010207/http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1443. live.
24. OS X Lion requires Windows 7 for Boot Camp. Keizer. Gregg. Computerworld. April 5, 2024. August 2, 2011.
25. Web site: About the security content of Boot Camp 6.1.14. October 2, 2022. May 17, 2021. Apple Inc.. October 2, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221002124916/https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212517. live.
26. Web site: Boot Camp update to version 6.1.19. October 2, 2022. August 31, 2022. Gaming Deputy. October 2, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221002124916/https://www.gamingdeputy.com/boot-camp-update-to-version-6-1-19/. live.