Boot Camp (software)

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.{{Cite news|url=https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204990|title=Use Windows 10 on your Mac with Boot Camp|newspaper=Apple Support|language=en-US|access-date=2016-10-29|archive-date=October 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020203258/https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204990|url-status=live}} 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 drivers for the Apple silicon SoCs, so it cannot run on Apple Silicon Macs natively.

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.{{cite web|url=http://refit.sourceforge.net/myths/|title=You need BIOS compatibility and a MBR partition table to boot Windows|publisher=rEFIt project|date=December 9, 2006|access-date=July 19, 2009|archive-date=April 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421033618/http://refit.sourceforge.net/myths/|url-status=live}}

On newer Macs, Boot Camp keeps the hard disk as a GPT so that Windows is installed and booted in UEFI mode.{{cite web|url=http://blog.twocanoes.com/post/68982862031/efi-and-windows-on-option-boot-screen|title=EFI and Windows on Option Boot Screen|publisher=Twocanoes|date=December 4, 2013|access-date=August 23, 2015|archive-date=December 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161218160210/http://blog.twocanoes.com/post/68982862031/efi-and-windows-on-option-boot-screen|url-status=live}}

Apple's Boot Camp system requirements lists the following requirements for Mac OS X Lion and OS X Mountain Lion:{{cite web |url=http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1899 |title=Boot Camp: System requirements for Microsoft Windows |access-date=March 30, 2010 |date=January 19, 2010 |publisher=Apple Inc. |archive-date=July 25, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100725054117/http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1899 |url-status=live }}

• 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)

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){{cite web |url=http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1888 |title=Boot Camp 2.0: Which versions of Microsoft Windows are supported? |publisher=Apple Inc. |date=June 17, 2008 |access-date=October 3, 2008 |archive-date=September 13, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913205344/http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1888 |url-status=live }}
• Windows Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise or Ultimate (32-bit and 64-bit editions){{cite web |url=http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1846 |title=Boot Camp: Macs that work with 64-bit editions of Microsoft Windows Vista |publisher=Apple Inc. |date=December 21, 2010 |access-date=January 28, 2011 |archive-date=June 23, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110623062020/http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1846 |url-status=live }}
• Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise or Ultimate (32-bit and 64-bit editions)

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.{{cite web |url=http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5634 |title=Boot Camp: System requirements for Microsoft Windows operating systems |access-date=March 14, 2013 |date=March 14, 2013 |publisher=Apple Inc. |archive-date=March 18, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130318012333/http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5634 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5628 |title=Boot Camp: Frequently asked questions about installing Windows 8 |access-date=March 17, 2013 |date=March 14, 2013 |publisher=Apple Inc. |archive-date=March 18, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130318012328/http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5628 |url-status=live }} 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.{{citation needed|date=July 2014}} This can also work with Windows 10. Pre-2011 Intel Macs would unofficially run later versions of Windows (Windows 8 through Windows 10).

• 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.{{cite web|url=https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204009|title=Set up a Windows partition on your Mac|access-date=August 23, 2015|archive-date=September 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923143104/https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204009|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://discussions.apple.com/message/16041377|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509211311/https://discussions.apple.com/message/16041377|url-status=dead|archive-date=2016-05-09|title=Successful setup of OS X Lion + Data Partition ... - Apple Support Communities}} Changes to the partition table after Windows is installed are officially unsupported, but can be achieved with the help of third-party software.{{cite web|url=https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5450324|title=how to resize my bootcamp partition without del... - Apple Support Communities|access-date=August 23, 2015|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304110949/https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5450324|url-status=live}}
• 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.howtogeek.com/187410/how-to-install-and-dual-boot-linux-on-a-mac/|title=How to Install and Dual Boot Linux on a Mac|date=April 21, 2014 |access-date=August 23, 2015|archive-date=August 20, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150820054004/http://www.howtogeek.com/187410/how-to-install-and-dual-boot-linux-on-a-mac/|url-status=live}}
• 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.{{Cite web|url=https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT208544#footnotes|title=Use an external graphics processor with your Mac|access-date=October 25, 2019|archive-date=July 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703055606/https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT208544#footnotes|url-status=live}}

{{Update|date=June 2020}}

{{AppleIntel}}

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

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{{Reflist|35em}}

{{Wikinews|Apple unveils "Boot Camp" allowing Windows to work on Macs}}

• [https://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/ Boot Camp support page and installation instructions]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080508173530/http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304109 Using the Apple Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard in Boot Camp]
• [https://cgelves.com/solution-for-internet-connection-issue-windows-bootcamp-no-wifi-on-apple-mac/ Troubleshooting Internet Connectivity Issues on Boot Camp with Windows 8] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710000612/https://cgelves.com/solution-for-internet-connection-issue-windows-bootcamp-no-wifi-on-apple-mac/ |date=July 10, 2017 }}

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