Boot Camp Requirements By Mac Model

Jan 19, 2014  Install Boot Camp 64 Bit Drivers on Unsupported Macs. BOOT CAMP X64 IS UNSUPPORTED ON THIS COMPUTER MODEL – SOLUTION. Dual-Boot Windows 10 On An Unsupported Mac. Boot Camp is a utility that comes with your Mac and lets you switch between macOS and Windows. Download your copy of Windows 10, then let Boot Camp Assistant walk you through the installation steps. Get started with Boot Camp. Boot Camp Assistant helps you install Windows on your Mac. The installation process depends on your Mac model. You might need a USB drive.

Boot Camp Requirements By Mac Model 10

What you need to install Windows 10 on Mac

  • MacBook introduced in 2015 or later
  • MacBook Air introduced in 2012 or later
  • MacBook Pro introduced in 2012 or later
  • Mac mini introduced in 2012 or later
  • iMac introduced in 2012 or later1
  • iMac Pro (all models)
  • Mac Pro introduced in 2013 or later

Dec 06, 2018  In macOS High Sierra and earlier, you can install Windows 10, Windows 8.1, and Windows 7 using Boot Camp Assistant on supported Mac models. Information about products not manufactured by Apple, or independent websites not controlled or tested.

The latest macOS updates, which can include updates to Boot Camp Assistant. You will use Boot Camp Assistant to install Windows 10.

64GB or more free storage space on your Mac startup disk:

  • Your Mac can have as little as 64GB of free storage space, but at least 128GB of free storage space provides the best experience. Automatic Windows updates require that much space or more.
  • If you have an iMac Pro or Mac Pro with 128GB of memory (RAM) or more, your startup disk needs at least as much free storage space as your Mac has memory.2
Requirements

An external USB flash drive with a storage capacity of 16GB or more, unless you're using a Mac that doesn't need a flash drive to install Windows.

A 64-bit version of Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro on a disk image (ISO) or other installation media. If installing Windows on your Mac for the first time, this must be a full version of Windows, not an upgrade.

  • If your copy of Windows came on a USB flash drive, or you have a Windows product key and no installation disc, download a Windows 10 disk image from Microsoft.
  • If your copy of Windows came on a DVD, you might need to create a disk image of that DVD.

How to install Windows 10 on Mac

To install Windows, use Boot Camp Assistant, which is included with your Mac.

1. Use Boot Camp Assistant to create a Windows partition

Open Boot Camp Assistant, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder. Then follow the onscreen instructions.

  • If you're asked to insert a USB drive, plug your USB flash drive into your Mac. Boot Camp Assistant will use it to create a bootable USB drive for Windows installation.
  • When Boot Camp Assistant asks you to set the size of the Windows partition, remember the minimum storage-space requirements in the previous section. Set a partition size that meets your needs, because you can't change its size later.

2. Format the Windows (BOOTCAMP) partition

When Boot Camp Assistant finishes, your Mac restarts to the Windows installer. If the installer asks where to install Windows, select the BOOTCAMP partition and click Format. In most cases, the installer selects and formats the BOOTCAMP partition automatically.

Boot Camp Software For Mac

3. Install Windows

Unplug any external devices that aren't necessary during installation. Then click Next and follow the onscreen instructions to begin installing Windows.

4. Use the Boot Camp installer in Windows

Model

After Windows installation completes, your Mac starts up in Windows and opens a ”Welcome to the Boot Camp installer” window. Follow the onscreen instructions to install Boot Camp and Windows support software (drivers). You will be asked to restart when done.

  • If the Boot Camp installer never opens, open the Boot Camp installer manually and use it to complete Boot Camp installation.
  • If you have an external display connected to a Thunderbolt 3 port on your Mac, the display will be blank (black, gray, or blue) for up to 2 minutes during installation.

How to switch between Windows and macOS

Restart, then press and hold the Option (or Alt) ⌥ key during startup to switch between Windows and macOS.

Learn more

If you have one of these Mac models using OS X El Capitan 10.11 or later, you don't need a USB flash drive to install Windows:

  • MacBook introduced in 2015 or later
  • MacBook Air introduced in 2015 or later3
  • MacBook Pro introduced in 2015 or later3
  • iMac introduced in 2015 or later
  • iMac Pro (all models)
  • Mac Pro introduced in late 2013

To remove Windows from your Mac, use Boot Camp Assistant, not any other utility.

For more information about using Windows on your Mac, open Boot Camp Assistant and click the Open Boot Camp Help button.

Boot Camp Requirements By Mac Model

1. If you're using an iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014) or iMac (27-inch, Late 2013) or iMac (27-inch, Late 2012) with a 3TB hard drive and macOS Mojave or later, learn about an alert you might see during installation.

2. For example, if your Mac has 128GB of memory, its startup disk must have at least 128GB of storage space available for Windows. To see how much memory your Mac has, choose Apple menu  > About This Mac. To see how much storage space is available, click the Storage tab in the same window.

3. These Mac models were offered with 128GB hard drives as an option. Apple recommends 256GB or larger hard drives so that you can create a Boot Camp partition of at least 128GB.

I have a 2012 iMac 13,2 with a 3TB Fusion Drive. When I updated to macOS Mojave, I loss my Windows Partition. I was hoping this update would address this issue but after installing the file I still can not install Boot Camp. I was wondering if anyone had any luck after this update.

I have the same machine with the same drive, and I came to the comment thread specifically looking to see if anyone else had tried this; so thanks for your insights on this.
That said, I'm afraid I'm not surprised that it didn't fix the issue for 2012 iMacs. My understanding is its a rather complicated matter, in this very specific configuration, but here's my best attempt at a layman's interpretation of the situation: Going forward, the 2012 models are no longer going to be able to support Windows installations on hard drives which exceed 2TB, in part because Windows itself does not support boot volumes outside of the first 2TB of the hard drive on that generation of hardware -- and possibly in conjunction with bugs associated with the partitioning scheme required to accomplish the installation of Windows, within those constraints. So in previous versions of Bootcamp, it sliced up the hard drive so that it basically looks something like this ...
|----- MacOS Hard Drive (partition 1 of volume 1) ----- | (Windows size minus 2TB)
| -- Windows (volume 2) -- | (2TB)
| ---- MacOS Hard Drive (partition 2 of volume 1) ---- | (3TB)
... where the sizes indicated at the end of each line are the location on the disk at which that partition ends.
At the time, I thought Apple had come up with a really slick and interesting method for solving that 2TB boundary. I guess Apple has concluded that that's not so much true anymore.