Boot Camp (software)

Boot Camp Assistant
DeveloperApple
ReleaseOctober 26, 2007; 18 years ago (2007-10-26)
Final release
6.1.19 Edit this on Wikidata (29 August 2022; 4 years ago (29 August 2022))
TypeSoftware assistant for dual booting
LicenseProprietary
Websitesupport.apple.com/boot-camp

Boot Camp is a multi-boot feature supported by Apple for their macOS operating system to assist users in installing, managing, and booting into Microsoft Windows on Intel-based Macintosh computers. The Boot Camp Assistant 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. Boot Camp Assistant also handles the installation of a Windows Control Panel applet to control the selection of the default boot operating system.

Initially an unsupported beta for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, Boot Camp was introduced with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and has been included in subsequent versions of the operating system. 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 supported only Windows 7. 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 supported.

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, only accepts new installations of Windows 7 and later. This requirement was upgraded to requiring Windows 10 for macOS 10.14 Mojave.

Boot Camp is not supported on Apple silicon Macs, though it is possible to run ARM-based Windows 10 or Windows 11 via virtualization. As such, the application was removed in macOS 27 Golden Gate as that version of macOS only supports Apple silicon Macs.

Overview

Installation

Installing 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 supports Windows 10 on Macs dated mid-2012 or newer. Apple silicon is not supported due to being ARM-based; although Windows 11 is able to run on ARM64, Microsoft only licenses Windows releases for ARM64 to original equipment manufacturers, and there are no drivers for the Apple silicon SoCs, so Windows cannot run on Apple silicon Macs natively.

Start-up Disk

A Mac boots from the last-used start-up disk. Holding down the option key (⌥) at startup brings up the boot manager which allows users to choose in which operating system to start the device. When using a non-Apple keyboard, the alt key performs the same action. The boot manager can also be launched by pressing 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.

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

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:

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:

Supported Mac computers with Windows 8

The earliest Macs that support Windows 8 are the mid-2011 MacBook Air, 13" mid-2011 or 15" and 17" mid-2010 MacBook Pro, except the mid-2010 13" computers, mid-2011 Mac Mini, 21" mid-2011 or 27" mid-2010 iMac, except the 21.5" mid-2010, and early 2009 Mac Pro.

Limitations

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 Mac 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 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 to work 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 online 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
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
4.0 July 20, 2012
  • Drops support for Windows XP and Vista
  • 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
  • Available only 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)
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" MacBook Pro (2019 and 2020) and 13" MacBook Pro (2020)
6.1.14 May 17, 2021
  • Additional security updates
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
  • 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

References

  1. 1 2 Broersma, Matthew (April 13, 2006). "Users Find Flaw in Boot Camp". PC World. Archived from the original on May 3, 2019. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
  2. ↑ Mossberg, Walter (April 6, 2006). "Boot Camp Turns Your Mac Into a Reliable Windows PC". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on March 6, 2007. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
  3. ↑ Kessler, Topher (August 1, 2011). "Boot Camp 4 requires Windows 7 or later". CNET. Archived from the original on September 7, 2013. Retrieved February 24, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Boot Camp 5: Frequently asked questions". Apple Inc. Archived from the original on October 10, 2014. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Apple BootCamp 5.0 only supports 64-bit versions of Windows 7 and 8". BetaNews. March 15, 2013. Archived from the original on March 19, 2013. Retrieved March 17, 2013.
  6. 1 2 Warren, Tom (June 24, 2020). "Apple's new ARM-based Macs won't support Windows through Boot Camp". The Verge. Archived from the original on February 7, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Just Released: Parallels Desktop 16.5 for Mac Supports Both M1 and Intel Chips". Parallels Blog. April 14, 2021. Archived from the original on January 20, 2022. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
  8. ↑ "Use Windows 10 on your Mac with Boot Camp". Apple Support. Archived from the original on October 20, 2016. Retrieved October 29, 2016.
  9. ↑ "You need BIOS compatibility and a MBR partition table to boot Windows". rEFIt project. December 9, 2006. Archived from the original on April 21, 2019. Retrieved July 19, 2009.
  10. ↑ "EFI and Windows on Option Boot Screen". Twocanoes. December 4, 2013. Archived from the original on December 18, 2016. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  11. 1 2 "Boot Camp: System requirements for Microsoft Windows". Apple Inc. January 19, 2010. Archived from the original on July 25, 2010. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
  12. ↑ "Boot Camp 2.0: Which versions of Microsoft Windows are supported?". Apple Inc. June 17, 2008. Archived from the original on September 13, 2008. Retrieved October 3, 2008.
  13. 1 2 "Boot Camp: Macs that work with 64-bit editions of Microsoft Windows Vista". Apple Inc. December 21, 2010. Archived from the original on June 23, 2011. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
  14. ↑ "Boot Camp: System requirements for Microsoft Windows operating systems". Apple Inc. March 14, 2013. Archived from the original on March 18, 2013. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
  15. ↑ "Boot Camp: Frequently asked questions about installing Windows 8". Apple Inc. March 14, 2013. Archived from the original on March 18, 2013. Retrieved March 17, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Set up a Windows partition on your Mac". Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  17. ↑ Hoffman, Chris (April 21, 2014). "How to Install and Dual Boot Linux on a Mac". How-To Geek. Valnet Publishing Group. Archived from the original on August 20, 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  18. ↑ "Use an external graphics processor with your Mac". Archived from the original on July 3, 2019. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
  19. ↑ Apple Inc. (March 16, 2011). "Boot Camp 3.0, Mac OS X 10.6: Frequently asked questions". Boot Camp 3.0, Mac OS X 10.6: Frequently asked questions. Apple Inc. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  20. ↑ "Boot Camp Software Update 3.3 for Windows". Archived from the original on September 25, 2011. Retrieved August 30, 2011.
  21. ↑ Gregg, Keizer (August 2, 2011). "OS X Lion requires Windows 7 for Boot Camp". Computerworld. IDG Communications, Inc. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  22. ↑ Apple Staff (March 8, 2024). "Boot Camp Support Software 5.0.5033". Documentation. Apple, Inc. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  23. ↑ "About the security content of Boot Camp 6.1.14". Apple Inc. May 17, 2021. Archived from the original on October 2, 2022. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
  24. ↑ "Boot Camp update to version 6.1.19". GamingDeputy. August 31, 2022. Archived from the original on October 2, 2022. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  25. ↑ "Boot Camp Support Software 5.1.5621". Apple Support Documentation. Apple, Inc. March 8, 2024. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  26. ↑ "Boot Camp Support Software 5.1.5640". Apple Support Documentation. Apple, Inc. March 8, 2024. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  27. ↑ "Boot Camp Support Software 5.1.5722". Apple Support Documentation. Apple, Inc. March 8, 2024. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  28. ↑ "Download Boot Camp Support Software 5.1.5769". Apple Support Documentation. Apple, Inc. March 8, 2024. Retrieved August 21, 2025.