Full Guide of Boot Camp on Mac & How to Use It

When you encounter special situations, such as game or work needs, you may need to install Windows system on your Mac. At this time, you need to switch systems with the help of Boot Camp.

This article will explain what Boot Camp is and how to install Windows on Mac using Boot Camp. Read on for more detailed information.

What Is Boot Camp on Mac

Boot Camp is a free utility built into every Intel-based Mac that Apple introduced in 2007 with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. It can be used to install Windows on a Mac for free, and then you can switch between macOS and Windows OS without deleting the system.

Boot Camp now supports multiple Windows operating systems. In addition to Windows XP and Windows Vista, Boot Camp 5.0 also supports Windows 7. Higher versions of Boot Camp allow installing Windows 7, 8, and higher on Intel Macs. 

However, Boot Camp Assistant is not available on Apple silicon Macs. If you have an M1 Mac, then you will need to use Parallels or another virtual machine. 

You can find Boot Camp Assistant in Applications > Utilities or Launchpad on your Mac.

What Are the Pros and Cons of Boot Camp on Mac

Boot Camp is a free system-switching tool. It has some advantages and disadvantages. After understanding these pros and cons, you can take better-targeted measures. Let's look at the pros and cons of Boot Camp.

Pros

• Free and safe to use, it is built into the Mac.
• It offers a more stable performance for playing games and using resource-intensive applications.
• With anti-cheat software, it is the only way to play certain games on Mac, such as Hogwarts Legacy on Mac.

Cons

• Unable to run Windows and macOS simultaneously, it creates a partition for the second operating system.
• No interoperability and no access to macOS files on Windows.
• The second partition created will take up a lot of space.
• Unable to go back and change partition size when adding more storage to a Mac after completing a Windows installation using Boot Camp.

How to Install Windows on Mac with Boot Camp

Once you've got a clear idea of what Boot Camp is and its pros and cons, it's time to learn how to use this tool. Let's start with the step-by-step preparation on how to install Windows on Mac.

Guide 1. Preparations Before Installing Windows via Boot Camp

1. Make sure your Mac system is up to date. And you need to have an Intel-based Mac.

2. Have a hard drive with at least 60GB of storage space. 128GB of available storage space will provide the best experience.

3. This process will take a long time, so keep your computer's power level above 60%.

4. Boot Camp is preinstalled on macOS, but if you don't have it, please download the Boot Camp support software.

5. The first installation requires a full version of Windows, not an upgrade.

Guide 2. Install Windows on Mac via Boot Camp

Step 1. Download Windows 10 ISO file

• Go to Microsoft Windows 10 ISO download page.
• Select Windows 10 version.
• Confirm language and 64-bit download and save.

Step 2. Create a Windows partition via Boot Camp Assistant

• Plug in the USB and open Boot Camp Assistant.
• Select the ISO image archive for Windows 10.
• Set the size of the Windows partition to create a bootable USB drive for Windows installation.

Step 3. Format the Windows Boot Camp partition

• After the Boot Camp Assistant completes, reboot the Windows installer.
• Select the Boot Camp partition and click Format.

Step 4. Install Windows

Click Next and follow the on-screen instructions for Windows installation.

Step 5. Use the Boot Camp installer on Windows

• Start and open the "Welcome to the Boot Camp Installer" window in Windows
• Follow the on-screen instructions to install Boot Camp and Windows support software (drivers)

These are the simple steps to install the Windows system on Mac. If you want to change the two systems, press and hold Option or Alt during the startup process.

Further Reading: How to Install Windows on Mac without Boot Camp

Conclusion

Do you have a clearer idea about Boot Camp on Mac now? As a free and good tool, it has advantages and disadvantages. It is the best choice for installing Windows on Mac.

Moreover, this article gives a step-by-step guide to installing Windows on Mac with Boot Camp. Simple steps are given from preparation to downloading and then installation. We hope this article is helpful for you to understand and use Boot Camp on Mac.