If you’ve been using Windows to work on your projects at home or in the workplace and you’ve been thinking of getting a Mac, don’t fret. You don’t have to spend a lot of time wondering how to operate your Mac. For several years, Apple has been equipping Macs with an Intel chip through Boot Camp Assistant to allow users to install Windows on Mac. Recently, Apple developed a processor for Mac devices and this led to the release of the Apple Silicon Mac. The transition from Intel to ARM Macs was huge. The M1 Mac featured improved efficiency and performance compared to the Intel Mac. However, it’s not a perfect machine. Most users have a hard time installing Windows on the Mac M1 since this mac doesn’t support bootcamp.
Defining Bootcamp
One of the easiest ways that you can use to run Windows on Mac is through bootcamp download for mac. It is a tool that has been built into every Mac that is Intel-based. Apple released it back in 2007 together with the Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. At first, it only supported Windows Vista and XP. However, when Boot Camp 5.0 was released, it came with Windows 7 support. Later, several Boot Camp versions allowed users to install Windows 8 and above on Intel Macs only.
Can you install Windows 10 via Boot Camp? Bootcamp assistant is a great tool. However, it is not compatible with Apple Silicon Macs. This means that you’ll fail to use Boot Camp on M1 Mac if you try using this method. You can only run Windows 10 on your Mac by using virtualization software. Its installation process is quite similar to that of Boot Camp. You can download the Windows 10 ISO on setapp to avoid security threats while using your computer.
Preparing your Mac M1 for Windows
Before you start the installation process with boot camp mac, one of the most important steps that you should take include:
- Ensuring that your device is connected to a power source and charging since the whole process might take a couple of hours
- Ensuring that your device has ample disk space. You’ll require at least 128 GB of free space before you start the installation process since bootcamp assistant windows 10 usually divides the hard drive into two. One section will be for Windows and the other for Mac. In most cases, Windows Update requires 68GB of storage. Therefore, with 128 GB, you’ll have plenty of space.
- Having a USB flash drive with free space of at least 16GB to install Windows 10 Mac using Boot Camp. If your device runs on macOS El Capitan, you won’t need to have a USB drive or download bootcamp for mac. Some of the models that don’t require an external flash drive include:
- 2015 MacBook and later
- 2017 MacBook Air and later
- 2015 MacBook Pro and later
- All models of iMac Pro
- 2014 Mac Pro and later
- Updating your Mac. You need to ensure that your operating system is up to date before starting the installation process to minimize the chances of having installation issues.
- Downloading Windows 10 ISO. Downloading an ISO file is not a fairly simple process. By downloading the ISO file, you’ll get the latest version of the platform. Before downloading this file, plug your USB drive into your Mac and select it as the place where you’d like to save the file.
Install Windows on Mac with Boot Camp
Once your device has finished downloading Windows 10 ISO on the drive, remember to back up your files. Next, head to Boot Camp Assistant under Finder > Applications. Select Continue. Your system will automatically find the ISO image on your drive. If this doesn’t happen, you can find its location manually. After typing in your password, the Windows installation process will start.
When your device restarts, you’ll see a Windows screen. If you are new to this world, select your preferred language and choose Custom: Install Windows only. In this process, your Mac will restart several times. After keying in your new username and password for Windows, your device will boot.
Returning to MacOS
You can return to MacOS by using two simple methods. The first one is selecting the hidden icons at the bottom of the screen on Windows 10 taskbar. You’ll get the option of restarting in MacOS. The other option is restarting your device by holding the Option key down during the installation process. You’ll see a boot menu that will give you the option of booting in Windows or MacOS.
Conclusion
Bootcamp for mac is an amazing tool that is free to use for Mac users. If you want to run windows 10 mac, using the tips that we’ve discussed here will help you achieve this goal easily.
Also read: Macbook Air vs. Competitors