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Apple discontinues Boot Camp support for Windows 7 on latest MacBook models

Apple’s latest MacBook Pro and the upcoming MacBook will not support running Windows 7 through Boot Camp according to a support document for the software. Starting on the newest machines, users will need to upgrade to Windows 8 or later in order to take advantage of the Mac’s dual-boot capabilities.

Of course, for users who still rely on Windows 7, there are solutions that allow you to run the operating system on your Mac. Both Parallels Desktop 10 and VMWare Fusion 7 Pro support versions of Windows back to XP and feature an integrated experience designed for the latest version of OS X.

Microsoft recently announced that it would be taking a page from Apple’s playbook and allowing existing Windows 7 and 8 users to upgrade to the upcoming Windows 10 for free, giving those stuck on older versions a chance to update to a Boot Camp-compatible system.

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Comments

  1. nono68200 - 9 years ago

    I personally prefer keep my Mac with just OS X. Question of ethic. :p I have a little PC with Windows 8 for real needs of Windows…

    • bfredit - 9 years ago

      And nobody cares

      • rettun1 - 9 years ago

        *you* don’t care

        *you* are rude

      • Edison Wrzosek - 9 years ago

        And you’re an asshole

    • Rich Davis (@RichDavis9) - 9 years ago

      Ethics? No. It’s not an ethic scenario since it’s legal and supported (from Microsoft) to install Windows on a Mac. It is, however, an ethics problem running OS X on a PC with Hackintosh, since it’s a violation of the Licensing Agreement.

      • Edison Wrzosek - 9 years ago

        I think he meant it more along the lines of his own personal ethics of not using a product that is the child of Bill Gates & Co’s blatant theft, not the legalities of actually using it on a Mac…

      • Andrew John - 9 years ago

        Perhaps you are forgetting that Microsoft don’t sell computers, just software. They have no control over which machine you install it on. Apple on the other hand DON’T sell its software for 3rd party computers. Bit of a difference, and also legal.

      • It’s unethical for @apple to advertise a user friendly experience when they know the misery and confusion that awaits any customer who dares use apple hardware or software in a configuration deemed “unprofitable” by our Cupertino overlords.

    • Edison Wrzosek - 9 years ago

      Good on you! Keep your Mac clean of Microshaft’s crap! Used to have a Win 7 VM in VMware for work, but I just got fed up with it and even trashed that.

      • Sybil (@Hotelofthedeath) - 9 years ago

        Just flush OSX though the toilet and move on to a better operating system, that’s compatible with the rest of the world instead of expensive Mac *hipster* crap ;-)

      • Edison Wrzosek - 9 years ago

        I seriously hope you just forgot to put a sarcasm tag at the end of that statement, otherwise it was incredibly foolish and trollish…

  2. mpias3785 - 9 years ago

    I’m surprised just because Win 8 is so evil, rotten and malignant. I’m a long time Apple user but I’ve also used most version of Windows since v2.0 since the corporate world didn’t share my opinion of Macs. I’ve used XP, Vista and 7 on Parallels and never really hated any version until 8 came along. I’ll continue to use 7 and am looking forward to trying 10 but 8 is just plain malevolent. I’m surprised Apple is mean enough to inflict this on Boot Camp users.

    • Edison Wrzosek - 9 years ago

      Probably due to a licensing issue with Windows 7, as Microshaft has, unfortunately, been trying to force users and OEM’s to drop support for it.

    • lellis2k - 9 years ago

      Yeah don’t worry, they’ve done their usual trick of alternating between good and poor OS’s, I’ve tried 10 and it’s back to being good again :)

      • mpias3785 - 9 years ago

        I would hope so, 8 made Vista look like a masterpiece.

        Sadly, since Apple adopted a yearly OS update schedule, OS X updates have degraded to the point of seeming like beta versions for many months prior to a reliable version. Yosemite works well for some, but for a lot of us it’s Apple’s Vista.

    • Sybil (@Hotelofthedeath) - 9 years ago

      There’s a reason why corporations don’t share your POV of Macs. . . They’re expensive. You can buy three computers for the price of one Mac. And hey, newsflash: with MS-Window you can also do video editing, DTP and all other things and MS-Windows is more flexible.

  3. idonotcarenow - 9 years ago

    This is disappointing :/ I’m in the Coast Guard and most of our websites are designed to work right only on internet explorer and since I’m a Mac user this is gonna suck for me.

    • Andrew John - 9 years ago

      Better tell your IT dept that Microsoft are dropping IE as their browser in windows 10, so they’d better get with the 21st century. What moron only codes a website to one browser, and IE at that, a 14 yo nerd?

    • mpias3785 - 9 years ago

      Try using a VM instead of Boot Camp. I’be had excellent luck with Parallels along with OK tech support (not as good as Apple but lightyears ahead of Dell).

  4. I have never used Windows on my MacBook, I never plan to. Also, the free update for 7 and 8 users, as well as for pirated versions of those two, seem like an evil plan to me. There needs to be something behind that, they’ll want to pay for it or something like that.

    • * they’ll want people to pay for it (after some time)…

    • Smigit - 9 years ago

      There’s nothing particularly evil about it. By getting people off Windows 7 and 8, not only do they get people on a platform that supports the Windows Store where MS probably hopes to pick up some revenue from current Windows 7 users, but they can also streamline things across existing products including getting Bing results to the desktop etc. Look at the issues and likely costs MS has incurred by trying to support its applications on OSs almost 10 years after the OS release.

      I doubt there’ll be too much auxiliary services you couldn’t avoid if you want, but MS will bank on many people using the Microsoft supplied services and applications and in turn make money through those services.

      Honestly, I can’t imagine to many people currently go out and spend $100+ on an upgrade to Windows. Most people will stick with what came with their PC until it comes time to buy a new system, and there’s long been statistics to show that MS has issues getting people to buy OS updates. They probably shift far far more copies via OEM sales. In conjunction with business sales, I’m not sure they’ll see a huge loss of revenue due to dropping consumer upgrade pricing.

      I think it’s a great move. I doubt too many people consider Apple offering OS X for free as an evil move.

  5. Adam Beck (@Bonzaibeck) - 9 years ago

    Probably has something to do with UEFI support in windows 8

  6. Scoota Testtossa - 9 years ago

    There’s still the issue of needing Boot Camp drivers to run on Windows 10, which have yet to be announced.

    • Neil Bhogal - 9 years ago

      I’m hearing that if your mac is compatible with Windows 8.1 using boot camp 5 then Win10 will work.