Anyone Using Bootcamp?

[Anderton]

I have two mid 2012 MacBook Pros - one that was a gift, and one that fell into my hands. Their MacOS trains stopped at Catalina and never left. With the flap about Apple being, shall we say, lax about security fixes for older (yet still "supported") operating systems, and Intel being phased out anyway, I don't see them as having much more of a useful life beyond a year or so. By that time, there should be a decent/affordable Apple Silicon Mac Mini, with the bugs worked out, and that will become my "official" Mac machine.

 

BUT...Bootcamp can run Windows 10, so in theory I could take one of the laptops and convert it into a bitchin' Windows 10 machine, which has support for at least another four years.

 

Before I take the leap, I wonder if anyone here has done the Bootcamp thing, and has any tips I should know about before I do an irrevocable drive partition. One of the MacBooks has lots of stuff on it, so I'll probably keep using that one for a while, but the other one is wiped clean and has Catalina installed. It whispers to me "I would make a great Windows laptop."

 

It also occurred to me that with solid MacBook Pros from that era going for $300 - $500, there might be a real opportunity for Windows users to get a good laptop for cheap.

[RABid]

I have not used Bootcamp in years but I am interested to see how this goes. I have a 5 year old MacBook Pro, a 10 year old MacBook Pro, and a 15 year old MacBook Pro. I had been buying one every five years. This time, being retired, I opted for a M1 Air with extra memory and drive space. Half the price of a MacBook Pro, with matches my retirement which is also have of what I was making

[Greg Mein]

I have never tried Bootcamp and although it may work fine I just don't like the idea of it, I like my Macs separate from my Win machines, especially if a problem develops.

[Anderton]

I have never tried Bootcamp and although it may work fine I just don't like the idea of it, I like my Macs separate from my Win machines, especially if a problem develops.

 

I probably won't partition it, so with Bootcamp, the Mac will essentially become a Windows machine - it has Intel inside Until Apple Silicon came along, the only real difference between an Apple or Windows laptop was the operating system and design.

 

If a problem develops, you're on your own with only the software, because the computer doesn't change. These days, I find both Windows and MacOS to be equally reliable, and on occasion, equally frustrating.

[Greg Mein]

Intel being phased out anyway, I don't see them as having much more of a useful life beyond a year or so.

 

Due to the theft of my computers in July insurance paid for my new one. Even though I knew the M1 was coming I couldn't wait for that. Apple has a long history of leaving users in the dust and I've learned to cope by just trying hard to avoid OS updates. I actually had a frustrating day recently when I went ahead and updated from 11.6 to 11.6.1, an update you wouldn't expect to cause much trouble. After the update the computer wouldn't recognize the power adapter. What I've learned is that the SMC chip on this one needed a reset, an annoying problem I've not had in the past. 12.0.1 is available to put on here but there's no way I'm going to try that. Apple has taught me that when you get things working the way you like just leave it alone. That sentiment goes double for the 2017 model I bought to replace our stolen gigging computer. It's highly unlikely to ever go beyond 10.14.6.

 

I suppose if your'e just experimenting then there's no harm done and you almost expect to have problems.

[Anderton]

I suppose if your'e just experimenting then there's no harm done and you almost expect to have problems.

 

Well, I just brought the 2012 MacBook Pro back to life...it wasn't easy. After wiping the hard drive, it would only re-install Lion, and when I tried to do that, the computer said it couldn't download the needed components. This is a common issue, because if you have old installers lying around, that won't help because most of their certificates expired in 2019. "Easy solutions" were all over the net, but the correct solution was the more difficult one recommended on Apple's clearly written support pages (kudos for that) - roll up your sleeves, create a bootloader USB drive on a working MacOS computer, and then load the OS from the USB drive by typing things into the Terminal application. That worked.

 

With Bootcamp, though, I really don't expect any problems just because the computer has an Apple logo on it. The insides are the same, Bootcamp would just be running different code on the same processors Windows uses.

 

At least in theory

[Marzzz]

For your MBP 2012 you should be able to directly install Mac OS 10.13 High Sierra, and once there upgrade to Catalina. You will then be able to use Bootcamp to install Windows 10. FWIW, I have been using Bootcamp for years on older iMacs to run Windows 7, but was finally forced to upgrade to 10 for business reasons so I opted for Windows laptops on sale at Costco.

 

In the meantime, I have a 2011 iMac running High Sierra (latest OS it will run), there is a complicated trick to get Bootcamp on that machine to install Windows 10, still trying to work my way through it. My now older MBP 2016 is running Sierra, Monterrey and Windows 10 on three separate partitions, without any problems so far.

[Anderton]

For your MBP 2012 you should be able to directly install Mac OS 10.13 High Sierra, and once there upgrade to Catalina.

 

Cool, that's what I used for the bootloader, so it's good to know I'll be able to use it to install Windows 10.

 

My now older MBP 2016 is running Sierra, Monterrey and Windows 10 on three separate partitions, without any problems so far.

 

Good to know. Still undecided if I'm going to dedicate one computer solely to Windows or partition it, which is why I haven't made the move yet. But your post is encouraging

[KuruPrionz]

I tried to use Bootcamp but I didn't have enough available space on the internal drive (2014 MacBookPro with 512 gb ssd).

 

I booted from an external drive with Catalina installed, it would not allow me to run Bootcamp and install Windows 10 on that bootable drive.

It would allow me to install Windows on the MBP hard drive but again, not enough space.

I only wanted it for Cakewalk, you mentioned the tempo mapping being very useful and it's a feature I've wanted for a while now.

I did try off-loading to clear up space for Windows on the MBP, that became a boondoggle all it's own due to things I wanted to keep on the Mac OS side.

 

Then, I found out that my DAW of choice - Waveform Pro - has Groove Doctor, which has tempo mapping as one of it's functions.

Life has been chaotic and busy, I haven't given Groove Doctor a spin yet, let alone a deep dive.

 

But I have given up on installing Windows on my Mac. As always, there is more than one way to skin a cat, and more than one cat that needs skinning.

I do have space on my M1 Mac Mini for a Windows partition but will wait until I know more about the program I already have before moving in that direction.

[Anderton]

So now I have to decide...does the PowerBook with a slower processor but more RAM/storage stay a Mac, or the one with the faster processor and less RAM/storage? The reason for wanting a pure Mac is to test Mac stuff until I get an M1, so I'm leaning on keeping the one with the slower processor a Mac, because the one with more RAM and storage would be a better Windows laptop...it doesn't need to be super-fast, it will be for writing, travelling, seminars, etc.

 

I'm also noticing that Intel PowerBook prices keep plunging...good news for users of Windows 10 and earlier.