Skip to main content

Apple might turn the Touch Bar display into static function keys for Boot Camp users

The biggest change to Apple’s MacBook Pro line was unveiled at the company’s October 27 event, with the announcement of the first touchscreen ever to make its way to MacOS hardware. After months of speculation, Apple showed off the Touch Bar, a strip of touch-sensitive OLED screen that changes with the computing task at hand.  The screen is located where the function keys used to be.

That’s a welcome addition if you’re a MacOS user who wants another way to control applications. But what if you’re a Windows user running the MacBook Pro using Apple’s Boot Camp dual-boot system? The answer is simple — the Touch Bar turns into a static row of virtual function keys, MacRumors reports.

Recommended Videos

The question was asked and answered via an email exchange between Apple user Abraham and Apple software engineer chief Craig Frederight. Abraham asked, “Craig, am I correct in assuming that the Touch Bar becomes a row of visual function keys when using Windows with Boot Camp?” Federight answered, “You are indeed!”

Given the incredibly thin and light nature of the new MacBooks, their enhanced trackpads and keyboards, and the improvements in connectivity options, one can assume that the machines will be at least as popular among Windows users as past MacBooks have been. The Windows ecosystem is strong in its own right, with machines like Dell’s XPS 13 and HP’s latest Spectre x360 offering their own benefits to Windows users, but Apple’s options remain good ones as well.

There’s no word yet if Boot Camp will ever support more advanced Touch Bar features with Windows. It’s possible they won’t because Touch Bar support might be baked into MacOS at a deeper level, and Apple may have no real desire to give up such a strong advantage of MacOS on its own hardware. Boot Camp has always provided decent Windows support, but nobody could ever call it equal to MacOS.

Apple hasn’t confirmed the email exchange, and so the veracity of this information remains a bit uncertain. Nevertheless, the solution makes perfect sense as a way to maintain Boot Camp’s validity in light of such fundamental changes to the MacBook Pro line.

Mark Coppock
Mark Coppock is a Freelance Writer at Digital Trends covering primarily laptop and other computing technologies. He has…
Apple’s next Pro Display XDR may use this high-end TV tech
Apple Pro Display XDR WWDC 2019 Hands On

CEO of Display Supply Chain Consultants Ross Young recently revealed that Apple's M4 MacBook Pros are using quantum dot technology for the first time -- and now he's predicting that the Pro Display XDR 2 will use it too.

Apple didn't announce the switch from KSF to quantum dot itself, but the expert consultant firm confirmed the change by using a spectrometer on the new M4 MacBook Pro.

Read more
Apple faces challenges with bringing OLED to the MacBook Air
The MacBook Air on a white table.

A report from Korean outlet The Elec suggests the OLED MacBook Air that Apple was allegedly planning to release in 2027 could face significant delays. While progress for the OLED MacBook Pro seems to be going smoothly, the price increase caused by the new display technology is a much bigger problem for the budget MacBook Air models.

One of the biggest selling points of the MacBook Air is its lower price, making it great for first-time Mac buyers, students, and anyone else who doesn't expressly need the power of a Pro. While price increases are a natural part of the tech industry, the slightly disappointing sales of the 2024 OLED iPad Pro suggest that a new display simply isn't enough of an incentive for consumers to justify a higher price tag.

Read more
Next week might be the biggest Mac launch since 2020
Logos from the Apple Mac announcement tweet.

Finally, we have confirmation of the long-anticipated fall Mac launch. The rollout, however, may be a bit unconventional for Apple.

At first, we expected a product event, then we speculated about videos and press releases -- and now Apple has revealed an entire "week of announcements" starting on Monday morning. It's expected that the announcements will include the latest M4 refreshes for the Mac lineup, including the MacBook Pro, iMac, and a completely refreshed Mac mini. While many of those will merely be M4 updates, this may end up being the biggest single window of Mac releases since the initial M1 launch in 2020 in terms of sheer quantity.

Read more