MacBook Pro's Touch Bar Will Display Function Keys When Running Windows With Boot Camp

boot_camp_appleOne of the biggest questions about the Touch Bar on Apple's new MacBook Pro is how it will work with Windows through Boot Camp. That led MacRumors reader Abraham to send an email to Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi, who shared good news for dual-booters.

Question from Abraham: Craig, am I correct in assuming that the Touch Bar becomes a row of visual function keys when using Windows with Boot Camp?

Federighi's answer: You are indeed!

Presumably, this means the Touch Bar will likely display virtual function keys between F1-F12, along with an Escape key, when running Windows. It remains to be seen if there will be specific controls for system-level tasks such as volume, playback, and display brightness. Meanwhile, the virtual power button should work, but without Touch ID.

MacRumors cannot fully confirm the authenticity of the email, but it does appear to be sent by Federighi through Apple's corporate servers based on full headers we saw. Apple executives occasionally respond to customer emails, or it is possible the response was handled by Apple's executive relations or public relations teams.

Boot Camp is an Apple utility that enables users to partition their SSDs or hard drives and install Windows directly on a Mac, allowing for macOS and Windows to be run side by side. It differs from virtualization software like Parallels and VMware Fusion, which allows Windows to run as a desktop app within macOS itself.

Related Roundup: MacBook Pro
Buyer's Guide: MacBook Pro (Neutral)
Related Forum: MacBook Pro

Popular Stories

iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
watchOS 11 Thumb 2 1

Apple Releases watchOS 11.4 With Sleep Alarm Update

Tuesday April 1, 2025 10:34 am PDT by
Apple today released watchOS 11.4, the fourth major update to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 11.4 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, all Apple Watch Ultra models, and the Apple Watch SE 2. watchOS 11.4 can be downloaded on a connected iPhone by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update. To install the new software,...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Monday March 31, 2025 11:27 am PDT by
Apple today released new firmware updates for all AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 models. The new firmware is version 7E93, up from the 7B21 firmware that was installed on the AirPods Pro 2 and the 7B20 firmware available on the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC. It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in the new firmware, but we'll update this article should we find ...
maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
Apple Card iPhone 16 Pro Feature

Visa and American Express Vying to Win Apple Card Deal in 'Fierce' Fight

Tuesday April 1, 2025 1:50 pm PDT by
Visa wants to pay Apple approximately $100 million to be the new payment network for the Apple Card, reports The Wall Street Journal. As of right now, the Apple Card is on the Mastercard payment network, but that is set to change because Apple is ending its partnership with Goldman Sachs. Both American Express and Visa are vying to replace Mastercard as Apple's card services provider, while...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
iOS 18

Apple Seeds First Beta of iOS 18.5 to Developers

Wednesday April 2, 2025 10:11 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming just two days after Apple released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4. iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5 can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software Update. We don't yet know what Apple is introducing in the iOS 18.5...

Top Rated Comments

Benjamin Frost Avatar
110 months ago
So much fragmentation.

If you are a Pro, you are likely to do most of your work on a desktop. Yet if you buy this new MacBook Pro, you will now have a different method of working. Why bother to learn an entirely different method, if you are are swapping back and forth between desktop and laptop? Apple should have updated all their computers and keyboards with this Touch Bar if they really wanted to have it adopted universally.

I am getting so tired of Apple fragmenting every little bloody feature, whether it's the camera in the iPhones, the keyboards on the laptops, the ports that don't allow for use of iPhones or iPads with laptops, or 5400 Hard Drives in the iMac in 2016.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
frifra Avatar
110 months ago
That is just amazing!

How do they even think about such smart and truly innovative things???

Crazy.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dannys1 Avatar
110 months ago
I don't run Bootcamp, but Windows via Parallels. Will the function keys show when a virtual box is being run?
You can just hold down FN and get to the function keys in any app - the same way it works now with the normal keyboard.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Stella Avatar
110 months ago
As long as Parallels updates their program to do so.
Parallel would state the latest version is incompatible and users should buy the upgrade of the upcoming new version o_O
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iHack13 Avatar
110 months ago
Interesting news while browsing for a new Asus Zenbook that can run hackintosh on it. Can't stop counting the USB ports on those.
Only downside is that I cannot plug in those fancy lightning iPhone 7 Earpods into. Oh wait , cannot do that on the new Macbook either.

But at least I can sync the iPhone without any problems on the Zenbook.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
StandardFlint Avatar
110 months ago
I wanted to say something witty but I'm feeling too much relief.

Legitimately would not have been surprised in the slightest if they decided to kill off bootcamp for the new MacBook Pros.

That's the kind of vibe I'm getting from this company lately.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)