Apple will begin moving its Mac platform to its own ARM-based Apple Silicon later this year, but the ability to run Microsoft Windows in Boot Camp mode won’t come along for the ride.
Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering said during an appearance on a Daring Fireball podcast. “We’re not direct booting an alternate operating system. Purely virtualization is the route. These hypervisors can be very efficient, so the need to direct boot shouldn’t really be the concern.”
Federighi’s remarks confirm previous reports saying the new Apple Silicon Macs won’t be able to run Windows in Boot Camp mode. Microsoft only licenses Windows 10 for ARM to PC makers for preinstallation on new hardware, and the company hasn’t made the operating system available for aftermarket installs.
“Microsoft only licenses Windows 10 on ARM to OEMs,” said a Microsoft spokesperson in a statement to The Verge. We asked Microsoft if it plans to change this policy to allow Boot Camp on ARM-based Macs, and the company says “we have nothing further to share at this time.”