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MacBooks Running Windows Gain Improved Trackpad Support With Boot Camp Update

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Apple this week released Boot Camp version 6.1.15 for users running Windows on a Mac, as noted in a Reddit post spotted by The Verge.

macbook-trackpad.jpg

The update adds support for more precise trackpad gestures on MacBooks running Windows, including a single tap to click, tapping the lower-right corner to right-click, swiping down to scroll up, and various multi-touch gestures using three or four fingers.

Support for these precise trackpad gestures while running Windows is available on Macs with Apple's T2 chip, according to an Apple user guide.

Boot Camp allows Windows to boot natively on Intel-based Macs. The utility is not available on Macs with the M1 chip.

Article Link: MacBooks Running Windows Gain Improved Trackpad Support With Boot Camp Update
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2021/06/11/boot-camp-windows-precision-touchpad-support/
Last edited:
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ignatius345 said:
I guess they're throwing Intel Mac users a bone after announcing a ton of Apple Silicon-only features this week...
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I'm sure you're right, you must be. There are some Apple Silicon features its true, but most features run on newer intel Macs as well (not mine, sadly, its a 2014). Obviously Intel Macs are continuing to be supported if that was your side loaded insinuation
 
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anshuvorty said:
It is a system utility, so, in the past, Bootcamp updates came through Software Updates. So, I would check Software update to see if the Bootcamp update appears...
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No it’s in the apple update in the programs under start
 
Techwatcher said:
I'm curious about this myself. Windows Arm feels like it exists solely to exist and feels like it has no real backing by Microsoft yet.
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WoA has existed for over 5 years now. It' been around longer than Windows 10 has. The issue Microsoft really has is that no supplier makes a chip even comparable to the M1, so no matter how good the software is, the hardware just cant keep up. The general hope right now is that they are either bringing ARM development in house or that they are going to work more closely with Qualcom.
 
Maconplasma said:
I love these types of posts. Just because you don't see a reason doesn't mean there isn't one technically. The T2 is a SoC and gives Apple more flexibility on how they can run the system.
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So you really need a T2 chip for better Trackpad support?

Even older Macs which do not have the T2 chip have the same and better Trackpad gestures present in the latest Macs.

The T2 chip is a security chip and does not play any role in Trackpad gestures.
 
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Techwatcher said:
I'm curious about this myself. Windows Arm feels like it exists solely to exist and feels like it has no real backing by Microsoft yet.
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I have the original Pro X, and it definitely feels like that with regards to the "app" problem (kind of like it was released with the hopes it would gain traction), but the actual operation of the OS seems much smoother/nicer than on Intel machines.

And ironically Apple's move to the M1 seems to have motivated some companies to bring their apps to Windows on ARM (namely Adobe Photoshop), so it'll probably only become more and more viable.
 
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AltecX said:
WoA has existed for over 5 years now. It' been around longer than Windows 10 has. The issue Microsoft really has is that no supplier makes a chip even comparable to the M1, so no matter how good the software is, the hardware just cant keep up. The general hope right now is that they are either bringing ARM development in house or that they are going to work more closely with Qualcom.
Click to expand...

I will add that Microsoft might be interested in treating Parallels as an OEM so Mac users buy a copy of Windows for their AS machines, i.e. officially support AS through the hypervisor thingy.
 
AmazeSE said:
So you really need a T2 chip for better Trackpad support?

Even older Macs which do not have the T2 chip have the same and better Trackpad gestures present in the latest Macs.

The T2 chip is a security chip and does not play any role in Trackpad gestures.
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I am not an Apple engineer, but I'd deduce that what is going on here is they are using spare processing capacity on the T2 chip to handle this. It could be doing the same on macOS, but we wouldn't know since we're not privy to the details. It is also possible they pass built in trackpad and keyboard input data through the T2 chip on T2 equipped Macs for extra security.

There is a reason for it. Even if that reason isn't immediately apparent to us.
 
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AmazeSE said:
So you really need a T2 chip for better Trackpad support?

Even older Macs which do not have the T2 chip have the same and better Trackpad gestures present in the latest Macs.

The T2 chip is a security chip and does not play any role in Trackpad gestures.
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And the T2 chip also carries the SSD and does system operations. It's not just a security chip. I didn't say it played a role in trackpad gestures. 🙄
 
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I ran the Windows ARM Preview in Parallels for a while and I hope to the UNIVERSE that they announce a way to license it. That would allow my K-12 district organization to go fully Apple, not just our teachers.
 
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