Windows 10 in Bootcamp with tMBP

[sn0warmy]

I have a few questions for those who are running Windows 10 in bootcamp on their 2016 touchbar Macbook Pro.

1) Are you finding any issues with functionality/features other than the touchbar not changing with app controls and touch ID not working?

2) Are you able to wake the computer with the external keyboard/trackpad when the computer is in clamshell mode with an external monitor attached?

3) How's battery life?


I have a recently purchased copy of Windows 10 that I've been using to run in a virtual environment. However, I'm seriously toying with the idea of installing Windows 10 in bootcamp and using that as my primary work OS. I know that seems very silly to most. However, a lot of the work apps I use are proprietary to Windows or simply work better in Windows. I initially purchased a Dell XPS 13 to replace my old MBP but I was not happy with the build quality compared to the MBP. So I ended up returning it and picking up the new 13" tMBP. I love the machine and think that the perfect setup would be a Windows 10 partition for all my work stuff and then a Mac OS partition for all my personal stuff, to use outside of work.

I'm not looking to start a debate between the Dell XPS vs MBP or Windows vs Mac OS. I'm just looking for opinions from those who currently run Windows 10 in bootcamp to see if it works well enough to be a go to OS on a daily basis.

EDIT: I was able to get Windows 10 installed and setup. My thoughts...

1) Windows 10 runs unbelievably snappy/fast in Bootcamp on a 13" tMBP.
2) Everything looks nice and crisp in Windows with the tMBP screen.
3) Wifi signal is very strong.
4) Can't comment much on battery life but after 3 hours of use I still had over 65% battery left.
5) When connected to my 34" Dell curved monitor, everything still looks/works great, even with the Dell's 3440x1440 resolution.

However, there are two rather large issues that prevent me from using it as my go-to OS...

1) Even with Trackpadd++ installed, my external Apple trackpad will not replicate the gestures and "tap-to-click" functionality that I was able to successfully enable/use with the built in track pad. And since I use my laptop in clamshell mode with the external monitor/trackpad/keyboard this is a deal breaker.
2) The screen orientation/settings reset every time I plug the external monitor back in, forcing me to go back through the setup process. Rebooting didn't solve this.
3) With the laptop in clamshell mode, I can not get the computer to wake with the Bluetooth Apple keyboard/trackpad. I'm sure I could figure out a way to make this happen but with problems 1 and 2 above, I'm giving up for now.

 

[Freyqq]

I did this on a 2010 15" MBP for similar reasons. It was stuck on dgpu mode so, id recommend a model that is intel only.
1. Ran hot
2. Battery life was half of OSX
3. performance was good
4. Stable

Makes a lot more sense to go ntb, as the touchbar will be stuck to function keys anyway.

 

[sn0warmy]

I did this on a 2010 15" MBP for similar reasons. It was stuck on dgpu mode so, id recommend a model that is intel only.
1. Ran hot
2. Battery life was half of OSX
3. performance was good
4. Stable

Makes a lot more sense to go ntb, as the touchbar will be stuck to function keys anyway.

I have the 13" so the GPU issue shouldn't be a factor. I've watched a couple of videos and the touch bar isn't stuck to function keys. It does default tot he standard keys that the non-touch bar has (brightness controls, music playback controls, audio volume controls etc.) and you can hit the fn key to get your function controls.

I think I'm gonna go ahead and give it a try when i get some down time this weekend.

 

[nordique]

Can't comment on the tMBP features, bc I'm running windows on the retina Macbook (2015)...I can say a few things regarding Windows 10 on a macOS machine:

1) First off, Windows 10 boots up faster than OS X (El Capitan), though OS X also boots up fast
2) It also runs very well, smooth stable performance (Windows 10 was designed for a lower spec in mind including much older machines so it is buttery smooth on modern ones)
3) Windows UI great on retina resolution
4) Its a nice change of pace - i use it on a smaller 75GB partition as a dedicated work horse for Office, with the rest (175GB) dedicated to OS X.
5) Apple has some solid driver support for it but no gestures, might have to look elsewhere for that
6) My rMB also gets a bit hot with it, but its fanless so it doesn't bother me at all...I use it on a desk mostly anyways
7) For me battery life is fine, its less than OS X but not by much - seems to knock about an hour or so off.



Definitely give it a go. I really like Windows 10. Looks very cool on the Space Grey colour with the black theme

 

[kevinof]

Similiar experience to Nordique.

I have a 2015 Pro and it works really well. Have divided the ssd into 2 x 256gb but spend most of my time on Windows over the last 6 months.

1) Boot time is 12 seconds!
2) Doesn't run hot unless you play a graphics intensive game and then it struggles. Would expect that of any laptop in this catagory.
3) Wake up from external mouse/trackpad. Not sure (wouldn't this be a firmware issue and not OS?). I'll try it and see.
4) I get almost exactly the same battery as on OS X and sometimes just a little more.
5) No other issues - all function keys except for F3/4 (desktop) work great.

Piece of advice - Think about the partitioning before you press go. There's no out of the box way to adjust afterwards except purchasing a 3rd party product. Not a deal breaker but makes life simpler if you get it right at the start. Once installed you can set the Bootcamp settings to default to either OS X or Windows but you can always override this at startup with the command key.

Enjoy.

Can't comment on the tMBP features, bc I'm running windows on the retina Macbook (2015)...I can say a few things regarding Windows 10 on a macOS machine:

1) First off, Windows 10 boots up faster than OS X (El Capitan), though OS X also boots up fast
2) It also runs very well, smooth stable performance (Windows 10 was designed for a lower spec in mind including much older machines so it is buttery smooth on modern ones)
3) Windows UI great on retina resolution
4) Its a nice change of pace - i use it on a smaller 75GB partition as a dedicated work horse for Office, with the rest (175GB) dedicated to OS X.
5) Apple has some solid driver support for it but no gestures, might have to look elsewhere for that
6) My rMB also gets a bit hot with it, but its fanless so it doesn't bother me at all...I use it on a desk mostly anyways
7) For me battery life is fine, its less than OS X but not by much - seems to knock about an hour or so off.



Definitely give it a go. I really like Windows 10. Looks very cool on the Space Grey colour with the black theme

 

[sn0warmy]

EDIT: I was able to get it setup and running properly after figuring out that the problem stemmed from trying to use a USB drive with the Windows ISO image. You can install Windows in Bootcamp without a USB drive and that solves the problem. Anyway, I've updated the OP with my thoughts.

Thanks for the input guys. I definitely want to give it a try. Unfortunately, my attempts at installing Windows 10 via Boot Camp has been futile. I'm running into an issue where Boot Camp copies the files and begins the install process (after giving the Boot Camp partition 250GB of my 512GB drive), but then fails to point me to the disk partition screen so I can format the Boot Camp partition properly for install.

Instead it just keeps giving me an error saying that it can't locate the installation location. I've dug around online for fixes and tried to reset NVRAM as well as the System Management Controller (SMC). But it doesn't solve the problem. I might be out of luck for now.