Windows 10 on MacBookPro10,2 [MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012)]

[Yebubbleman]

I have a MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012). It's not making it to Big Sur, but that's fine. I also have a MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015) that definitely is, so no worries at all there. For the former, I'm considering wiping the drive entirely and just using it as a Windows 10 machine.

My question is this: given the age of the machine (and ambivalence on driver support for Ivy Bridge based PCs for Windows 10 in general), I have the following four options as to which variant of Windows 10 that I can load onto this machine:

1. Windows 10 Pro v1909
2. Windows 10 Pro v2004
3. Windows 10 Enterprise LTSB 2016 (based on the same underlying OS as v1607)
4. Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019 (based on the same underlying OS as v1809)

Given that I'm running Ivy Bridge hardware here (and that drivers for Ivy Bridge hardware are likely old and haven't been updated since the early days of Windows 10), is it safe (in terms of stability with what drivers I get from Boot Camp) to run a current semi-annual channel (SAC) release of Windows 10? I'd assume that it isn't, but, again, Ivy Bridge support for Windows 10 seems to be nebulous and vary wildly by vendor. If it isn't, then I assume I'm better off with an LTSC version (which I have access to). If that's the case, am I better off with the LTSC/LTSB version based on v1607 or the one based on v1809? Again, I have the option of installing either.

I would assume that if the Boot Camp drivers for my MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012) are just fine for LTSC 2019/v1809, then there's no reason to cut my support three years short to install the earlier version.

I have other PCs and I have another Mac to keep as running macOS for some time to come. The purpose of this machine would really be as a floater/hot spare for my other portable PCs.

Does anyone have any insight as to how well the Boot Camp drivers for Ivy Bridge Macs hold up on these Windows 10 releases?

 

[maflynn]

2. Windows 10 Pro v2004

Newer is generally better, so that's my recommendation. I believe even with the enterprise edition, 1809 is rolling off support and 1607 may already be. My company has just moved to 1904 because 1809 is coming to an end.

Boot Camp drivers for

Apple barely updates its drivers, so if you rely strictly on Apple's, you may have some headaches. I would try that first, and then check out https://www.bootcampdrivers.com/

Microsoft does a heck of a lot better with current versions of windows being able to run on older hardware then apple, so you may have less work cut out then you think, but I will say Macs and windows don't always play nice. Good luck

 

[allan.nyholm]

Apple barely updates its drivers, so if you rely strictly on Apple's, you may have some headaches. I would try that first, and then check out https://www.bootcampdrivers.com/

Even better than relying on a single guy updating AMD Boot Camp Drivers and go to the official AMD download section for these particular drivers. Latest update is from april this year. Since I noticed that this page got updated I just always go there.

Apple Boot Camp Software Graphics Drivers

www.amd.com

Edit. To throw myself off my high horse I can see that the AMD Boot Camp drivers for MacBooks aren't totally spanking fresh.

 

[Yebubbleman]

Newer is generally better, so that's my recommendation. I believe even with the enterprise edition, 1809 is rolling off support and 1607 may already be. My company has just moved to 1904 because 1809 is coming to an end.

1607 lost support in April of last year on the standard Semi-Annual Channel (SAC) version, and 1809 still has longer on its. But I'm talking about the Long Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) versions that get patched by Microsoft with security and stability updates for 10 years without any serious other change. My fear is that the newer SAC releases might start to get weird with the 5 year old drivers for earlier Windows 10 operating on much newer Windows 10 releases, thereby making running the SAC versions a bit of a stability gamble. That was my fear at least. If that's not a concern, than I don't mind installing an SAC version. But if not, I can't imagine that LTSB 2016 (based on 1607 and supported until 2026) or LTSC 2019 (based on 1809 and supported until 2029) wouldn't be bad. But if the drivers for Ivy Bridge fare better the earlier I get (and since we're only talking about Windows a difference of three years of support on what would, then, be a 14 year old computer, I'm okay with the earlier version if that's going to be my smoothest supported ride on that machine.

Apple barely updates its drivers, so if you rely strictly on Apple's, you may have some headaches. I would try that first, and then check out https://www.bootcampdrivers.com/

Microsoft does a heck of a lot better with current versions of windows being able to run on older hardware then apple, so you may have less work cut out then you think, but I will say Macs and windows don't always play nice. Good luck

Right, Apple not updating their drivers is what scares me. But, I think, especially with Ivy Bridge, the fear is more that Intel is not being good about there even being driver updates for newer hardware to begin with. I don't know enough about the evolution of Windows 10 releases and how that affects or doesn't affect drivers from earlier on in terms of releases. Like I said though, I can go safely back to Windows 10 Enterprise LTSB 2016 and even though I'm using a still-supported variant of 1607, that OS was still plenty stable and I'm still able to run whatever I'd need to run on that machine with that version.

Even better than relying on a single guy updating AMD Boot Camp Drivers and go to the official AMD download section for these particular drivers. Latest update is from april this year. Since I noticed that this page got updated I just always go there.

Apple Boot Camp Software Graphics Drivers

www.amd.com

Edit. To throw myself off my high horse I can see that the AMD Boot Camp drivers for MacBooks aren't totally spanking fresh.

Thankfully, I don't think there's a single piece of AMD hardware in my MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012) for which there'd be a driver for. That machine is all Intel, including it's lame integrated graphics. But I get the strong impression that Apple's Boot Camp drivers are seldom kept fresh these days.

 

[allan.nyholm]

Thankfully, I don't think there's a single piece of AMD hardware in my MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012) for which there'd be a driver for. That machine is all Intel, including it's lame integrated graphics. But I get the strong impression that Apple's Boot Camp drivers are seldom kept fresh these days.

That was a huge blunder on my part. I think I was on automatic reply. Thank you for replying in a kind matter.

 

[Yebubbleman]

That was a huge blunder on my part. I think I was on automatic reply. Thank you for replying in a kind matter.

No worries! It definitely happens to me on here too. I wish I was contending with AMD. Though situations like the one you're describing exist, Intel seems to be the one that is more ready to abandon driver support in Windows for Ivy Bridge. Which is a shame, because Haswell and up still make for very good Windows machines, Apple hardware or not!

 

[kocoman]

Does the vbt work on this ? Thx