14 DAY TRIAL // If you’re thinking to pluck out two large ones for the high-end 27” iMac configuration to play the latest Windows games and apps via Boot Camp, think again.
According to customer reports, the max-configuration iMac with 3TB Fusion Drive doesn’t do Boot Camp and thus can’t run Windows 8 (or older versions, for that matter).
Apple support article HT5446 does specify that “Boot Camp Assistant is not supported at this time on 3TB hard drive configurations.” However, not everyone reads every word of the Support documentation before shelling out the big bucks to purchase a new Mac.
In other words, Apple should have made it clearer that the high-end iMac (Late 2012) configurations don’t support Boot Camp “at this time.”
(Yes, it does seem there’s a chance Apple will implement support in the future, perhaps via software update).
Many are baffled at the news, but it appears that the reason for this is relatively simple. Apparently, Windows can’t boot from drives larger than 2TB in the absence of an EFI or UEFI BIOS.
Good news for buyers of the cheaper iMac (Late 2012) configuration, though. Since this one comes with a 1TB Fusion Drive, it does support Boot Camp, hence it can run the new Windows 8 without a hiccup.
For those asking “why not get a PC if you want to run Windows so badly?” there are quite a few reasons why a user might require to boot up their Mac to Windows. One such reason is gaming.
While Mac users can install Windows in a virtual machine using the likes of Parallels Desktop or VMWare Fusion, these solutions are resource demanding, causing the programs themselves to run slowly (or at least slower than they would via a normal Windows installation).
Business users may also prefer running Windows apps in their native environment, not in some virtual machine. Plus, a good virtualization solution adds more heft to the price tag.
Here’s to hoping Apple opens 3TB Fusion Drives to Boot Camp via software update.