Apple - How will the new Touch Bar & Touch ID work with Windows/Boot Camp

I actually had the same question as I want to use Boot Camp and the function buttons are now virtual and their answer was that yes Apple will provide a setting in Boot Camp to have the function buttons appear in the Touch Bar. I'll provide the exact text from my chat:

David: Hey there, my name is David. Welcome to the Apple Online Store. I would be very happy to help you with your questions about the new MacBook Pro.

David: This product will definitely be capable of running in Boot Camp mode. May I ask, are you already using a device in this way now?

Me: I'm currently using a MacBook Pro for late 2010 and am running Windows 7 on it

Me: The reason of my questioning is due to the Touch Bar which makes the Function keys a virtual thing

David: Yes, they will be virtual, but there is a setting that allows you to show the function keys.

David: When in boot camp mode, you’d want to switch the touch bar to this setting, and they should function like normal.


Here's your answer from MacRumours:

One of the biggest questions about the Touch Bar on Apple's new MacBook Pro is how it will work with Windows through Boot Camp. That led MacRumors reader Abraham to send an email to Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi, who shared good news for dual-booters.

"Craig, am I correct in assuming that the Touch Bar becomes a row of visual function keys when using Windows with Boot Camp?"

Craig Federighi: "You are indeed!"

Presumably, this means the Touch Bar will likely display virtual function keys between F1-F12, along with an Escape key, when running Windows. It remains to be seen if there will be specific controls for system-level tasks such as volume, playback, and display brightness. Meanwhile, the virtual power button should work, but without Touch ID.


I have a MacBoook Pro with touch bar, and I use BootCamp. When my machine is running Windows 10 the touch bar shows (from left to right) "esc (dim screen)(brighten screen) (dim keyboard backlight)(brighten keyboard backlight) (rewind)(play/pause)(fast forward) (mute)(reduce volume)(increase volume)", where items in (parentheses) are represented by icons. All are black & white; no colour.

When I hold down the fn key the touch bar shows "esc F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 F10 F11 F12".

In both states, touching the touch bar does activate the corresponding function.

If I run iTunes in Windows 10 the touch bar doesn't change. I infer from this that Apple does not expose an interface in Windows for touch bar customization.