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Windows 8.1 install fails on new 2013 Retina MacBook

I doubt there are many people out there who can help with this yet. I was able to pick up my 2013 Haswell Retina MacBook Pro from my local Apple store this morning (yay!), and so far everything has been stellar. However, I'm unable to install Windows 8.1 via Bootcamp. I have not tried Windows 8 or 7.


I've tried installing both via USB thumb drive, and via DVD on external SuperDrive, with the same results. I know that 2013 MacBook Airs have to install via UEFI so I've tried that as well. What I've tried:


Booting into UEFI:

- After creating the partition in Bootcamp, I boot holding OPTION

- At the boot selection screen I select "EFI BOOT"

- I go through all the motions, including formatting the BOOTCAMP partition

- After all the files have been copied, I get a message that "Windows cannot update the boot partition and that my progress won't be saved" (not the exact message).


Booting via BIOS:

- After creating the partition in Bootcamp, I boot holding OPTION

- At the boot selection screen I pick "WINDOWS"

- When I get to the partition selection/formatting screen it won't let me proceed, when I expand the error message it tells me that partition can't be used because it has a GPT partition table.


So, I'm stuck =( Any ideas?

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Oct 23, 2013 8:56 PM

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602 replies

Oct 24, 2013 4:58 PM in response to jdhiro

FYI - Windows 7 Ultimate installed without a hitch with all the drivers and looks FANTASTIC. I thought I would *need* 8.1 because of the hi rez, but everything is perfect. If anything text and icons are slightly bigger than on my 15.4" 1440x900 mbp running win7u, except everything is razor sharp! me likey 🙂

Windows 8.1 install fails on new 2013 Retina MacBook

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