I hope you already have an idea of ​​\u200b\u200bwhat it is and you don’t need to focus on it. For a general understanding, let me remind you that a Hackintosh is a PC computer with the Mac OS X operating system installed on it, which is launched using special loaders, at the moment it remains the most popular. It is this bootloader that helps to start the largest possible number of available models of components for personal computers.

But if everything was so simple, then this article would not exist. In fact, the selection of components must be approached very seriously, and this is primarily due to the fact that equipment that is not supported by Mac OS will not start on Hackintosh. As we know, Apple uses only a certain set of components for its computers. If Windows starts on the latest AMD processor or Intel, and for this you only need to update Bios, then you will not be able to run this processor on Hackintosh until Apple uses it in one of its configurations. And then, not everything always goes smoothly, in particular, Intel Skylake had a problem with the graphics factory on OS X El Capitan / Sierra. Kaby Lake still works with crutches, before using it or buying it for a Hackintosh, I strongly recommend rummaging through the technical forums to make sure it is fully functional, since the pleasure is not cheap.

In this article, I want to show such hardware on which OS X 10.9.5 Mavericks, OS X 10.10 Yosemite, OS X 10.11 El Capitan and macOS 10.12 Sierra operating systems will run without any changes in the Clover config at all. But still, Apple's progress does not stand still, and yet, for the factory of some of this list of components, edits may already be needed in versions such as MacOS Sierra 10.12.4 - 10.12.5.

By the way, when assembling hardware for a hackintosh, you will 100% assemble a balanced and not necessarily expensive machine that will work perfectly with both Windows and Linux. I would like to note that the performance of Mac OS and stability is an order of magnitude higher than the same Linux and Windows. OS X optimizes the work of background processes and unused applications and programs, due to this there is less resource consumption by the operating system itself, and therefore, taking the assembly even a little easier than for Windows, you will get about the same performance in speed and performance. But this fact concerns only the operation and stability of the operating system. To work with 3D graphics, video, I strongly recommend not to save on the processor and video card, and if you are working on large projects, then if possible, use more operating memory, since Video editors use it with great pleasure and this significantly affects the rendering time . I hope this is clear, let's get started ...

Choosing a Hackintosh Motherboard

Let's start assembling hackintosh 2016/2017 from the motherboard. Two popular chipsets that are completely native to the poppy are still used to assemble the hackintosh, in particular, the Z87 (Haswell) and Z77 (Ivy Bridge). It is on these two chipsets that you need to build your hackintosh if you do not want glitches in the system.

Since the Z77 chipset is somewhat outdated and was replaced by the Z87 chipset, on which Apple company introduced a lot of devices, we will consider it. For trouble-free operation of the hackintosh, we need motherboards only from Gigabyte. An example of such an ideal motherboard is the Gigabyte GA-Z87-HD3. The Gigabyte GA-Z87m-HD3 motherboard is also great. In any case, you can take any motherboard based on the Z87 chipset, it will work for you.

As for the Z97 chipset, everything is not so simple here. The system will run on it, and it will probably work, but this platform cannot be called native. Many users with Z97 chipset masquerade as Z87.

At the moment, the average cost of a motherboard based on the Z87 chipset, according to Yandex.Market, is from 6 to 10 thousand rubles.

You don't have to use the "Z" motherboard at all, other indexes, such as "B" will do just fine. In this case, the most important requirement is the manufacturer. best choice there will be a motherboard from Gigabyte, as practice shows that there are the least problems when installing equipment on them, you can also use Asus, but difficulties can arise with it.

The second thing you should be familiar with when choosing is the model of the sound and network card on the motherboard. Not all chips are supported by Mac OS are supported, so do not be too lazy to get acquainted with the full characteristics of the motherboard and make sure that under the built-in sound card kexts or other factory methods are already registered, for example, the same applies to the network card - kexts must be registered on it or there must be patches. In this case, your laziness can lead to installation problems and the purchase of additional attachments for sound and network operation.

What else would you like to mention? The cost of the motherboard also depends on additional features and programulin from Gigabyte and Intel, which are designed mainly for business. If you are clearly choosing a hackintosh, then you should not focus on these programs, since they are not supported on Mac OS. Even if you are going to install Windows in parallel, I strongly recommend that you think about whether you will use them, whether it is worth overpaying for them or you can get by with a cheaper model.

Choosing a processor for a hackintosh

With processors, everything is also quite simple. This is Intel. The main thing is that the processors are from the Intel Core I3, Intel Core I5 ​​and Intel Core I7 series. The price of such processors at the moment is from 9 thousand rubles for Intel Core I3. Accordingly, Intel Core I5 ​​will cost much more. Now it is about 15 thousand rubles.

Processors of the Intel Core series on Haswell work natively in OS X 10.8.5 and higher, that is, they are perfect for building a hackintosh based on operating systems OS X 10.11 and macOS 10.12.

In general, starting with OS X Mavericks 10.9, Apple uses only Intel processors, so you can use any i3, i5, i7 series, the only thing is that there may be problems with Kaby Lake for now, but this may be resolved over time.

“Remember, do not take processors with index K for hackintosh. You won’t be able to overclock the processor in a hackintosh anyway.” - not really true statement, because the Mac OS operating system does not care about the processor frequency and other indicators, they are taken from the BIOS. And if you overclocked it, then it will work at the frequency specified in the BIOS, but this will not be reflected in the information about the hardware and operating system. The second and important point is that it is advisable to remove the DSDT file already with an overclocked processor, because if you use the one made before overclocking, then the work rule can be taken from it, which will serve as a kind of restriction.

The performance of the Intel Core I3 is quite enough for a hackintosh, working with graphics, programming, Internet surfing - everything works well. But in any case, choose a processor based on your needs. If you are engaged in 3D and video graphics, then of course you should strive for more productive models, as this will greatly affect the render time.

As for the Intel Celeron and Intel Pentium processors, they will work in the hackintosh, but it is unlikely that it will be possible to call this hackintosh “native”, because Apple does not make devices with these processors.

Choosing a graphics card for a hackintosh

I have tried a lot of video cards for hackintosh. Finding the right graphics card is easy. The difference will be in principle installing Mac OS X on this PC. So, when using Radeon, diamonds and arguments are not required, but starting with El Capitan and OS X Sierra, the presence of Verde kext is mandatory, otherwise you will boot into a black screen. More complex method factory radeon will patch and use framebuffers in config.plist, but this method already for more advanced users, but the result will be the same in any case - the graphics will work at 100%.

Things are a little different with NVidia. To install Mac OS, you need to block the graphics with an argument, after installation it will boot with a different argument, install the driver from NVidia and reboot without arguments. But since this is done only during installation, this should not be considered a significant minus.

Starting with El Capitan, NVidia graphics cards have a big advantage over AMD Radeon, sleep works on them. Radeon in El Capitan and macOS Sierra wakes up to a black screen.

So, which video card to choose for a hackintosh? Below I have presented a small list of Nvidia video cards that are suitable for hackintosh and which can (practically) be used without problems:

  • NVIDIA GT640
  • NVIDIA GT650
  • Nvidia GTX 660
  • Nvidia GTX 670
  • Nvidia GTX 680
  • Nvidia GTX 690
  • NVIDIA GT 730
  • NVIDIA GT 740
  • NVIDIA GT750
  • Nvidia GTX 760
  • Nvidia GTX 770
  • Nvidia GTX 780
  • And higher…

At the moment, Kepler-based video cards are perfect for hackintosh, and these are NVidia GT 6XX series video cards. The main thing is that the video card is not from Palit. And also remember that the VGA connector will not work for you.

AMD Video Cards:

  • AMD HD 7750
  • AMD HD 7770
  • AMD HD 7850
  • AMD HD 7870
  • AMD HD7950
  • AMD HD 7970
  • AMD R7 250X
  • AMD R7 260X (one monitor working)
  • AMD R7 265X
  • AMD R7 370
  • AMD R9 270
  • AMD R9 280

Video cards above will work in hackintosh without problems. By the way, I recommend choosing AMD video cards for hackintosh now. The whole point is that in latest macbook, iMac are AMD video cards. And video cards from NVidia have not been installed in Apple computers for about three years. And precisely because of this, Nvidia GT 6XX video cards are better to choose for hackintosh than NVidia GT 7XX, 9XX video cards, which do not always work out of the box. At the moment, AMD graphics cards there is one downside. They don't wake up in OS X 10.11 and 10.12. After waking up from sleep, you will have a black screen. Otherwise, these video cards work perfectly out of the box, nothing else needs to be edited.

Video cards from Intel for hackintosh

I will single out these video cards in a separate paragraph. The fact is that when buying a processor from Intel, you will already have a video card in the processor. For Haswerll, very often it will be the Intel HD 4600 which is very easy to start in the hackintosh and works surprisingly without any problems.

As for the Intel HD 4400 video card, until the last moment it was impossible to start it in OS X. Now it also works in the hackintosh, but you should not buy it, since there are no real Apple computers with this video card. Choose an Intel HD 4600 graphics card.

RAM for hackintosh

HDD and SSD for hackintosh

When choosing a manufacturer HDD Hard There are no restrictions on the disk, but based on practice, I advise you to take trusted manufacturers, and not use Chinese bullshit. SSD drive it is also not tied to the manufacturer, volume and other characteristics, everything is up to you - TRIM is turned on with one command in the terminal.

For those who want to cut the budget a little, but still work at SSD speeds, Mac OS offers a great solution - Fusion Drive. To create it, you need an SSD of at least 120-128 GB (Although there are no restrictions at the moment, you can use 64, but by buying 128 you overpay a small amount) and a hard drive of any size. After entering not tricky commands in the terminal, you will get a single disk that will run at SSD speed.

So if you have a 120GB SSD and a 500GB HDD, then you will get almost a disk running at almost 620GB SSD speed. .

For working with 3D graphics and video, it is enough to cheer, but I would still recommend taking more for video powerful card and a newer generation processor. In general, Mac OS Sierra 10.12.5 flies with a bang, without any tambourines and crutches. If you use it to visit the Internet and work with photos, then these characteristics will be beyond your eyes and with a margin. Everything really flies. For almost 5 years of using Hackintosh, I managed to hang the computer one single time, and that was due to the fault of the Apple developers who sent a clumsy iTunes update 12.6, after the next update, which was sent almost immediately, there were no more problems.

I hope this article will help you decide on the components and learn something useful that you did not know about. If you can’t decide on the version of Mac OS X, then I advise you to read the article: ““.


When in 2005 Apple switched to Intel platform, enthusiasts from all over the world set out to install MAC OS X on regular PCs (Hackintosh). Four reasons stood in the way of this undertaking. 2 physical and 2 legal. The fact is that to start a MAC computer, it is not the usual BIOS that is used, but its own EFI bootloader. The second reason is the SMC chip that is installed in every Mac computer. It generates activators to run all system MAC applications OS X. Thanks to our compatriot under the nickname Netkas, we managed to get around these two limitations by creating an EFI bootloader emulator (Chameleon, Chemera, Clover) and an SMC chip emulator (FakeSMC.kext). These two software solutions are enough to install MAC OS on PC.

SpoilerTarget"> Spoiler: Full instructions in pictures

After downloading, drag them to your desktop.
After the El Capitan distribution has been downloaded from the AppleStore, you need to launch “UniBeast” and select installation flash drive:
Select an operating system for future installation:

Select boot method - UEFI:

Make sure that the selected parameters are correct and click Continue:

The process of transferring the distribution kit to the USB flash drive will begin:


After successful creation bootable flash drive, you need to copy the previously downloaded “MultiBeast” onto it:

The bootable flash drive is ready. We extract it from the MAC computer and go to our PC.
Step #2. Installing Mac OS X on a PC
To install MAC OS X in motherboard BIOS board, some settings need to be changed (depending on the board, its manufacturer, and BIOS type). In our case, with the mother Asus board H81T R2, for a successful installation, only need to change one. To start the BIOS, press and hold DEL while the computer boots:
Boot/Secure boot menu/ OS Type - Other OS
This option allows you to boot in UEFI mode operating systems other than Microsoft Windows. But from the experience of using these motherboards, I would like to add some optimizations. First, these are advanced processor power management capabilities. This will significantly reduce heat dissipation, which means the noise level at maximum loads, which is quite important in compact systems. For our ward Core i3-4170, the optimal settings are:
AI Tweaker / CPU Core Voltage / Offset Mode - 0.12v
Monitor / CPU Fan Control / CPU Fan Profile - Manual
CPU Upper Temp - 75
CPU Fan Max Duty Cycle - 60
After this setting, the heat dissipation of the processor is reduced and the operation of the cooling fan becomes much quieter. And at maximum loads, saving electricity from the outlet will be about 15W. Also, you can disable unnecessary functions:
Advanced / System Agent Configuration / Graphics Configuration / IGP Flat Panel – Disabled
Boot/Wait For F1 If Error – Disabled
After saving BIOS settings, it's time to connect a bootable USB flash drive to the USB.3 port and boot from it. To do this, while the computer is booting, press and hold F8. In the menu that appears, select “UEFI: USB USB Hard Drive (14900MB)” and press Enter. The flash drive will start downloading. After selecting the language of the operating system, you need to select Utilities in the upper left corner - disk utility and prepare the installation disk:

Let's call it "SYSTEM" so that there is no confusion in the future:


Further installation of MAC OS X is no different from installation on MAC computers:
After installation, the system will restart the computer. And there is one important point here. Since the EFI emulator and SMC have not yet been installed on the system disk, after rebooting we must again boot from the USB flash drive. To do this, while the computer is booting, press and hold F8. In the menu that appears, select “UEFI: USB USB Hard Drive (14900MB)” and press Enter. Now we can see already 2 download options. FROM system disk“SYSTEM”, or from a bootable flash drive “INSTALL”. We need "SYSTEM":

After loading MAC OS from the system disk, we get to the El Capitan desktop:

Step #3. post installation
Now you need to install emulators for the EFI bootloader, SMC chip, and drivers for the sound and network cards. To do this, you need to run the “MultiBeast” post-installer from the flash drive and select the audio driver:

SMC chip emulator (required) and system monitoring program and its plugins:

Network card driver:
Clover UEFI EFI Bootloader:

Select the installation path drive “SYSTEM” and click Install:


After successfully installing the bootloader and drivers, you can remove the USB flash drive and restart the computer from the system disk. If your system has a processor with graphics Intel core HD 4600, then no further manipulations are needed. This kernel works out of the box. But I specifically chose a processor with an HD 4400 graphics core to show how easy it is to run hardware similar to that used in Apple computers on a Hackintosh. This applies not only to Intel graphics, but also WI-FI adapters and Nvidia/AMD graphics cards. To do this, we need the “Clover Configurator” program. Its latest version can be downloaded.
All you need to do to enable hardware acceleration on the IGP HD 4400 is to tell the system that the driver that is intended for Intel graphics adapters can work with it. To do this, run "Clover Configurator" and open the hidden EFI partition on the system drive:

Next, in the “Clover Configurator” open configuration file system boot “Config.plist”:

In two the right sections enter the parameters as in the pictures:

Graphics/Inject Intel: true
Graphics/ig-platform-id: 0x0d220003

Devices/FakeID/IntelGFX: 0x04128086
Then you need to download and copy the files:
FakePCIID.kext FakePCIID_Intel_HD_Graphics.kext
in EFI/CLOVER/kexts/10.11
Reload
As you can see, the modern method of installing MAC OS X on compatible hardware often takes less time and effort than installing Windows, its drivers and updates. Also, deep knowledge in management is not required. command line as it was a few years ago. With the considered installation method, no need to modify system files. The system is perfectly safe to upgrade to next versions as part of cumulative updates.
As a result, we got a fast and stable system for a very reasonable price. Almost everything started up. Sound and network card, WI-FI, native processor power/frequency management, sleep/deep sleep mode, AirDrop, wake on WI-FI, USB 2.0 and 3.0, DVI and HDMI outputs. The system works quite comfortably with DSLR FULL HD Video in Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro, as well as with RAW images in graphic editors Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom.

In terms of speed, we slightly overtook the fastest of the current Mac Mini with an Intel Core i7-4578U processor, and if you install a Core i5-4590S processor, you can build a small and evil monster that successfully competes with the latest iMac models.
Step #4 (Optional).
Trim commands for your SSD
By default, in MAC OS X, Trim command support is only enabled for Apple's own SSD drives. But fortunately, they left the possibility of enabling this functionality for third-party drives. To do this, enter the command in the terminal: “sudo trimforce enable” Enter the administrator password and press “Y” twice. After that, the computer will automatically restart.
PS Venza: Taken somewhere in the Internet.

In theory, The best way to have a computer running Mac OS X that works great is to go out and buy it from Apple. Why is this method not suitable for us? Just three things:

  • Expensive
  • No freedom of maneuver in the configuration
  • You need a full Windows as well

Fortunately, in practice, you can independently assemble a computer for Mac OS X from suitable components that will work just as well as the original Mac. What is the secret? Why is not every computer able to support the system from Apple? Hackintosh iron is the answer. Unlike the damned Windows, which runs on any configuration, Mac OS supports a rather limited set of processors, motherboards, video adapters, hard drives, etc. down to the network card and sound. A very limited set of Hackintosh hardware is available to us! We narrow down the choice of hardware for Mac OS on PC by tens and even hundreds of times. Such is the dictatorship of Apple-toriat! Do you need it? If so, then we read on, especially since a computer for Mac OS will turn out to be good and inexpensive anyway.

AMD fans, you can already be upset, your favorite processor line is left behind.

There is a small but active community of people who, mostly purely out of principle and revolutionary consciousness, build Hackintoshes (as you already understand, these are PCs that run Mac OS). In this tutorial series, you'll see how you can join them.

Let's continue the theory. While it is true that Apple uses a certain Hardware for their computers, this is the same iron as any other. See for yourself: processors from Intel, hard drives from Samsung and video cards from NVIDIA are taken. We can do the same and even better by replacing something with a compatible one. If you choose your Hackintosh hardware carefully, running OS X on a PC will be as easy as running it on an Apple computer.

Hackintosh - pros and cons

Building a Hackintosh is your personal project. It's surprisingly easy to do, but not as easy as visiting an Apple store and buying an iMac. You will have to devote time to selecting parts, building a computer, setting up software, and fixing the inevitable little problems.

Here are good reasons to build a Hackintosh:

  • You will better understand how computers work
  • You get more power for less cost
  • You have more choice of components than regular Mac buyers
  • You will be able to upgrade your computer when the best parts are released
  • It's fun!

What do we lose with Hackintosh?

  • We lose a lot of the benefits of Mac-to-Apple support, guaranteed compatibility, and a computer that just works.
  • Your computer may have quirks
  • HDMI Audio is almost impossible to get working
  • Whether the pros outweigh the cons or not, it's up to you to decide whether to build a hackintosh or buy a ready-made Mac. And if you're a parent, building a Hackintosh with your kids would be a great way to show them the technology and bond with them.

Your hackintosh

When you build a Hackintosh, you have control over the details. For example, you don't have to buy a model with a faster processor to get more random access memory. You can build the kind of computer you need.

I need a computer for photo editing, but I have no desire to spend more than 1000 bucks. Adobe Photoshop is a RAM intensive application, but not only, it is also highly CPU dependent. With that in mind, I knew that I would need at least 16 GB of RAM, which is a good amount, but not the limit. Processor and everything else is secondary.

You can also pick up hardware in Hackintosh, guided by your needs.

Key Components

Every computer has several important components: processor, motherboard, RAM, power supply, and drives. There are also several additional components: video card, Wi-Fi, DVD-drive.

Motherboard for Hackintosh

The motherboard is the most important component in a Haikintosh hardware. This may be surprising, because when you buy a finished computer, the motherboard is not always even shown in the specification.

The motherboard ties all the other components together. It has slots for CPU, RAM, video card and other expansion cards. It also has most of the ports you're familiar with: USB ports, Ethernet ports, audio, sometimes HDMI. The choice of motherboard determines the rest of the options, since all parts must be compatible with the motherboard.

Motherboards come in a variety of form factors. The larger the motherboard, the wider its internal expandability, but also the greater the power consumption. The most common sizes are based on the ATX standard, which is designed for a full-sized tower computer. The MicroATX motherboard is slightly smaller and fits in a more compact "tower". There are other sizes, such as ExtendedATX motherboards or FlexATX motherboards, which are used for more powerful workstations and media centers, respectively.

For Hackintosh, iron fits quite standard sizes. Many of the most popular and recommended solutions for our Mac OS on PC come from Gigabyte's eighth series. Many of them work great with just a little tweaking.

If we talk about other motherboards for Haikintosh hardware, they often require complex fixing of the DSDT file, which, frankly, is much more difficult than it's worth. Range of supported motherboards Gigabyte boards covers most price and feature points, so unless you have a good reason to use a different motherboard, I suggest you go with Gigabyte.

I chose the Gigabyte Z87MX-D3H. This is a MicroATX board that supports latest processors Intel has plenty of USB ports, three PCIe x16 slots and a PCIe x4 slot for lots of internal expandability, and four RAM slots.

The Gigabyte Z87N-WIFI is perfect if you want to build something as small as the Mac Mini equivalent. The option with this card for Hackintosh hardware will be easy to set up.

But, if you're looking to build something with even more power and expandability, the Gigabyte LGA-1150-Z87 is the way to go, it's a huge board with a lot of features.

CPU is the brain of the computer. All tasks from the operating system and running applications processed by the CPU. The faster the processor, the faster it can perform tasks, the faster and more powerful the computer.

The speed or clock speed of a CPU is measured in gigahertz, abbreviated as GHz. All other things being equal, a 3.3 GHz processor will be faster than a 2.8 GHz one.

Many modern processors have a multicore system. Multi-core processors are essentially multiple processors on a single chip. Some tasks performed by a computer can be performed in parallel, such as video and audio processing, then we get a noticeable increase in speed from multi-core processor. Other tasks need to be done sequentially, so many processes don't get much faster with multiple cores, photo editing falls into this category.

If you don't know if you need a computer for fast parallel processing, there's no need to look beyond quad-core processors.

Since the mid-2000s, OS X has been running on Intel processors. While there are some ongoing attempts to get OS X on PC to run on other processors, it's not worth considering for your first Hackintosh. Despite this, with the choice of CPU you have more freedom than with the motherboard.

Any processor from the current generation of Intel Core chips should work without problems. If you're on a tight budget, go for the i3 or the lower end of the i5. If you need something more powerful, look at the top-tier i5 or i7. I chose a quad-core Intel Core i5-4670K processor with a clock frequency of 3.4 GHz for the hackintosh hardware.

As a bonus, Intel processors come with integrated graphics. This means that you basically don't need a graphics card. Although, if you plan to play or engage in graphics, you still have to buy.

And do not forget about the cooler, the fan that clings to the processor and prevents it from burning and melting. Choose entirely to your liking.

After the CPU, RAM has the biggest impact on overall performance. When a computer performs a task, everything it needs is read from the hard drive and stored in RAM. The processor accesses the data stored in memory much faster than hard drives. If the computer has enough RAM for the task being performed, it will run smoothly, however, if it does not have enough memory, it will have to access the disk more often, which slows down the system.

To run modern OS such as OS X and common applications such as web browsers and word processors, requires at least 8 GB of RAM. If you're going to be using professional applications like Photoshop or Final Cut Pro X, you should consider at least 16 GB.

RAM is one of the few things that Apple allows users to change in some cases - any third-party RAM available for iMac should work in Haykntosh. I took 16GB Corsair Vengance DDR3 RAM. You can also get it in 8GB if you want something smaller, or alternatively double it up and go up to 32GB.

Hard drive for hackintosh

Hard drives as Hackintosh hardware are one area where you don't have to be careful with your choice. The way you format a drive for OS X on a PC is much more important than the drive itself. But in order to definitely protect yourself from bugs, you should choose disks that are known to work with Haintosh.

For most users, it's better to buy two drives - one low-capacity SSD or SDD for the operating system and applications, and the other a high-capacity hard drive. The cost of SSDs has come down a lot, and the speed boost they give your computer means they're worth the extra cost.

I chose a 250GB Samsung 840 EVO for the SSD and a 2TB Seagate Barracuda for the hard drive. However, I would recommend the 240GB SanDisk Extreme SSD.

Power supply for Hackintosh

All parts of a computer are just layered silicon if they don't have power. For this you need a power supply. Every internal computer component has a watt rating, the amount of power it takes to run.

The power supply also has a rating in watts, which is how much power it provides. The equation is simple: make sure the power supply delivers more power than the sum of your components. The biggest consumer of power in most computers are graphics cards - hardcore gamers often use two or more connected to each other and this requires great amount energy.

The choice of power supply is not critical for Hackintosh hardware. Missing software component so any PSU that fits your case and motherboard and provides enough power will work. I liked the Corsair CX Modular 600W. I specifically chose one that would not litter the inside of the case with wires.

A video card is an addition to the main processor of a more powerful GPU. It is responsible for the images displayed on the monitor. The Intel chips I recommend come with integrated graphics so no graphics card is needed unless you want to play games or run multiple displays with high resolution and frame rate.

Unfortunately, video cards are not related to components, where you can choose something old and cheap. Some of those that are suitable for Hackintosh hardware are compatible out of the box, some require driver fixes to ensure full functionality. The rest, and most of them, are not supported at all.

NVIDIA GeForce video cards are the most popular for Haintosh. For most budget solutions, there are fully compatible cards. For example, I did not need graphics power, so I purchased a fairly low-end 1GB ASUS GeForce GTX 650. If you want something with more power, check out the EVGA GeForce GTX 760.

Wireless card for Hackintosh

Most motherboards have built-in Ethernet ports. Unless you are using a motherboard that also has built-in Wi-Fi, such as the Gigabyte Z87N-WIFI, you will need a Wi-Fi card to connect to wireless networks.

A wireless card is completely optional. If you are creating desktop computer for Mac OS on a PC, it does not have to be moved, it can be physically connected to the network using Ethernet cables.

For WiFi Hackintosh simple solution is to use the TP-LINK TL-WDN4800 wireless card. It's one of the most expensive wireless cards on the market, but it's also one of the few known to work easily with Haikintosh.

Case for Hackintosh

Another purely hardware choice. In different cases, a combination of additional ports and cooling options is offered. The most important thing is to make sure that the chosen model supports the size of the motherboard. I chose the Fractal Design medium tower because it was small enough to fit on my desk and work with all the components.

optical drive

In Apple tradition, I built my Hackintosh without an optical drive. Realistically, you probably won't need it. Most OS X applications are not designed to read/write physical media. If an optical drive is still needed, the Optiarc drive seems to work without problems. Alternatively, you can buy an Apple USB SuperDrive.

Peripherals

To complete your Hackintosh hardware, you will also need some peripherals: keyboard, mouse and monitor. As a rule, if they work via USB, they will work with the Hackintosh.

  • Any USB keyboard and mouse will work just fine. I like wireless keyboard Apple and Magic Trackpad so I used bluetooth adapter IOGEAR USB to connect to your Hyukntosh.
  • The screen is more complex. VGA support on Hackintosh is unreliable - it will work on some settings, not on others. You will most likely need to use HDMI or DisplayPort, depending on what your motherboard or graphics card supports.
  • Sound is also a rather difficult issue. Integrated audio on the motherboard, which will most likely work through 3.5mm ports, but not through HDMI.

conclusions

As we can see, assembling a Hackintosh on your own is not a difficult task when you know what components you need. What do we get at the output when the hardware for Hackintosh is assembled and connected? It turns out a computer that can work perfectly with both Mac OS X and Windows, Linux and whatever else you want. At the same time, the choice of the balance of components in terms of power, memory or graphics is completely under the control of the user, and the price of such a Mac OS on a PC will be several times lower than the original Mac.

Every iOS developer needs their own corner with cookies, a plush duck and a devil machine on OSX.


In light of the transition to Swift, the power of iron has become especially in demand. To comfortably develop for iPhones, you need at least a processor with a frequency of 3+ ghz, a 120-250Gb SSD and 16 gigs of RAM. All this is just so that there is no desire to watch football while the project is being launched or the interface builder is opening.


And you know what else was always relevant? Crazy prices for apple devices:



A PC with the same, plus or minus, hardware can be easily assembled for only 30,000 rubles! (infa for November 2016). Many, of course, think that since a company buys iron, it means that finances are endless, you can not be shy about funds. If you work for Google, then you are lucky and life is good. But in other cases this is not the case.


What to do? Do not develop for Android after all?


Under the cut, we will learn about the modern Hackintosh, its role in development, how to install and configure it painlessly, hear the opinion of people who have been working on it for more than a year, and conduct a test on iOS tools.

Brief introduction

Most, of course, are not going to buy a device for 120k to their developers and go along an alternative path - they take a 2011-2014 Mac Mini for 50-60k, which is somewhat weaker. But even in this case, the price is still exorbitant. First of all, comparative tests we will conduct it on such a simplified version, since it is the most common.


I must warn you that officially installing Hackintosh is a violation license agreement with Apple, but as long as you don't sell your own computers with OS X preinstalled, everything is more than innocent.


UPD1: the information turned out to be not so unambiguous about the violation of the license agreement and illegality in general, in more detail at the end of the article. I will update the footnote as new information becomes available.

Solution

There is an established stereotype that a Hackintosh installation looks something like this:



And this will be true, but only partly. As in any field, nothing stands still. So the market for hacked poppies has confidently gone forward since the time you, after laboratory studies at the institute, not yet a bearded student back in 2007, tried to put this miracle of technology on your dead computer.


Now this process looks like this: we create the most ordinary bootable USB flash drive with the most ordinary Mac from the AppStore, carry out a small BIOS setup, install the system and add firewood with a couple of clicks. Geektimes even has a great tutorial on the whole process.


When you realized that you were sitting on your Mac Mini in vain.



Why, then, are so many forums flooded with developer tears and failure stories? If it were that simple, then no one would just buy Apple devices. The thing is that the main stumbling block is the wrong iron.

Accessories


I will even say more, the most problematic part is the video card, you really need to pay attention to it. Everything else, as a rule, already works out of the box.


Naturally, we are talking only about hospitals. Apple has never been able to make friends with laptops, no matter how hard I tried. They say that the art of installing a hackintosh on a laptop is taught in the last years of Hogwarts.


Returning to video cards, I will advise time-tested options that we regularly use in our company: gt210 and gt630. Practically free, not requiring dancing with tuning, serving faithfully for more than a year. Ideal for a development machine. I would not recommend using a card built into the CPU, because, firstly, it is worse configured, and secondly, it somewhat affects performance.


But there is one peculiarity because of which I once almost went out the window, trying to start a vidyahu for the second day - hackintosh do not like VGA. The figure is grasped on the fly - DVI / HDMI / DP all started right away, but the analogue does not. So if you choose a monitor for workstation, then make sure it has HDMI or DVI.


In general, for hardware, the content of a standard black box for a developer is as follows. I immediately give links to Yandex-Market for current prices:

  • CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 Skylake (3700MHz/LGA1151/L3 3072Kb). It is not necessary to take a processor with blackjack and nanotechnology, as long as it is Intel. AMD is traditionally not liked by anyone not supported by apple. We opted for the i3-6100 Skylake because of its relatively low cost (~7k at the time of writing) and solid horsepower.
    UPD2: I will add a comparison of this processor with the one in the Mac Mini from the beginning of the article. It cannot be said for sure that the i7 is stronger.

    • mother board: Gigabyte GA-H110M-S2H . Gigabyte is almost always easy to start out of the box, does not require USB patching, ethernet takes off by itself, and for audio, the necessary kext in multibeast is enough to indicate that the elementary procedure is in itself. Checking the box next to ALC887 and clicking next can be done by an enikey worker.
    note that board is for 1151 chipset(Skylake) and DDR4 RAM! Unfortunately, your old percents and memory will not be included there.

    GPU: GigaByte GeForce GT 210 . About the video card, you can also add that if you take it to the office, then it is better to stop at the option without a cooler with a passive radiator. When she is alone, it's okay, but if there are a lot of them, then the rumble is already quite noticeable and begins to bother.
    As for the manufacturer, I advise you to look towards GigaByte if possible - it has developed so historically that it is better placed with a hackintosh.

    cooler: Zalman CNPS80F. Exchanged for a box of chocolates in the store. Extremely cheap cooler, easy enough to install (if you're confident enough) and cools well. For me, Zalman has always been One-Love, this time the company did not disappoint either.

    SSD: Kingston SSDNow V300 256Gb. Disk tested by time. I have one on my Macbook, which I have been traveling with for several years now, at home in a gaming station, at work in almost every workhorse, and (ashamed to admit) on a local office server. And in all this time, not one even hinted at a failure. If you do not have special preferences, then I recommend it as an option with a guarantee.
    P.S. Do not forget to take a sled 2.5 by 3.5 if you buy for a hospital.

  • RAM: Crucial DDR4 8Gb * 2. Inexpensive and roomy RAM. But it is worth remembering that it is a UDIMM (non-registered). Allegedly less stable and due to this faster and cheaper, but so far no surprises have been revealed. For the office, that's it.

If in doubt, take one or two dies for iOS development, then take as many as will fit in the mother, because Xcode is Chrome in the IDE world. He will never have a lot of operatives, he will always find where to attach the "surplus". Especially if you're still into the simulator.


I won’t write about the case, any mini-tower will do, as long as the mother gets in.

Performance

In order not to test spherical horses in a vacuum, we will not conduct any abstract load tests, everyone can look at the indices of a particular processor, if they are interested. I will share my observations in speed specifically on Xcode working tools, how visible is the difference between the 2011 Mac Mini with updated RAM and disk (consider the 2014 version), and our Frankenstein. We will leave the high-end device aside, because there was not enough money for it)


According to the tradition of previous articles, let's take the same one that we overclocked so abundantly. For the purity of the experiment, disable full-module optimization and do complete cleaning project.


We will compare iron from approximately the same price segment, BU MacMini now costs about 30k, and a new one in 2014 from 50k and more.

  • Mac Mini


Project build time:


  • hackintosh


Project build time:



Result on the face. For the same amount for the right hardware, you can get more than a twofold increase in performance! In addition, this affects not only the compilation time, but also generally affects the responsiveness of the system, which is important.


Happy developer on a fast system:


Stability

As criteria, we take the user experience, the complexity of the update, the frequency of freezes, glitches, crashes, and overall system stability. Let's try to combine subjective perception and objective.

  • Impression: guys who sit on hackintos without exception say that everything is smart and do not want to hit system unit foot to work faster. Between natural poppy and woven from black magic, no significant difference was noticed.

And as my colleague Alexei said: if compared with Windows, then it's just a fairy tale.

    Crashes and errors: almost never freezes. This has happened a couple of times over the years. The reasons were not revealed, the problem is solved by a simple reboot.

  • Updates: and here lies the chief side effect. Switching to a fresh major release is like a box of chocolates: you never know what's inside. It may be updated, or it may have to be re-rolled the entire system. Minor updates are included without problems, but it is recommended to make a backup before the big one important information and have on hand an installation flash drive with the latest version.

This is about software update. But with the pumping of iron, Hackintosh is far ahead. For example, on a 2014 Mac Mini (this is the most latest model) you can’t even throw in a RAM chip, it’s just soldered there. What can we say about updating the processor and video card if necessary. The same goes for maintainability, if something flies on your Mac, then it will be much more difficult to fix or replace it. In addition, older Macs (before 2013) have a hardware limitation on the amount of RAM (16 GB).


All this applies to both Sierra (latest version) and El Capitan, if someone prefers older operating systems.

Conclusion

With this article, I wanted to show that iOS development does not necessarily require an expensive Mac or special hacking skills. Technology is advancing and installing a Hackintosh is no longer as painful or requiring high expertise as it used to be.


I note that the goal was not to compare the cost of i7 from Apple and on the market, but to show the possibility of selecting a hardware that is more suitable for your tasks, which, unfortunately, Apple does not provide.


We recently experimented with letting a third-year university trainee assemble and set up a working machine on his own, including a complete system installation. Having received just a couple of tips about boot flags, a utility for the final configuration, and a USB flash drive with the system, the guy assembled a ready-made working tool in just a day.


Perhaps that's all. I would love to hear your experience with Hackintosh, comments and feedback.


For dessert, I'll leave a few links that may be useful when working with the hack:

  • Multibeast is a post installation utility.
  • Unibeast is a tool for creating a bootable flash drive. (For macOS)
  • . We use them regularly.

UPD1: There is a suspicion that Hackintosh is legal in the territory of the Russian Federation, as it conflicts with the STD, according to


There are many stereotypes. For example, "Apple users belong to an elite group who appearance more important than functionality" and "Macs cost more than x86 PCs for Windows and give less for the same price." But times are changing, and today Apple computers are built on x86 microprocessors and based on Intel chips. Thanks to the integrated Bootcamp utility, users can install only Mac OS X, but also Windows - the x86 PC doesn't have that option, so you get two PCs in one from that point of view, but there's a cheaper option: instead of buying an Apple dual-boot, you can build your Mac with common parts. It is understandable that the installation will be more intricate than on a "real" Mac, and will take longer. In addition, no one guarantees that all functions will work on a "self-assembled" Mac, we will pay attention to this in our article.

Installing a fixed Mac OS X takes about 20 minutes. Click on the picture to enlarge.

Hackers have been working on building their own Macs since the first appearance of OS X for Intel processors. The goal is to create an affordable platform that is easy to install and delivers good performance. We should end up with a Mac (PC based) that can boot under Mac OS X and Windows XP/Vista; platform that unites the two worlds. Such a computer will allow the user to plunge into the world of Mac, and if necessary, switch to installing Windows.

The problem is that Apple does not offer official version Mac OS X is for regular PCs (at least for now), so experienced hackers have created their own modified versions that are constantly updated and improved. Moreover, enthusiasm for the Apple operating system is visible not only on the forums, even ardent Microsoft fans are interested in looking at a user-friendly and stable Mac OS. The software is now available for the Power PC and Intel platforms, and even older PPC applications can run on Intel systems thanks to the built-in Rosetta real-time emulator.

This article is meant to inspire our readers. It will help you to independently conduct an experiment on assembling a platform based on ordinary components on which Mac OS X will run. The components themselves are inexpensive, so you will not spend a large budget. As a result of our experiment, we were able to get a Mac with 2D graphics capable of handling office and multimedia applications. Gamers will get the option to install a more powerful 3D card and boot Windows for extra 3D performance. Many will certainly want to get a system that can boot into both Windows and Mac OS.


We met with a hacker in the OSX86 community.

Apple sells its version of the operating system (Mac OS X 10.5 - Leopard) for 129 euros in the online store. We met with a well-known hacker from the OSX86 community who showed us some tricks to make the installation process easier. We started with the official and legally purchased version of the Mac OS X operating system, which our friend installed on a regular PC using a number of utilities. In the end, all components of PC and Mac computers are identical, the only significant difference can be considered a special BIOS for Mac ( EFI - Extensible Firmware Interface). On Macs on Intel, Apple's own bootloader, as well as drivers for file system HFS+ is written directly into the EFI-BIOS, preventing the console or command line from starting.

Today on the Internet you can find various DVD images created by such hackers like JaS, Uphuck or ToH. They helped fuel interest in a modified version of OS X, ironically called Hackintosh, whose kernel and bootloader run on regular PCs.


Of course, the case is not the most beautiful, but the system can boot both Mac OS X and Windows XP. Click on the picture to enlarge.

According to our information, the market has been ready for some time for Apple to open its OS to a wider audience. This is hardly surprising. In the end, we have a very well developed and stable OS. Apple garnered attention with two groundbreaking moves: porting the entire line to Intel processors, and the ability to dual-boot into Windows via the Bootcamp utility. It happened in 2005, but the enthusiasm of the community does not think to fade.

After all, it's not the performance of the hardware we've chosen that makes this project so fascinating. In fact, the main reason is low price, which allows you to build a very affordable Mac system. If you find this project interesting and plan to assemble a Macintosh with your own hands, then you should select components in such a way that they work well under both Windows and Mac OS X.


Official installation DVDs for Mac OS X. Version 10.4.8 aka Tiger.

Choosing the right accessories



The basis for a self-built Mac is a mini-ATX case. Click on the picture to enlarge.

The configuration that we offer in this article is just an example showing how you can build a Mac with inexpensive standard components. If you would like to discuss which accessories are best suited, please contact relevant forum .

In our experience, motherboards based on the Intel 965P or 975X chipsets are best suited for such a project. More new chipset The Intel P35 (with ICH 9 southbridge) also works, although not in all configurations. In most cases, any problems you may encounter will show up when you install a corrected copy of the installation DVD, the installer will simply crash. Therefore, it may take a little patience before you find the right combination of components and BIOS settings. If you want to prevent possible problems then choose your motherboard Intel D975XBX or its successor D975XBX2. With these two models, installing Mac OS X has the least problems, regardless of the image we used. Nice results we received and with the motherboard Foxconn G9657MC, which became the basis for the system in our article. But don't forget to disable integrated graphics before installing.

We then decided to choose the processor that will run in our self-built Mac. We tested several Intel processors, from the aging Pentium D 805 and Pentium EE 840 to the current Core 2 line. In the end, we chose the affordable Core 2 Duo E6750, which provides enough power at stock clock speeds and overclocks well. you can find Additional information about overclocking the processor in our article " Intel Core2 E6750 and Q6600: overclocking duel". The two motherboards we mentioned proved to be very picky when it came to choosing a processor. We often had to produce hard reset BIOS settings, including removing the CMOS battery to allow boards to POST. However, this behavior does not seem unusual to us, we have already encountered this in previous tests.

video card also plays an important role. Modified versions of OS X provide basic support drivers for older ATI and nVidia video cards. For our experiment, we took ATI X1600 and X1650 video cards, selecting support for the X1000 line driver during installation. The X1950 graphics card should also work well, as Apple is selling it as an upgrade for Mac Pro systems. However, there may be problems with new cards, since Apple OS X does not have the same gaming support as under Windows with the DirectX API. However, new nVidia models from the GeForce 8800 line should be better supported. However, again, how many games exist under OS X, which ways to load the video card to the maximum?

There is not much space inside the mini-ATX case - the installation of the motherboard. Click on the picture to enlarge.

If you want to watch digital TV under OS X, that is good news. Terratec's line of USB tuners, such as the Cinergy T2, work flawlessly with the program Elgato eyeTV. Terratec even offers official Mac OS X drivers that can be installed in seconds.

We recommend using only SATA components, even if some OS X images, such as JaS, promise IDE support. Also, if you plan to create a dual-boot system, as we did, you must install at least two separate hard drives - one for Windows and one for Mac OS X. Third HDD can be used to store documents shared between two OSes, of course, if you format it with the correct file system. Windows XP and Mac OS X (in v10.4 "Tiger") can read and write to FAT32 partitions, which speaks in favor of this file system. NTFS, on the other hand, is read-only under OS X. In addition, SATA components reduce the clutter of wires inside the case, which is important since we used a rather cramped micro-ATX case.

Below is a detailed list of the components we used for our experiment.

Self-built Mac hardware configuration
CPU Intel Core 2 Duo E6750, stock Intel cooler (overclockable)
Memory DDR2-800 2 GB Crucial
video card ATI X1650 Pro 256 MB PCI Express
Frame Inexpensive Barebone Asus V3-P5G965, Mini-ATX Form Factor
Motherboard Foxconn G9657MC
HDD 2 x Samsung 250 GB
optical drive DVD Burner Samsung SH-S203N
Fans 80/100 mm Papst
thermal paste LiquidPro
OS Mac OS X (10.4.8) licensed

What is the cost of our Mac based on the listed components? About 700 euros. But it is worth noting that we conducted a number of tests on maternal Intel boards The D975XBX and D975XNX2, which are ideal for a DIY Mac, but didn't fit into a mini-ATX case. These boards can be found for about 170 euros.

Our barebone case came with the power supply installed. Click on the picture to enlarge.


Thermal paste with metal particles provides good thermal conductivity.

Assembly of components

If you've made it to this section, chances are you've built at least one computer, and step by step instructions you don't need. Therefore, we will talk about the assembly only in general. If you choose a mini-ATX case, it is important to mount key components such as the processor, cooler, memory, hard drive, and video card first, and only then install the motherboard into the case. Since our goal was to build a system for office applications and graphics editing tasks, and not for 3D games, a passively cooled graphics card was enough for us. We chose ATI graphics card X1650 Pro with PCI-Express interface. If you plan to overclock the processor, we recommend replacing the stock Intel cooler with the Zalman CNPS9700 LED model. Since there is very little space inside a mini-ATX case, we recommend that you pay close attention to your wiring.


Socket 775 for everyone Core processors 2 (excluding Penryn). Click on the picture to enlarge.


The standard Intel cooler was enough for our tasks. Click on the picture to enlarge.

Due to the fact that the CPU and video card have a relatively low heat dissipation, a rather weak airflow inside the case. We chose a 100mm fan for the front of the case, and another 100mm or 88mm fan blows air out the back. We have added support for memory cards by installing a "card reader". We chose the model for the 5.35" bay. Mac OS recognizes all media connected via USB. The remaining assembly steps are shown in our gallery.


Video card installation - passive cooling quite enough. Click on the picture to enlarge.


Preparing the cables and using zip ties is the first step to ensure that the cable layout inside is good and well thought out.


2 GB of memory is enough for both OS X and Windows XP/Vista. Click on the picture to enlarge.


View of assembled computer. Good components are not expensive at all, but provide excellent performance. Click on the picture to enlarge.

An important step in installing Mac OS X on a PC is choosing the right DVD image that best suits both the chosen hardware and the needs. There are several variants of OSX86 images on the Internet created by hackers such as JaS, Tubgirl, Uphuck and ToH. DVD images can be distinguished by their OS X release number or their cat name, such as "Tiger" for 10.4.x and "Leopard" for the newer version 10.5.x. Since the ToH Leopard image did not work flawlessly on our system, we decided to use the JaS 10.4.8 image, updating it to 10.4.9 after installation. So all of our testing was done with the updated JaS image. Of course, you can install the ToH Leopard image, but we recommend that you refrain from doing so for the time being. Fortunately, new updates appear almost every day, improving both the installation process, component support and overall stability.

We start installing the corrected Mac OS on our self-assembled Mac.

Without going into details, different skins from Tubgirl, Uphuck and JaS differ only in hardware support and compatibility. So, your system may "hang" early on when installing from one distribution, while another image may work without problems. The behavior depends mainly on the chipset, in particular on the southbridge (ICH5, ICH6, ICH7 and ICH9).

After experimenting with different chipsets, motherboards and DVD images, we can say that Intel based motherboards have the least problems, especially the 965P or 975X. On the other hand, you may run into serious problems if you try to integrate RAID arrays that are NTFS partitioned and formatted under Windows. There is no standard approach here, since the solution depends on the southbridge version of your board. In the worst cases, we simply installed a blank hard drive and reinstalled both operating systems (Windows and OS X).

Language selection - you can change the language at any time.



The first screen of the Mac OS X installer. Click on the image to enlarge.


Important: select the target hard drive in the installer. Click on the picture to enlarge.

When the installation process begins, the program will prompt you to select a disk to install OS X. If you do not have a partitioned disk ready, then the easiest way is to go to the menu, select Disk Utility and partition the disk as you need. For our experiment, we recommend a separate hard drive.


Some Mac OS X images will only work when AHCI is enabled, others will only work when AHCI is disabled.

Installing drivers for video card, network and sound


Disk partitioning for Mac OS X. Click on the image to enlarge.

If any of the components do not work after installation is complete, then they are not supported by the selected DVD image. But you shouldn't despair. Many companies have begun to offer drivers for Mac OS X that can be installed directly or integrated via patches, and they can already be found in the appropriate forums. In particular, you should take care to find drivers for sound and network / WiFi cards. Again, motherboards with Intel chipsets(965p or 975X) and network adapters Intel (82573L / 82573E), most likely, will work immediately, you won't have to look for drivers. In our tests, motherboards with integrated Intel LAN chips performed flawlessly. On the other hand, Realtek network and sound chips are not supported by most OS X images, so you will have to look for drivers for your version. If your WiFi card is based on the Ralink chip, then you're in luck as the company offers Mac OS X drivers on their website.


1-Gbps Ethernet under OSX on an Intel 975XBX2. Click on the picture to enlarge.

Software updates: beware of OS kernel patches

Our experimental OS X system differs from the traditional OS X installation on an Intel Mac, so you should beware of OS kernel updates obtained through the Software Update utility. This utility lists available updates for your platform, including new versions of Quicktime and iTunes, and even firmware updates, etc. In some cases, the utility also updates the operating system itself, which will lead to damage to the installation of our experimental system. However, most of the updates need to be installed, as they improve the stability and security of the OS. However, find and use the version that has been patched to match your DVD image. All other applications can be updated via network/internet without any problems.


Beware: kernel upgrade from 10.4.8 to 10.4.10.


Searching for updates.


Very user friendly: change interface language and keyboard layout. Click on the picture to enlarge.
A boot manager, such as Boot iT, lets you choose which OS to boot. Click on the picture to enlarge.

Starting with Mac OS X 10.4, Apple provides users with the ability to Windows installation XP or even Vista on a Mac using the Bootcamp utility. If you are using the correct Mac version OS, this option is not available. Therefore, another solution needs to be found.

The easiest way is to change the boot sequence hard drives in the BIOS to boot the OS first with hard drive with Windows. Then, when Windows starts loading, press F8 to select the operating system you want to boot.

The choice of boot priority from disks in the BIOS, but the boot manager is simpler and more convenient. Click on the picture to enlarge.

But there are many programs that allow you to switch boot between the operating systems installed on your computer. For example, you can take the Boot iT boot manager, which worked very well during our experiment.

Ready to move? Mac Software


Minimal but modern: Office:mac 2004 under OS X.

So, the operating system is installed and works stably. What's next? Since our goal was to create an office Mac, we needed utilities and applications. Own Apple browser called Safari is already pre-installed under Mac OS X, but Firefox and Opera are available for the Mac platform. Microsoft Office has become the de facto standard. office suite in the corporate realm, and the good news is that it's also available for Mac. We installed version office:mac 2004 for Mac and feel right at home. However, as far as we know, some users have encountered problems transferring files from Outlook to its counterpart under Mac Entourage. That should change with the release of Office:mac 2008, which is due early next year and will be similar in functionality to Office 2007 for Windows.

If you work a lot with graphics and photography, then you will surely be pleased that all the well-known Adobe applications, such as Photoshop and InDesign, are available for the Mac platform. There are also quite a few video editing and animation applications for Mac, you can choose between your own application Apple Final Cut Studio / Final Cut Express and Adobe Premiere Pro.

Still looks fresh: Office:mac 2004 running Mac OS 10.4.8. Office:mac 2008 already requires 10.4.9 (Leopard). Click on the picture to enlarge.

But for working with files, for example, there are much fewer utilities. In particular, Total Command ( ex Windows Commander, a recognized program among many users, is not available for Mac. The closest thing we found in terms of feature set is the program Disk Order 2.5.1. At least Disk Order is able to read windows partitions NTFS. Cyberduck FTP client is also useful program, it can even open an SFTP connection to the iPhone, which we just pointed out in the article on unlock iPhone .

Apple decided to make Quicktime the default media player in OS X, along with iTunes of course. If you need a more flexible player, then look towards the well-known VLC player. Utility Flip4Mac, officially recommended by Microsoft, allows you to play .wmv files. Finally, DivX codec along with a DivX player are also available for Mac, so you can enjoy HD video at resolutions up to 1920 x 1080 on a custom Mac.

Watching high resolution DivX video under Mac OS X 10.4.8. Click on the picture to enlarge.

Conclusion: A DIY Mac Brings Two Worlds Together

We ran tests with an overclocked Pentium D: 3.81 GHz under Mac OSX.

Until recently, the Mac was a closed hardware platform that was almost impossible to change or upgrade. Yes, you could safely forget about the upgrade, unless, of course, you consider the increase in RAM to be a serious upgrade. But when the Apple product line switched to Intel components, the difference from a regular PC was almost erased. Only a special BIOS (EFI), which includes its own bootloader and file system driver (HFS+), distinguishes a regular PC from a Mac and does not allow you to install Apple OS 10.4 (Tiger) or 10.5 (Leopard) on regular home PCs.

Hackers belonging to the OSX86 community have been releasing so-called DVD images for some time now that allow you to install a patched version of OS X on regular PCs. One of these hackers visited our lab and showed us the whole process of "hacking" the OS X operating system from start to finish. We want to emphasize that our self-assembled Mac with selected and tested components is for experimental and educational purposes only. Still, do not forget that to assemble such a project, you will need patience and some effort. Our configuration is just one example, and is intended to inspire enthusiasts to repeat this experiment.

It should be said that we are completely satisfied with the results. We have achieved our goal of double Windows boot XP or Vista on the same computer where Mac OS X is installed, of course, each on its own hard drive. If you look at our modest configuration, you can find many ways to upgrade and strengthen. We wanted to create a hybrid system for working with graphics and photos, as well as for office applications on reasonable price. But this is not a quick and easy solution for those who want to see results in five minutes. Together with a legal copy of Mac OS X, our project cost less than 700 euros.

Mac OS 10.4.9 user interface on our custom Mac. Click on the picture to enlarge.

Apple is trying to increase the number of its devices on the market, winning the masses of consumers. This can be seen in the number of iPods and iPhones sold each quarter. The same is true for computers. Apple Mac. Since Apple switched to Intel parts and also allowed users to boot into Windows as well, Mac sales have skyrocketed. In any case, Apple's mature and stable operating system, available today in the latest version 10.5 "Leopard", is only available for Apple computers, such as Macbook (laptop) or iMac and Mac Pro (desktop). So the company's growth strategy doesn't seem to fit well with market expansion efforts.

The situation may change as soon as Apple wishes to enter the market and compete fairly, that is, without relying on a specially modified hardware platform. On the other hand, other problems may arise, such as compatibility with components for the x86 platform, not to mention stable drivers. For Microsoft, such a move could mean the emergence of the first real competitor in the field of operating systems, especially since Windows Vista doesn't sell as well as Microsoft would like. Mac OS for personal computers (not from Apple) could be an attractive alternative, even if initially it would be limited to a small community of enthusiasts who would then be engaged in popularizing the new OS among ordinary users.

So will XP/Vista get a Mac OS competitor soon? In the near future, most likely not. Still, most users grew up on different versions of Windows, and they are unlikely to immediately want to switch. Unless, of course, Apple gives any attractive arguments for such a move.

Of course, our computer will not receive a design prize, but it works well. The mini-ATX case contains components that work under both Mac OS X and Windows. Click on the picture to enlarge.

Is Mac OS X sufficient on its own for everyday office tasks? Is it possible to do without Vista or XP? Several editors of Tom's Hardware Guide have already answered this question and switched to Mac OS. Of course, you have to put up with a limited selection of applications, especially utilities.