Hackintosh long-term trend downwards?

[seveej]

While many are always grumbling after each Apple event, this one produced maybe somewhat more grumbles than on average. The main gripe is naturally related to the Pro-desktop segment.

Still, I suddenly had the feeling there's been less discussion about going hackintosh, than there was before.
And it's true, at least according to google trends (https://www.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=hackintosh). The long-term trend is downwards... (Picture attached)

What I find noteworthy here, is that there's a spike right now (no updated nMP?) and the spikes are usually situated at the end of summer/autumn. Would someone want to run a correlation exercise, whether those spikes correlate to Apple's computer product launches?

What are your thoughts?

 

[pastrychef]

I think there's a spike right now because of the lack of new desktop Macs at the most recent product announcement.

I'm willing to bet that the term "Mac Pro" trends mirror the term "hackintosh".

At any rate, I think low key is good. No need to draw the ire of Apple...

 

[mw360]

There's less talk about computers in general. If you look over the last five years, you'll see pretty much the same linear decline on the terms MacPro, iMac, PC, windows, linux, workstation, notebook and computer. MacBook and laptop are holding flat against the trend.

 

[Crosscreek]

IMHO the rise of IOS and Android has killed off the need for a personal computer and the investment that goes with it. Mobile phones and tablets accomplish most tasks for people with little effort on their part. Lack of innovation overall has led to a decline with those that still use a PC along with longevity of hardware.

 

[Fl0r!an]

I think the spikes are more related to major OS releases and people looking for instructions to update their machines, and maybe also freshly added hardware support (e.g. Skylake last year).
It's even more obvious when investigating tmx86 searches: https://www.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=tonymacx86

 

[gMTh44]

i also suspect the general downward trend over time is partly as Hackintoshes have matured also they have become easier to build, use and upgrade.

 

[slughead]

What are your thoughts?

If the Mac itself is on the decline, so too is new software, especially on the "pro" side. Fewer Pro macs = less pro software being made = why build a Hackintosh?

That's my guess.

 

[seveej]

If the Mac itself is on the decline, so too is new software, especially on the "pro" side. Fewer Pro macs = less pro software being made = why build a Hackintosh?

That's my guess.

That is, in fact, a very bleak outlook. If that were (to come) true, what should one do?

I remember some of the comments (from the days of iLife prominence), which despaired at Apple focusing on the AV hobbyist segment (to the detriment of the professional segment). The worst fears from back then were not realized, then.

But with Apple ditching Aperture (photographers), cutting features from FCP (I haven't followed what's happening with Logic - not my area of interest), dumbing down iWork etc., it is increasingly obvious that Apple no longer focuses on the pro users.

And yes, sales of real computers makes up only a minor part of Apple's revenue (and profit). Some say, It's unavoidable that this situation makes Apple's computers languish - that in a company of Apple's size management cant's be expected to devote enough energy on the Computer segment (and even less on the subsegment of demanding, professional users/customers).

On the other hand, by every relative measure, Apple's computer business is a huge business - on the order of 20 thousand millions (or 20 billions) annually. Even if the revenue from the pro segment would be only one percent of that, we'd be talking about real money - money some competitor would gladly snap up.

So, coming back to the hack, as software (one element of the Pro-user ecosystem) is able to run on a hack, I'm surprised that no entrepreneur has made more (even though clandestine) efforts to corner the market of Pro-grade OSX compatible hardware, which Apple has systematically and obviously left open to such a move.

And before someone says "lawsuit": Please remember, In most countries of the world Apple's attempt at stipulating that OSX may not be run on anything but Apple hardware is worth less than toilet paper.

RGDS,

 

[pastrychef]

So, coming back to the hack, as software (one element of the Pro-user ecosystem) is able to run on a hack, I'm surprised that no entrepreneur has made more (even though clandestine) efforts to corner the market of Pro-grade OSX compatible hardware, which Apple has systematically and obviously left open to such a move.

And before someone says "lawsuit": Please remember, In most countries of the world Apple's attempt at stipulating that OSX may not be run on anything but Apple hardware is worth less than toilet paper.

Companies don't even need to put themselves in the position of being at risk of being sued. With the current tools, macOS can be made to run on an extremely wide range of motherboards with relative ease.

 

[Fl0r!an]

So, coming back to the hack, as software (one element of the Pro-user ecosystem) is able to run on a hack, I'm surprised that no entrepreneur has made more (even though clandestine) efforts to corner the market of Pro-grade OSX compatible hardware, which Apple has systematically and obviously left open to such a move.

And before someone says "lawsuit": Please remember, In most countries of the world Apple's attempt at stipulating that OSX may not be run on anything but Apple hardware is worth less than toilet paper.

That's only one of the "problems": You can't redistribute OS X easily. It doesn't cost anything, but it's still copyrighted by Apple, so a PC with OS X preinstalled can't be sold without violating Apple's rights (even in those countries where Apple's EULA is worthless). You'd basically have to tell your customer to buy a real Mac in advance for downloading OS X from the MAS.

Additionally, you'd also have to give some kind of warranty to your customers. Hard to do this, as you rely on a bunch of software hacks...

So all in all, I think it's very difficult to monetize Hackintoshs. But don't get me wrong, IMO that's a very good thing! You can easily see what's going wrong when you start monetizing hacked software, just look at the "Mac EFI GPU scene". A bunch of liars and thiefs getting attracted by those who do the real work, because they're smelling easy money and/or some "e-Fame". Not exactly motivating for the people trying to push development forward. And eGPU is already heading in the same direction (hello Bizon)...

 

[oneMadRssn]

I'm willing to bet that the term "Mac Pro" trends mirror the term "hackintosh".

Here ya go Blue= "hackintosh" Red= "Mac Pro"

[doublepost=1478269796][/doublepost]

That's only one of the "problems": You can't redistribute OS X easily. It doesn't cost anything, but it's still copyrighted by Apple, so a PC with OS X preinstalled can't be sold without violating Apple's rights (even in those countries where Apple's EULA is worthless). You'd basically have to tell your customer to buy a real Mac in advance for downloading OS X from the MAS.

Additionally, you'd also have to give some kind of warranty to your customers. Hard to do this, as you rely on a bunch of software hacks...

So all in all, I think it's very difficult to monetize Hackintoshs. But don't get me wrong, IMO that's a very good thing! You can easily see what's going wrong when you start monetizing hacked software, just look at the "Mac EFI GPU scene". A bunch of liars and thiefs getting attracted by those who do the real work, because they're smelling easy money and/or some "e-Fame". Not exactly motivating for the people trying to push development forward. And eGPU is already heading in the same direction (hello Bizon)...

Yea, I think even advertising a beige box computer that comes with no OS and no warranty as "macOS compatible" or "easily hackintoshable" or "components selected to be compatible with OS X" would draw a lot of negative attention from Apple's legal team.

I think the closest you can get to it without stepping in it is what https://www.tonymacx86.com/ does, which isn't actually selling anything but rather linking people to what to buy.