'OpenCore Computer' Launches Commercial Hackintosh in Violation of Apple's macOS Licensing Agreement [Updated]

[usagora]

Who cares why a community of 35 people doesn’t like what Apple is making? Or even 3500 people?

I'm guessing wither 35 or 3500 people would care 😄

Hey, I think it would be really cool for Apple to make a consumer-grade desktop tower, but I doubt that's going to happen. It would be pretty silly of me to criticize them for that, though. Apple has to keep the big picture in mind.

 

[chucker23n1]

Speaking of nonsense... "Professionals" are served just fine. I have no complaints nor do my engineering/creative colleagues and friends who continue to use Apple products in both engineering and creative fields, some going back to the 1980s. The same is true for professionals in all sorts of disciplines.

I think I would be better served with a slightly thicker MacBook Pro (which would enable better thermals and more ports). I don't think it's a huge deal, though.

 

[theluggage]

The biggest problem for Apple, I think, would be that such a program could hamper adoption of ARM based Macs, which would not be in Apple's interests.

They'd have to restrict the license to protect the type of computers they wanted to still sell, though. Give a license to Dell with no limitations and they'll make an XPS laptop that just undercuts the MBP, because that's where the high margins are. It would have to be a more strategic deal to get machines made for the market segments that they didn't want to cover.

Trouble is, at the moment, they seem to think they can get people who really want a "proper desktop" to compromise on an iMac or Mini with zero expandability - or stump up 3x the cash for a Mac Pro with 3x more expandability than they need... which will work for the next quarter or two until the "pro" mac market is killed by slow attrition. You can't keep telling chunks of your customer base to go fish.

 

[cmaier]

They'd have to restrict the license to protect the type of computers they wanted to still sell, though. Give a license to Dell with no limitations and they'll make an XPS laptop that just undercuts the MBP, because that's where the high margins are. It would have to be a more strategic deal to get machines made for the market segments that they didn't want to cover.

Trouble is, at the moment, they seem to think they can get people who really want a "proper desktop" to compromise on an iMac or Mini with zero expandability - or stump up 3x the cash for a Mac Pro with 3x more expandability than they need... which will work for the next quarter or two until the "pro" mac market is killed by slow attrition. You can't keep telling chunks of your customer base to go fish.

You can if they are tiny chunks

 

[DailySlow]

Why would anyone buy a Hackintosh with Catalina preinstalled? Not only is it a dumpster fire of a MacOS release, you can only run 64-bit MacOS apps.

Exactly - I have (legit) Mac but sticking with Mojave - but when I get my old 2009 Mini updated to Sierra and an SSD so i can use that superdrive and iDVD installed, maybe. I can still run QT7 on my Mac and it's the greatest with good tools missing in QT player 10.5.

 

[TehFalcon]

People moan about Apple prices but it is the only (non-free) platform that provides a solid several years of free, and regular, software updates. People only think in terms of hardware costs.

this isn’t the case anymore. Windows 10 is using the same model as macOS now, is even argue that it’s getting more major updates than macOS.

 

[Justanotherfanboy]

Why can't Apple make a normal desktop around $3000? It shouldn't be a problem. If you disagree, then you have a problem.

Lol, despite your attempt to completely dissuade discussion... I’ll offer my opinion:
yes, it’s possible... no, that isn’t a market that exists

 

[Flint Ironstag]

Lol, despite your attempt to completely dissuade discussion... I’ll offer my opinion:
yes, it’s possible... no, that isn’t a market that exists

You have no clue what’s going on in the Mac ecosphere if you think there’s no market for a $3k box. Google xMac and be amazed. 😐🍸

 

[fanless]

Time for another update, because they took their store offline.
[automerge]1592187595[/automerge]
OCC Announcement:


We have taken on board community views and criticism of our ‘Hackintosh’ business model. We offer an unreserved apology to all; especially the Acidanthera OpenCore bootloader team. We chose their bootloader as we found it to be the simplest and most effective option. It was short-sighted of us to have branded our products the way that we did.

We are currently changing the site content and domain, and will be offering the hardware described here previously which is fully compatible with all mainstream operating systems. We will NOT be including any macOS software. If customers wish to install macOS, they will be able to do so themselves. We will contribute to the Hackintosh community on a non-commercial basis.

We have NOT accepted payment for any computers. Our new business model will not require Bitcoin payments and will instead feature a mainstream payment processor option.

Thank you for your indulgence and understanding.

Please email media@opencore.computer for any enquiries while we transition the site.

 

[cmaier]

Time for another update, because they took their store offline.
[automerge]1592187595[/automerge]
OCC Announcement:


We have taken on board community views and criticism of our ‘Hackintosh’ business model. We offer an unreserved apology to all; especially the Acidanthera OpenCore bootloader team. We chose their bootloader as we found it to be the simplest and most effective option. It was short-sighted of us to have branded our products the way that we did.

We are currently changing the site content and domain, and will be offering the hardware described here previously which is fully compatible with all mainstream operating systems. We will NOT be including any macOS software. If customers wish to install macOS, they will be able to do so themselves. We will contribute to the Hackintosh community on a non-commercial basis.

We have NOT accepted payment for any computers. Our new business model will not require Bitcoin payments and will instead feature a mainstream payment processor option.

Thank you for your indulgence and understanding.

Please email media@opencore.computer for any enquiries while we transition the site.

LOL. So they completely gave up.

 

[Tech198]

Any legit business would have an address and offer something more accessible than a an untraceable/anonymized payment system.

 

[yurc]

Time for another update, because they took their store offline.
[automerge]1592187595[/automerge]
OCC Announcement:


We have taken on board community views and criticism of our ‘Hackintosh’ business model. We offer an unreserved apology to all; especially the Acidanthera OpenCore bootloader team. We chose their bootloader as we found it to be the simplest and most effective option. It was short-sighted of us to have branded our products the way that we did.

We are currently changing the site content and domain, and will be offering the hardware described here previously which is fully compatible with all mainstream operating systems. We will NOT be including any macOS software. If customers wish to install macOS, they will be able to do so themselves. We will contribute to the Hackintosh community on a non-commercial basis.

We have NOT accepted payment for any computers. Our new business model will not require Bitcoin payments and will instead feature a mainstream payment processor option.

Thank you for your indulgence and understanding.

Please email media@opencore.computer for any enquiries while we transition the site.

Well, they should completely remove all opencore branding tbh.

 

[Gasu E.]

This is like how George R.R. Martin is still only using Wordstar 4.0 on DOS. 😁

I thought he used WesterOS.

 

[cmaier]

I thought he used WesterOS.

I see what you did there

 

[Yohannon]

Why can't Apple make a normal desktop around $3000? It shouldn't be a problem. If you disagree, then you have a problem.

I disagreed. And no problems. 🤔

It's almost as if a company that was the first to hit 1 and 1.5 trillion really doesn't care WTF you think.

Whodathunkit?
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GLWT

And, in this case, illegal. In case this isn’t clear, you also can’t steal the recipe for KFC and then “compete” selling fried chicken.

It's worse than that; it's as if you were stealing the mix of blended spices from KFC warehouses every month to sell that fried chicken.

 

[Brandhouse]

Lol, despite your attempt to completely dissuade discussion... I’ll offer my opinion:
yes, it’s possible... no, that isn’t a market that exists

Comes down to costs, R&D and anything else you'd like to think about. Costs could come down, but who'll make it, will it be people in forced labour camps, do you want to bring manufacturing into a country? You want to buy a box of matches, they're 40cents a box. You want to pay 15 cents, well I'll have to take out x matches out of that box and then you can have it for 15 cents.

 

[hajime]

I remember seeing Apple II clones. One brand called their computers Pineapple.

 

[throAU]

I'd be interested to know how the currency used affects the enforceability of the EULA...

It mostly impacts the ease of freezing the money, not the legality of the EULA.
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Mojave was released on September 24th, 2018 - that was when they warned people they wouldn't support 32-bits anymore.

Nah. 32 bit to 64 bit shift started in 2009 with Snow Leopard. Developers (and anyone who watches WWDC or pays attention to announcements related to WWDC) have been warned for at LEAST 5 years at this point that their apps need to be migrated to 64 bit, and at least work with 64 bit. Pretty sure you haven't been able to upload 32 bit only apps to the app store for some years now.

End users have had warnings that their 32 bit apps will break for 1-2 years at this point.

If you're still running crappy (because the developer is asleep at the wheel or went broke or whatever and they're essentially unsupported) 32 bit apps that you refuse to upgrade or replace at this point - that's on you. The writing has been on the wall to rectify that situation for a long time now. And if that's the case - you can stick on Mojave until it is unsupported.

 

[Kabeyun]

this isn’t the case anymore. Windows 10 is using the same model as macOS now, is even argue that it’s getting more major updates than macOS.

Unless we have different understandings of the term “major update” this sounds a bit ridiculous. I’ll check in when Windows 11 is free. And besides, you couldn’t pay me to use that adware, freemium-bloat, invasive cluster**** of an OS. I’ll keep my Unix kernel, thanks.

 

[chucker23n1]

Mojave was released on September 24th, 2018 - that was when they warned people they wouldn't support 32-bits anymore. And even then, most developers I know didn't really believe them.

I don't have any idea why developers continued to release software that was 32-bit only for so long, but to act like it's only ancient software with this problem is being completely ignorant of the mac platform.

It should be only ancient software, though (and it mostly is). It was possible to make a 64-bit x86 Mac app all the way back since the Snow Leopard days, which was in 2009. So developers had over a decade between the Snow Leopard beta and the Catalina final to make their app a fat binary with 32-bit and 64-bit code.

 

[usrsse2]

64-bit applications were supported even on Leopard, though the kernel became 64-bit only in Snow Leopard. The most significant reason of using 32-bit apps on macOS is running 32-bit Windows games through Wine (including Steam).

 

[Claymore]

They have the option of having both windows 10 and macOS preinstalled...
Since they’re already pirating macOS, why not go the whole hog and just put an unlicensed cracked copy of win 10 on, get Microsoft breathing down their necks as well. Going to get sued anyway... so why not just go for broke 😛

 

[theluggage]

You can if they are tiny chunks

Tiny chunks add up, and a lost customer is a lost customer so you'd better be really sure that you replace them with new customers.

Maybe - if you're making luxury cars that can run on the same fuel and drive to the same destinations, on the same roads as everything else (or even ones that are just going to sit in air-conditioned garages as status symbols) - you can play the "the fewer we sell the more we can charge" game. Computers aren't cars though - generally, people buy them to "do things" and for that they need an ecosystem of compatible software and hardware from third parties.

That "tiny" group of "xMac" customers may be insignificant to Apple alongside their iPhone revenue - but it could be a significant fraction of the customers for some software or hardware sector - enough to tip the balance in a world where you can already get to 90% of the market by just supporting Windows.... and, wham! the whole Mac ecosystem is a bit poorer.

 

[Maximara]

I'm guessing wither 35 or 3500 people would care 😄

Hey, I think it would be really cool for Apple to make a consumer-grade desktop tower, but I doubt that's going to happen. It would be pretty silly of me to criticize them for that, though. Apple has to keep the big picture in mind.

Considering what can qualify as "consumer-grade desktop tower" Apple has good reasons to avoid that market. Remember when Packard Bell computers had a 25% failure rate right out of the box? I do. And that isn't something relegated to the 1990s either as TechGenix's Laptop and PC failure rates: Why are they so high? article shows.


I had personal experience with this failure rate (labtop though) when, instead of following my instructions and going to Apple for a referb labtop my brother went to some PC place. They got a computer...which promptly went into the shop for repairs. We get the computer...and, you guessed it, it didn't properly boot up. Back to the shop it goes and they give some BS about not booting it up properly. Finally I said screw this and pulled my old 2006 iMac out of mothballs and it booted up perfectly. Sure it isn't a laptop but it freaking works which is more then can be said for the "consumer-grade" labtop.

That cheap price has hidden costs. There is a reason PCs have a 2-3 year turn over rate while macs have a 5-6 year turn over rate - the Mac has better quality components. "Our favorite “El cheapo” systems, however, start dropping like flies once they reach 18 months in service. Forty percent-50 of “cheap systems” fail in the second year of use." - TechGenix

I might add the expandability wouldn't be a problem if people didn't keep want to have a mac run high end games. Sit back and really look at the average user - they rarely use that expandability.

The old adage of 'you get what you pay' for could be a mile high in flashing neon and the windows crowd still wouldn't get it. Heck, gaming, the big selling going of PCs, has gone console and what ports there are tend to be crippled so the console version looks and play better.

 

[theluggage]

I remember seeing Apple II clones. One brand called their computers Pineapple.

ISTR there were licensed clones and unlicensed clones.

The only "licensed" one I remember was the ITT 2020 which was briefly made for the European market and supported PAL video (PAL vs. NTSC was a big issue for computers crossing the pond at the time).