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Tried a hackintosh? Was it worth it?

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whitedragon101

macrumors 65816
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Sep 11, 2008
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With £1500 I can build a very powerful PC but I do prefer MacOS and I need xCode. So a hackintosh is enticing however.

If you have tried this yourself ; After the initial hassle of the seemingly large amount of steps and hacks and troubleshooting to get one working was it worth it? Were there day to day, month to month issues?

I’m wondering if there are bugs and compatibility issues that will keep cropping up, or if Apple updates will break the installation. Do you have to go through a whole workaround on each new named version of MacOS? Are there problems with iCloud or the absence of the security chips Apple put in Macs?
 
For me, it was not worth it. I've done the hackintosh thing many times over the course of nearly 10 years from hardware ranging from very incompatible Dell laptops to custom built PCs based on hardware known to work well with OSX. It never once went smoothly although it's been a couple of years since I last tried it. My current PC was built for hackintoshing but it's been running Windows for several years now.

Getting OSX to boot from a clean install is very easy especially if you use a known good motherboard and GPU. It's all the little things (e.g. dual monitors (had to flash my GPU to get that to work last time I tried) and sleep were always things that were a pain for me) that can give you headaches and cause you to spend lots of time on forums looking for solutions. Plus, all it takes is one software update to break things. Audio was a common thing for me to break after software updates but things might be better today in that area. Remember, Apple designs OSX to run on their hardware and nothing else. They can make changes at any time that could break on non-Apple hardware.

Hackintoshes are for tinkerers who really want to run OSX. Those days are over for me. I just want my stuff to work now, in which case running Windows or real Macs is a much better solution.

If you do really want to try it, go to https://www.tonymacx86.com/ and use a known good build. Then spend some time searching those forums for every part you want to use to see what issues you might run into. The motherboard and GPU are the most important parts.

Another reason I stopped is because I use my PC for gaming, among other things, and Windows is just better for that.

If I wanted a powerful, custom built PC but still needed xcode, I'd build a custom PC and buy a refurbished or used Mac that's just good enough for building whatever software I needed. I'd especially go this route if xcode was needed to make a living; you don't want a hackintosh getting in the way of being able to put food on the table.
 
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I did run hackintoshes for a while, and for me it was worth it: I realized I’d rather actually get a proper mac that Just Works than mess with stuff that almost worked, like some savage. To each their own, but time is worth something too.
 
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Not worth it for me. I've used hackintoshes for a total of 4 years I think and while it is true that you can get macOS working with great hardware for less money, it's a lot of hassle to get *everything* working. Plus you are worried at every single update that Apple might do something that makes hackintoshes stop working... It's just a so much better experience to use real Macs if you like macOS and can afford them.
 
Yea I've always wondered what macOS would be like on a high-end gaming PC...

Screen Shot 2018-04-20 at 9.42.50 AM.png
Screen Shot 2018-04-20 at 9.42.55 AM.png
 
whitedragon101 said:
With £1500 I can build a very powerful PC but I do prefer MacOS and I need xCode. So a hackintosh is enticing however.

If you have tried this yourself ; After the initial hassle of the seemingly large amount of steps and hacks and troubleshooting to get one working was it worth it? Were there day to day, month to month issues?

I’m wondering if there are bugs and compatibility issues that will keep cropping up, or if Apple updates will break the installation. Do you have to go through a whole workaround on each new named version of MacOS? Are there problems with iCloud or the absence of the security chips Apple put in Macs?
Click to expand...


Except for the very near term, for commercial coding I don’t think it’s the best idea. A new CPU architecture is being seriously considered and we have no way of measuring where Apple is on that path. XCODE Is tied to the OS version so that you cannot upgrade XCODE except on the latest OS. BUT, if you have compatible hardware to repurpose, give it a try.

EDIT: should have mentioned I was writing in SWIFT.
 
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Tooldog said:
Except for the very near term, for commercial coding I don’t think it’s the best idea. A new CPU architecture is being seriously considered and we have no way of measuring where Apple is on that path. XCODE Is tied to the OS version so that you cannot upgrade XCODE except on the latest OS. BUT, if you have compatible hardware to repurpose, give it a try.

EDIT: should have mentioned I was writing in SWIFT.
Click to expand...

Not quite sure what you mean. Do you mean :

a) That a new CPU architecture is worth waiting for as it may provide better performance/value?

b) A new CPU architecture would mean MacOS Intel drivers would stop with the current gen removing the ability of a Hackintosh to be upgraded in the future.

c) Are you thinking that if Apple switch to ARM chips that they will stop support for OS updates on non ARM systems? That one seems unlikely as that would leave every Mac owner behind including new buyers of an iMac Pro. Especially as Apple hate OS fragmentation.

d) Secret option d, something else ;)
 
Maybe check all the latest news of expected updates and such. Nothing secret about new hardware in the pipeline, or speculation about new hardware here on this site and when it might be offered for sale.

We don’t know exact timeline of new hardware, OS, or required dev environment. We don’t know future architecture type or timeline. It may or may not be possible to develop software on dissimilar hardware/software. It may be exactly what you plan to buy, but still not compatible.

Hedge your bets and expect the unexpected. Apple cares only about $$ and not about you personally. Expect them to lead you by the nose for as long as you are willing to follow. Caveat Emptor! You are on your own no matter what you choose.

I hope this is more clear.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone.

Sounds like its a bit too unstable for professional use. I mainly use MacOS over windows for reliability so throwing that into question seems to rather undo the advantage.

I'll cross my fingers for a new Mac Mini
 
yes, and no, it was a good try, but not my cup of tea.

just too time-consuming, and Internet Sharing with Bluetooth PAN was way too shaky for me, so i let it go.
 
Been running my hack for two years now, has been rock solid. Was fairly easy to set up and maintain. Just do your research before you start building.
 
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I've had a mac pro, mac book, rMBP, and a Macbook Air. Never had any stability issues.

I've had two hackintoshes, my latest has a i7 8700k OC'd where I can push 6400 (single) and 30k (multicore) on geekbench. The single core score is higher than any current Mac and the multi is only behind the 10 and 14 core iMac Pros.

I've never had a stability issue. The only issues I've had is slower boot times (expected) and making sure to update after the hack community has tested any update.
 
I've been running a hackintosh for a few years now and it runs wonderfully.

With that said, if your time matters to you then don't - just buy a Mac. Honestly, if I was going to get a new computer now I'd just buy an iMac.
 
JoelTheSuperior said:
I've been running a hackintosh for a few years now and it runs wonderfully.

With that said, if your time matters to you then don't - just buy a Mac. Honestly, if I was going to get a new computer now I'd just buy an iMac.
Click to expand...
I agree with this sentiment. I'd also add that if you want something that works straight out of the box, get a Mac.
 
I also built a hackintosh, and have to agree. It's a fun experiment and you learn a lot, and it even worked great, BUT it felt.. "fragile" for lack of a better word. You can count on some stuff not working properly - wifi issues, can't put it to sleep (or some stuff breaking after waking from sleep), updates makes it unable to boot and whatnot.

Right now I'm looking into Linux. Honestly, I think it's a better choice than hackintosh - you get a very OS X like look and feel but have full freedom to customize everything to your liking, and a LOT better hardware support, but lack a bit in available software and stability (the OS is rock stable, but the applications aren't always).

If you want something that just works, has lots of software, and don't mind doing everything the way apple tells you to - just buy a mac, it will save you a ton of headace. If you want something similar with freedom to do what you want with your computer and great selection of hardware but less stability / more tinkering, go Linux. If you want the worst of both (ie locked into apple ecosystem, not great hardware selection, not great system stability, lot of tinkering), go with hackintosh :)
 
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