Think Different - How To Build Your Own Hackintosh

By Stefan Neagu
TuxGeek.me
Edited by Justin Pot
Cover Photo By Theis Kofoed Hjorth

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HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN HACKINTOSH

Table Of Contents
Introduction

4

1. Preparation

6

Method 1: Using a Computer You Already Have

6

Processor

6

Method 2: Building a Computer For The Job

6

Method 3: Buying a Pre-Built Hackintosh

8

2. Installing OS X On Your PC

9

DualBooting Mac OS X and Windows

10

3. Configuring OS X

12

Introduction to Mac OS X

12

Desktop/Office Tools

13

Mac Tools for the...

14

Musician

14

Photographer

14

Videographer

14

Conclusion

15

Further reading

15

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HTTP://TUXGEEK.ME, STEFAN NEAGU

3

HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN HACKINTOSH

Introduction
A Hackintosh PC, asthe name would suggest, is a vanilla PC (built by you or a retailer other than
Apple) running a hacked (or patched) version of Apple’s Mac OS X operating system. OS X is specifically designed to run on Apple’s hardware line; a Hackintosh is simply non-Apple hardware using
the operating system.
Although Apple opposes the practice of hijacking their OS for use on off-brand PCs, manytechnology-oriented people who don’t want to buy the hardware from Apple choose to spend a lot of time
and effort in creating a Hackintosh. There are many possible reasons:

1. Apple offers just a few hardware configurations for each of the form factors – desktop (iMac &
Mac Mini), laptop (MacBook and MacBook Pro), and workstation (Mac Pro). Many long-time
PC users are accustomed to being able to chooseand customize every specific aspect about
hardware, options that are not in Apple’s offerings.
2. Upgrading and customization of Apple hardware is world-renowned for having obscenely
high prices. Upgrading from 4GB of RAM to 8GB of RAM in the Apple Store costs as much
as $200 whereas on Newegg.com the same upgrade costs $40-$50.
3. Independent movie editors build high-powered machines for afraction of the cost of a Mac
Pro in order to use editing tools like Adobe’s Premiere Pro or Final Cut. Professional photographers will do the same for tools like Aperture; video, graphics and design people for Avid’s
Pro Tools and musicians do it for Ableton Live and Logic Studio.
4. Rebels – there are people who will build a Hackintosh because they like the OS, but hate the
closed-source natureof it and the monolithic, controlling ways of Apple Inc. They build their
own Macs to make a point.
5. Many feel OS X is the best user interface on earth, but for the above reasons don’t want
Apple hardware. Therefore, Hackintosh.
Apple doesn’t actually employ protection methods that would deter would-be hackers from installing its software on unsupported hardware. Instead the design,elegance and efficiency of the OS
prevents them from easily using other hardware. There are a number of hardware standards that
Apple employs in its products that are not used by PCs: the GUID partition table, integrated TPM
(Trusted Platform Module) chip and a small specific array of hardware drivers. They also have deals
with hardware manufacturers to provide special, customized versions of theircomponents for use
just in Apple computers. Hardware manufacturers don’t write drivers for these components for other
platforms like Linux and Windows and you can’t buy them at a store.
It is possible, however, to build a Hackintosh by carefully selecting components that match or resemble those in Apple computers, doctoring configuration files and praying the next software update
won’t botch...