The end of ‘Hackintosh’ – how Apple sounds the death knell for a once thriving online community
The beloved ‘Hackintosh’ may be on its last legs, as Apple’s macOS 14 Sonoma removes a selection of older Wi-Fi drivers in its signature operating system, allowing users to run it properly on purpose-built hardware.
For the uninitiated, a Hackintosh was the term given to a non-Apple computer or other device running macOS. The benefits of this are pretty obvious: for starters, Apple’s top MacBooks and Macs can cost a pretty penny, and are usually the only way to access macOS.
Additionally, Apple’s hardware may be limited for some users. For example, if you want a super-powerful scientific modeling PC with a ridiculous amount of RAM, you’re normally limited to purpose-built Windows and Linux machines. Then there are also the crazy (but fun) edge cases, like running macOS on a Nintendo DS.
The latest version of macOS, Sonoma, has removed driver support for a selection of old Broadcom Wi-Fi cards found in some 2012/2013 Mac models. That in itself may not sound like a big problem (after all, that hardware is more than ten years old). But Hackintosh fan and app developer Aleksandar Vacic has pointed out that these cards were integral to fully functioning Hackintosh builds, and that a driver shift from .kext to .dext formats has similarly crippled other solutions.
A sad day for macOS lovers… who don’t like Macs
Hackintosh fans formed a small but vibrant online community around their custom macOS installations, and some users are already lamenting the impending death of their favorite homebrew hardware.
As one commentator on OSNews Put it this way: Hackintoshes were “a great way to have a machine that Apple no longer offers: an ugly big box full of hardware.” Many have noted that Apple dropped Intel and moved to ARM-based chips for its Macs, and that starting the release of the very impressive M1 chip seen in the 2020 MacBook Air was the first sign that the glory days of Hackintosh could come to an end. and that prophecy appears to be coming true.
Without proper Wi-Fi driver support, the only way to use Sonoma on non-Apple hardware now seems to be to do so without Wi-Fi, which has the knock-on effect of killing many apps in macOS, including FaceTime and AirDrop and Continuity. With one of the aforementioned Wi-Fi cards and an older version of macOS, all of these tools worked fine.
Ultimately, the humble Hackintosh represented a path forward for users who loved the operating system but hated (or simply couldn’t afford) the hardware. It’s no surprise that some fans are upset by the slow death, but the writing was on the wall; the Hackintosh community has undeniably become smaller since the tech giant abandoned Intel’s x86 processors.
Google’s time to shine?
Personally, as a MacOS hater from Ny Breaking, I won’t really shed a tear about this. However, there was one comment on OSNews that resonated with me: user ‘cpcf’, who said: “We throw away so much hardware long, long before its natural expiration date, simply because some software somewhere says ‘No!’ say.”
It’s an excellent point, even if I’m not dragging Apple directly here; Ending support for kits over a decade old isn’t ridiculous. But it’s a shame to destroy users’ ability to keep their old, homebrew Macs running, especially considering that Apple historically hasn’t hated the ‘Hackintosh’ trend at a lot of. Another user speculates that macOS will get the open API licensing treatment, suggesting that Apple is taking the stance of, “Here’s our driver API, so third parties can create drivers, here’s the operating system. If you want to run it on an x86 PC, pay us $200.”
It’s not a bad idea and could be a way for Apple to make some extra money from its older macOS versions, but I doubt this will ever happen. Apple prides itself on its well-insulated software ecosystem, and Google has macOS beaten anyway. ChromeOS Flex already offers a cheap and easy alternative operating system for virtually any machine, an admirable way to beat the current e-waste crisis. Well done, Google; Sorry you missed the boat, Apple.