Current cheap/small laptops to hackintosh?

A few years ago, netbooks were all the rage to to hackintosh, but since netbooks arent as popular as they used to be, i am wonder if they or any other current generation small and cheaper laptops are hackintoshable fairly easily.

I am a mac nub, i would like to get one to learn the os on the cheap, and i prefer smaller laptops. Anyone have any suggestions? I would like something that would run the latest version if possible.

 

I'd look at a system similar to a Macbook. Something with Core 2 Duo and Intel X3100 graphics. The Acer Aspire 5315 comes to mind.

 

I'd say get any low end laptop with an Intel i3 and Intel HD or HD 3000 graphics...

 

Hackintosh thread will probably be shutdown. Nevertheless, cheap ultraportables would be: 12" Hannsbook, HP 2530P/2540P, Lenovo X200/X201 and 13" Dell E4300/E4310. Dell Outlet has occasional deals on Sandy Bridge 12" E6220. There's also some current Samsung 11.6/12.5" units available for low $$.

 

Apparently it's legit now.

 

not any more, Charles and the gang ok'd hackintosh threads, one thing to note is intel wireless cards can be hard to get working. for detailed info hit up the osx86 project forums and pages

 

agreed. use the osx86 project. There's too many intricate details that are system specific to really get help here, though we may try.

 

I'll just toss this out there, if you don't actually need a laptop to do it. A Mac Mini is all of $599.

 

i wonder if the K53TA is compatible with hackintosh, it's cheaper than the mini

 

My Latitude E6220 makes a really REALLY good MacBook Pro 13" competitor. 12.5" IPS, i5 2520... plus it runs OSX flawlessly.

I did purchase an Apple Atheros WiFi card though. I got the new AR9380 450Mbps card. Blisteringly fast. It's essentially a Bigfoot Killer 1103 in a full height card.

EDIT: It's not cheap though... whoops.

Basically, you want an Intel platform based on the X3100 or HD3000 since Apple has never supported the X4500 and the GMA950 is 32-bit only. I'd suggest something cheap with an i3 as a baseline.

 

I don't know. OSx86 will probably have more information. Personally, running on 'approved' hardware is the preferred option -- and that is the lowest cost entry at Apple. Less hacking around with the OS and hoping it works .

 

If you're budget is pushing $600, and you want access to OS X, and you already have a monitor/keyboard/mouse, I would highly recommend the mini also. The fact is that with osx86, you'll be jumping through crazy hoops every time there is an OS update, you can easily break your installation and have to start over, and you're going to have to spend a ton of time fiddling around getting the hardware working, and largely starting over with any major OS update, and sometimes with minor updates as well.

 

Well, the fact of the matter is, im a technician but ive havent had much experience with OSX, mainly windows and a little linux here and there. At the shop i work at, one of the other guys is the mac expert, been using them for years, but his knowledge also extends to the hardware, the little ins and outs of taking macs apart.

I at least want to learn the os at some point, but macs are so damned expensive for the specs. I might venture back to trying to run it in virtualbox like i tried a few years ago, but even that has its issues.

Oh, and i just built an HTPC, and i would want to take it to work with me, so a mini is out of the question.

 

this also works in vmware with a few hacks, if in case you only need basic Mac OS functionality



Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

 

Why all of a sudden we can talk about hackintosh ? Did Apple say its ok?

Do you think I can install hackintosh on a ION chipset? I remember a Macbook was running a nvidia chipset at one point with a broadcom wifi card. Any site I can venture to on how to proceed to installing hackintosh? Thanks.

 

Apple did not say it is okay. It violates the OS X EULA to install it on a PC, but for whatever reason the forum folks decided it was okay to talk about.

 

Is hackintosh a jailbroken OS X? I have tried to install OS X (SL) for experimenting on a hardware compatible machine, but some proprietary permission would not let me install it.

Apple used to allow its system to be installed on compatible machines in the nineties, but in a process that was initiated when the guy before Steve Jobs was still in charge, Apple decided to drop this service as mainstreaming the apple os was hurting the bottom line of apple (company was worth $10 billion).

 

not really the same think. jailbreak is a colloquial term used to describe breaking the operating system locks in iOS that prevent you from installing 3rd party software on top of the OS (very legal)

the goal with hackintosh is to install Mac OS X on non-apple hardware, which requires breaking a different set of locks, as well as a variety of hacks / hacked drivers basically to get the hardware working (questionable legality)

 

In a certain country (can't remember where) apple's EULA does not apply, meaning hackintosh is legal

 

Is there any post somewhere by a mod or Charles that I can link about this? We had some OSX interest in the DIY eGPU thread but had to move that to another forum due to the previous NBR no-tolerance hackintosh policy.

 

See here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sit...ts/657029-you-can-now-discuss-hackintosh.html

I can also confirm that we are not working with Apple to help with any massive lawsuits on individuals running 'hackintoshes' nor baiting users, so that we can perform massive amounts of bans.

 

and here in Apple forum
http://forum.notebookreview.com/apple-mac-os-x/657030-you-can-now-discuss-hackintosh.html

 

Reading the thread actually gave me the idea to post this one, hehe

 

Absolutely - come on good people, you might be able to hack OSX to work but using OSX apps on it is another story - some low level hardware communication might not be compatible

cheers ...

 

No. It's all there. It's all compatible. As long as OSX boots and your hardware is recognized properly... it works 100% the same as a real Mac.

My E6220 is running vanilla OSX. Vanilla kernel, OS, drivers, everything. The only thing that is different from a Mac is the bootloader and DSDT.

Also, updates work fine. I've been through 10.7.1, 10.7.2, and 10.7.3 with not a single issue. Now, obviously I can't say that of all notebooks, but if you're specifically buying a notebook based on it's "hackability" you can definitely expect this.

 

This is right- it can definitely work, and the low level stuff is all the same since the hardware is the same. It's just a bit of a hacky-nightmare trying to get everything running and stable, and then you can still run into the occasional problem, and you have to be careful about software updates, etc.

 

If your just wanting to get familiar with and learn OS X then I'd use a VM. Theoretically you could run the OS X VM on anything that had enough RAM to support it.

 

I went with the VM route before buying my first MBP a month or so ago. It was nothing but a giant pain in the butt the entire way. Different websites had different directions and different boot CDs, most of which didn't work for VMWare Workstation 8. When I finally found one that worked, OS X still ran poorly and had poor hardware support for the VM (especially resolution features).

I would not say it's a good way to learn the OS since, to me, it was a poor representation of OS X when compared to the OS running on Apple hardware.

Just my experience with it, YMMV.

 

the best I found was multibeast on an old d620
if anyone wants to read a decent forum:
tonymacx86 Forum • Index page

never tried A VM but there is a guide from an ASUS member here
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...5815-mac-os-x-virtualbox-g73.html#post8443881

 

OSX in VMWare is an abomination. It has absolutely no hardware acceleration, since the graphics drivers aren't supported under OSX. With no hardware acceleration, OSX is as good as a powerpoint. Complete slideshow. If you want to get to know OSX how it was intended, go to an Apple Store for 10 minutes and play with some floor models. If you like it, buy the OS Installation software or buy a Mac. Otherwise there's really no point.

 

you need to buy the installation software to run os x in a vm anyway

 

I know, so what I was getting at really was to go play with one in person. Then decide whether you want to be a tinkerer or just go the easy way and get a real Mac.

 

if you want to be ultraportable i assume you are not going to game on it or anything. Why not get used mba then? Should be around $600.
Core2duo white macbook should be sub $500.

Should save you some time.

 

I can also confirm that tonymacx86 Forum • Index page is a great place to go for Hackintosh info. I learned to make my Desktop there. I now have a i5-2500k/6850gpu that is very similar to a iMac 12.2, but I made it for well over $1000 less and faster. (I have my own thread there on it) Apple is still making money off of me since I buy their phones, tablets, software, and iCloud services. Plus I recommend Apple to everyone who is ignorant of tech, it is just easier to use. I just prefer the Hackintosh for the increased performance, customizability, and fun of it.

 

I was a die-hard Windows evangelist, guru and fan dating back to Windows 1.0.1 (~1985), and though I owned a Macintosh (original), which I upgraded twice, I really only got the machine so I would actually know what I was talking about when I "dissed" it, LOL. Then after Snow Leopard came out I decided to experiment with it again because I was really getting sick and tired of some of the crap I had to put up with along with some of the really stupid design decisions that were killing Windows' viability for me. So...

I used a couple of VMWare hackintosh virtual installs under W7 on a very high performance server-class machine and it ran well. At the time the machine had 32GB RAM and I allocated 2 cores and 8GB to each instance. However, that is not a good way to learn the OS, it's a great way to learn VMWare. But, I liked what I saw so I installed 10.6.4 (then current) onto my XPS M1210 and got full functionality including sleep and hibernate. After using the OS for six or eight months, I was hooked and found that I hadn't rebooted in over 91 days; so much for the W7 install that was dual-bootable (but never used) on that machine.

Every app, including Parallels ran perfectly on that M1210 and after Lion came out I installed that as well, in (yet) another bootable partition. This runs very well also, but for some reason, I cannot get the display to come back after sleep - though I haven't really tried since 10.7 can reboot and restore the desktop running apps to exactly where they were at shutdown. Sort of a long(,LONG)-term hibernate. The OS is rock solid and has never crashed since I completed the configuration process.

I have two other laptops that I've installed OS X (Lion) on, (an ASUS 1201N - 97 days since boot - and a C2D e1705). These machines are similarly reliable and performance exceeds that of W7 by a significantly visible difference. I'd say go for it - and to start you off here are two Google search terms that'll point you to compatibility lists for laptops:

1 - "best hackintosh laptop 2012"
2 - "netbook compatibility chart"

The first results for each should be what you're looking for. But I must warn you, if you've ever used UNIX, you stand a very good chance of becoming "of the body"!

 

If You Have An Apple Developer Account, It Is Legal to do such things, As i have Core 2 Duo (x64) And Pentinum 4(x86) Hackintoshes And Its Legal If u have An Developer Account, Cost: 99$