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Modern “Hackintoshes” show that Apple should probably just build a Mac tower

arstechnica.com

61–70 of 218 posts

Re: Modern “Hackintoshes” show that Apple should probably just build a Mac tower

#61
Apple never wanted to be part of the DIY PC movement.

They adopt industry standards when convenient, but would be perfectly content to make a Pro machine locked to Moore's Law and 3-year turnovers.

Dongles. Dongles are your Pro future.

Apple don't want to be associated with the "Gamer".

Re: Modern “Hackintoshes” show that Apple should probably just build a Mac tower

#62

Absolutely. I have a 2008 Mac Pro and it is still going strong, an absolute workhorse of a machine with 4 hard drives; incredibly reliable. At least, it was incredibly reliable with Snow Leopard, but MacOS X has been a bit downhill from there as far as reliability of the audio subsystem. The only real downsides to this machine have been that it is loud, which is problematic when using it for recording. But I would ha…

I helped my friend run conduit last week to solve this exact problem... a 100'($500) thunderbolt cable lets him keep the machine and storage in a separate room outside of the studio. Probably cost close to $600 when you factor in the conduit materials and the Korean BBQ wings he fed me!

Re: Modern “Hackintoshes” show that Apple should probably just build a Mac tower

#63
Profit margin, plain and simple. I'm willing to pay a premium for the best laptop, been using macbooks exclusively for years and they are actually a great value for the quality of the components. But I will not pay 3x for comparable desktop that I can't upgrade just to run MacOS.

Re: Modern “Hackintoshes” show that Apple should probably just build a Mac tower

#64
post #41

May be it's just me, but I don't really care about design at all. I'm perfectly fine with huge tower or some reasonable fan noise. What I care is price, durability, extendability, repairability, and, of course, performance. I'm not really into macOS, I can use Linux or Windows just fine, but macOS is not that bad. I'm actually opposed to thin things or design aberrations like trash can mac. I'm paying for that after…

> Maybe it's just me It is. I don't care a lot about design either (although I care a lot about user experience), but many people /do/ care for design, and are willing to pay a premium to get that design.

I guess there is a space where it matters more and one where it matters less (at least for me).

Something like a notebook or a smartphone? Thin, light, and pretty have a bit more bearing on these things because you carry them around and other people see them. The value you place on this sort of "form v. function" balance will vary but I can certainly see how "form" can have some legit worth.

But with a high-end workstation I feel that there's much less of an argument to be made for the importance of "form" past a more basic level of build quality and form factor. It might matter a little bit more on a workstation than something like a server that lives in a rack 24/7 but when considering a high-powered workstation purchase, I care very little about it being thin, light, pretty, or unique in shape. Power, flexibility, and "upgradeability" matter vastly more.

Re: Modern “Hackintoshes” show that Apple should probably just build a Mac tower

#65
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The current philosophy is pretty solidly in line with the historical Apple design philosophy, so I wouldn't necessarily expect it to change. The iMac is basically today's evolution of the original Mac [1], a single-piece computer/monitor combination with no user-serviceable parts. Jobs said in 1984 that hardware customization is unnecessary to support, because "customization really is mostly software now". The Mac Pr…

You're cherry-picking. That is definitely one of Apple's design philosophies, and it has definitely worked very well for the iPhone and iPad. But not all their computers have followed that style. The Mac II launched in 1987(!) and was very influential. And as the earlier commenter mentioned, before the "trash can" redesign, the Mac Pro was easy to open and had plenty of ports. Trying to apply that sealed appliance ap…

The recent MacPro was only a misstep in that they bet on CPU/GPU design zigging instead of zagging.

It was a technically beautiful machine (still is, really) but their choices meant it became impossible to update.

If the market had gone the other way we'd likely be talking about the 2016 MacPro instead.

Re: Modern “Hackintoshes” show that Apple should probably just build a Mac tower

#66
Apple could literally just release the new Mac Pro in the old case, with updated hardware and ports, and if it was priced closer to reality, it would make a lot of their pro users happy. I doubt it would cost them much to do so too. I'd start it off at around $1500 for an entry level 4 core Xeon with an mid-level graphics card (GTX 1060 or Radeon 480).

Re: Modern “Hackintoshes” show that Apple should probably just build a Mac tower

#67

May be it's just me, but I don't really care about design at all. I'm perfectly fine with huge tower or some reasonable fan noise. What I care is price, durability, extendability, repairability, and, of course, performance. I'm not really into macOS, I can use Linux or Windows just fine, but macOS is not that bad. I'm actually opposed to thin things or design aberrations like trash can mac. I'm paying for that after…

"(15 years or something like that)"

I'm curious how you came up with that number? Are you currently still using anything PC related from 2002?

Re: Modern “Hackintoshes” show that Apple should probably just build a Mac tower

#68
I purchased this (https://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Dell-In...) laptop from the Microsoft store, paying right around ~$700 with a student discount.

I bought an m.2 solid state and a wifi adapter that is known to work well with hackintosh's (the stock wifi card wasn't compatible), and another 8gb of ram for another ~$150.

I followed this (https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/guide-dell-inspiron-15-75...) guide to get a nice hackintosh out of this laptop. Obviously this is a decent bit more difficult for the regular computer user to do.

So for ~$850, after 'hackintoshing' this computer, I get: A laptop that gives me the choice to boot into an SSD imaged with latest OSX Sierra, or the regular 5,400 rpm Windows 10 drive. The last thing I want to do with this laptop is exchange the 1tb 5,400 windows drive for a 1tb SSD.

When booted into Sierra: The software runs exactly the same as using a real mac. I've done some video editing in Final Cut, some audio work in Ableton, streamed 1080p youtube / netflix videos no problem. There's decent battery life, as the guide above shows you how to disable the nvidia graphics card entirely when running OSX (doesn't work anyways) to save battery. The specs are comparable to a modern macbook pro, and in one case even better.

Pros - Actually get 4k resolution/screen

Cons - SD card reader does not work - Mobile graphics Nvidia 960m does not work, but intel 530 HD graphics card does just fine - Backlight adjustment doesn't not work (could probably spend time to get it to work, but I'm fine without it for now) - Trackpad is a little too sensitive

Sames - Hardware: Core i7, 16gb ram - Full airdrop support

Where am I going with this? In my opinion the general public is becoming more tech savvy. If Apple does not embrace the culture of people wanting to experiment with code (theirs or not) on different devices, then they are putting themselves at a disadvantage. The guides to make hackintoshes are more than likely getting easier and easier as time goes on and support grows. (this was my second attempt and first success)

What a disappointment this macbook pro reveal was. So instead of spending $2,399.00 on a new 15" macbook pro, I decided to hack together a very comparable one for ~$850.

I'll take the $1,550 savings for a little software and screwdriver work, even with a couple of minor issues, any day.

As long as those dedicated apple fans eat it up, I don't expect anything to change anytime soon. But for everyone else who can't afford those business practices, there are ways like what I did above to get what you want without breaking the bank.

Re: Modern “Hackintoshes” show that Apple should probably just build a Mac tower

#69

I've heard they are worried about brand dilution. If that's the problem, then why not create a subsidiary firm and call it, I don't know, Pear, Gala, McIntire, Darwin or something. Let this firm build hackintoshes from off-the-shelf components. The trick is then to remove any reference to Apple and every logo from the OS. People "in the know" would be able to buy a Pear and use it just like a Mac. This would be reall…

Yeah, try calling for support when Photoshop starts acting weird. "Sorry, we only support macOS."

Re: Modern “Hackintoshes” show that Apple should probably just build a Mac tower

#70
post #33

I'm not sure it follows that Apple should build it just because some people want it. Some people build Hackintoshes because they like building things or they want to save money. Neither would be addressed by an official tower.

As a counterpoint, they also build them because they want the software/OS but Apple doesn't sell a machine with the hardware to run it. Your only options are notebooks, all-in-ones (essentially notebooks built into monitors), basic lightweight desktop computers, or outdated workstations with limited hardware and expandability.

There's clearly a market for high powered desktop workstations but you can't currently buy the best hardware if you want it to (officially) run MacOS.

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