Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide

tonymacx86.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–99 of 99 posts

Re: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide

#91

Post by lmz »

zerr wrote: post #59
lmz wrote: post #28

While I'm not saying it's not fun to try and run OS X on PC hardware, can anyone explain to me how this is not morally equivalent to unauthorized copying / software piracy, given that they are both violations of the license agreement?

Apple also forbids virtualising OSX on non-Apple hardware. So you can't run your OSX (which e.g. you bought legally) on VMware on Windows PC. So yes, formally this is illegal, but it is about common sense - when you feel that it is wrong to forbid such things - you happily "break" "law"...

Tying the OS to the hardware is not exactly Apple-specific. If I bought a laptop with Windows preinstalled (an OEM license) I can't activate that on different hardware either. Saying "I bought that" to the support line would likely get me laughed at.

If you bought OS X for non-Apple hardware, it has never been able to run there unmodified. It would be like complaining that my PS4 game doesn't run on the XBox One.

Re: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide

#92

Post by wuster »

rrggrr wrote: post #19

Id like to find someone reputable to build one for me. Any volunteers?

I've built Hackintoshes since 10.7, but I would never offer to build one for friends and family, only because I know I'll be called upon to fix the inevitable problem during software updates. This is a social obligation I rather avoid, lest I become the "IT guy" for yet another dependent.

My recommendation is - if you don't have the knowledge or patience to build one yourself, you should not ask one to be built for you, because it will break and you're gonna have an unproductive day/week while you wait for help to arrive. Not worth the headache and lost productivity.

Hackintoshing should be strictly treated as a hobby.

Re: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide

#93

Post by wuster »

hapless wrote: post #54

Your karma check for today: There once was was a user that whined his existing OS was so blind, he'd do better to pirate an OS that ran great but found his hardware declined. Please don't steal Mac OS! Really, that's way uncool. (C) Apple Computer, Inc. (from a low page written in memory when Don't Steal Mac OS X.kext is loaded)

Apple is rolling in cash from the 20+ Macs/iPhones/iPods I've personally owned or got from work over the years, I don't feel a tinge of guilt, I'm probably one of their best lifetime customers.

Re: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide

#94

Post by zerr »

lmz wrote: post #91
zerr wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple also forbids virtualising OSX on non-Apple hardware. So you can't run your OSX (which e.g. you bought legally) on VMware on Windows PC. So yes, formally this is illegal, but it is about common sense - when you feel that it is wrong to forbid such things - you happily "break" "law"...

Tying the OS to the hardware is not exactly Apple-specific. If I bought a laptop with Windows preinstalled (an OEM license) I can't activate that on different hardware either. Saying "I bought that" to the support line would likely get me laughed at. If you bought OS X for non-Apple hardware, it has never been able to run there unmodified. It would be like complaining that my PS4 game doesn't run on the XBox One.

> It would be like complaining that my PS4 game doesn't run on the XBox One.

Actually Apple tries to convert regular computer users to these kind of Console or Home Microwave users. They want us to have less and less control over our own devices and software. So yes, we break their licenses, but as I mentioned when we have to choose between a common sense vs counter-common-sense law - we choose the former one.

Re: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide

#95

Post by jmnicolas »

sauce71 wrote: post #60
sounds wrote: post #3

The Hackintosh movement is still going strong. One would think Apple would make their life difficult but quite the opposite appears to be the case: there are a few well-understood workarounds to get OS X working on an off-the-shelf PC, mostly just audio and networking. Be careful if you choose not to follow the guides, though! There's a reason most Hackintoshes use Gigabyte motherboards, Atheros wireless, etc. - Just…

Obviously Apple has outsmarted us again. I love my Hackintosh with the "free" OS X (That I have had the last year (Coming from MS). But ... I finally got a iPhone a few weeks ago and I have bought for me and my so and children in the last 3 years: 6 iPads, 4 iPhones, 1 MacBook Pro, 2 MacBook Airs and 2 Apple TV's. We are now totally entrenched in the Apple Ecosystem. I love how all my devices now play together. The n…

Wow you won the lottery ? I don't think I could ever afford these many devices in a lifetime !

Re: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide

#96

Post by e40 »

dj-wonk wrote: post #18

This compares pricing of some Apple offerings versus their hackintosh counterparts: http://www.macbreaker.com/2012/05/how-much-money-will-hackin...

The "Mac Pro vs. CustoMac Pro Socket 2011" comparison is completely bogus, because the CustoMac has space for hard drives and the Mac Pro requires the purchase of an external bay that runs $1,500 to $2,500. That moves the base up to $4,500 and $5,500 for people that need more than 3 hard drives (me). Now you're talking $1,550 vs $5,500 and that is the precise reason I didn't buy a Mac Pro and I did build a hackintosh.

Re: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide

#97

Post by lokeshk »

orbifold wrote: post #64
lokeshk wrote: post #57

After a bit of brain storming between mac and hackintosh, I eventually decided to buy a mac mini 2012. I agree that the site appears very convincing, but I wonder if it's worth putting the effort to build a system that may or may not work 5 years from now. I took the cheapest mac mini 2012, $499 at BHPhoto, and upgraded the RAM to 16 GB, and HDD to 512 SSD. Couldn't be happier! I can see this device working 5 years f…

The installation is by now very straightforward, if you have for example Gigabyte board and standard components. In 2012 I bought a i7-3770, 8gb ram, nvidia gtx 680, gigabyte-z77-d3h and 256 SSD. On such hardware all it takes is readjusting some BIOS settings (turn on AHCI, disable Intel Vd) and maybe install a ethernet driver and sound driver. I'm pretty sure an equivalent iMac would have been significantly more exp…

I agree - the front cost is not as high as it used to be. Although, the maintenance cost is probably high which is what I was hinting to in my comment. How has your experience been around upgrades in the last two years? The apps like iMessage check BIOS to ensure that it's apple hardware that they are running on. And between upgrades, those things can potentially change. How many adjustments have you had to make along the way?

Re: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide

#98

Post by calimac »

hapless wrote: post #88
bjackman wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

MatekCopatek's point is that just because you are breaking Apple's bullshit licenses agreement, doesn't mean you are breaking the law.

You are making an unauthorized copy of their copyrighted software. Copyright infringement is illegal.

it's that simple right- go back to facebook -it's where you belong.

Re: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide

#99

Post by presumeaway »

zaphoyd wrote: post #23
presumeaway wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Once it's set up and working the way you want, how often do you find yourself dealing with small issues?

There are a few different kinds of issues that come up. Software updates are a pain. Most of the time they work fine (especially now that Apple has more commodity hardware and public OS betas). Sometimes there are issues though and it is just always smart to wait a few months while they are figured out. If you are the sort that always wants to be running the latest OS version you'll find this frustrating or you'll sp…

Thanks for the detailed info. Sounds like it's still a bit further off than I'd like out of a primary machine, something I tried a few years ago (unsuccessfully).
Post reply on HN