Hackintosh anyone?

[billtils]

For various historical (and probably not so relevant now that I am retired) reasons my computing format of choice is a laptop, and for the last 15 or more years the implementation has been a Mac. The current MacBook Pro is starting to show its age and in the past this would have been a no-brainer, just buy the latest version. Not any more though.

The substantial price hike in the current versions in itself is enough to make me pause for thought (even though it's arguably down to reasons outwith Apple's control), but add these that are totally down to Apple: no SD card reader, no magsafe connector, no DIY RAM fitting and it is no thanks. I don't want to learn a new OS and don't want to have to change all my Mac software for Windows compliant versions so started to think that the way to go would be to replace all the innards with new ones from MacSales. And that led to why not a Hackintosh based on a nice, well configured and reasonably priced Windows laptop tweaked to run OS X?

There are several sites telling you how to do this, but it would be great if anyone here has had direct experience that they'd like to share.

Oh, and yes I did think about going iMac but am too used to the laptop + external monitor and wireless keyboard and the Hackintosh looks like it would still be lots less expensive.

[Pixl8tor]

Hi Bill,
I think you are wise staying with the system you know.
I was recently persuaded by many fanboys to switch from PC to Mac.
5 months later and I'm still struggling with the Mac.
Keep us up-to-date on your progress.
Bill

[billtils]

Bill (Pixl8tor)

Yep, know what you mean. I switched from Windows to Mac because (a) my Fujitsu laptop was undergoing relatively early death throes and (b) the fastest section in the organisation I headed was the one creating online instruction modules - all done on Macs.

This meant I had a ready source of expertise to tap into during the transition phase which was a big help. Don't know I'd call myself a 'fanboy' but I have zero regrets at making the switch. Not so sure about "zero regrets" in regard to where Apple are going these days though. Mind you if I had bought some shares in the company back then, I'd probably be happy enough now.

[inkista]

I made a hackintosh a while back (I turned a Dell XP netbook into a triple-boot box with OSX (Snow Leopard), XP, and whatever the then-current version of Ubuntu was). It was a serious PITA to get it up and running, and in the end, as an OSX box, it kind of sucked, because the hardware pretty much wasn't supported by proper drivers. I feel your pain, as the glued-together more-like-iPads-every-generation Apple laptops don't much appeal to me, either, and I dread it when my current box gives up the ghost.

But I'd say you might actually be happier in the long run with a Windows 10 box vs. a hackintosh. That's just my opinion.

The main difficulties are that Apples and Windows boxes, while they both use the same intel processors, use different bootloaders, different hard drive schemes, and OSX is written specifically to the apple hardware profiles, so you may not find a driver for something like your trackpad or keyboard or video card. Etc. etc. How much of a problem you can run into depends on the hardware profile you are hacking. Some boxes make it easier than others. But overall, it's a non-trivial amount of hackery that has to happen, and I think it took me something like three weeks with multiple reformats and starting over to get it right, and I personally never want to do it again. It gave me a cool toy to play with, but not a box I can do a lot of serious OSX work on.

OTOH, I chose a $250 netbook, which was pretty much a toy out of the gate, and rolled my own. YMMV widely, given that you're looking into already-well-configured hardware that's been tweaked by someone else. Just my 10¢.

[billtils]

Thanks Kathy - that's exactly the kind of real world experience I was looking for!

Going Windows and a latest generation MacBook Pro are not going to happen so it looks like add an iMac for photography, or refresh the current MBP. An outside possibility is a "low mileage" refurb MBP or possibly a refurb generation-before-last mini, but looks like the hackintosh is off the list - as I kind of suspected it would be, hence the OP.

[inkista]

There might also be the option of the Mac Mini. It at least adds back an SD card slot, if the memory's still glued in. (sigh). And you could get away with a cheap monitor/wireless keyboard/mouse, if you needed to go budget. Not everyone needs a cinema display.

[billtils]

Kathy, I did think about the mini - already have a wireless keyboard, trackpad and monitor but feel a bit (insert the negative of choice) as the current models are, as you point out, "glued in".

[Black Pearl]

I would take another look at the current 27" iMac as an option. I know its a change in the way you work but the ram is user changeable (took me less than five minutes to put more in mine) the screen is astonishing and if you want to start pulling is apart in the future the processor isn't soldered in so could be changed. Connection wise you have a SD slot, USB3 and TB2......you even get a headphone socket

[billtils]

Thanks Robin. My daughter will be with us over Christmas and she has the current 27" iMac - no pressure