Newshot “Hackintosh” May Make a Comeback as New Projects Explore Bringing macOS to Snapdragon and x86 PCs
IT之家, November 14 — For the past few decades, users who did not want to pay for a Mac but wanted to use macOS could do so by building a “Hackintosh” computer. However, since Apple switched to its self-designed Arm chips, installing a Hackintosh has become significantly more difficult.
According to a report by foreign media TechSpot tonight (the 14th), at least two new projects that have recently emerged are attempting to bring macOS to Snapdragon and x86 platforms.
One of the projects has developed an Arm-to-x86 instruction translation layer and plans to enable most newer Intel and AMD processors to run macOS; an early version is now available for testing. Another project has successfully booted macOS on an Asus Zenbook laptop equipped with a Snapdragon processor, and some basic functions also work properly.
The history of Hackintosh can be traced back to the 1980s, but running macOS on non-Apple devices did not gradually become popular until the early 2000s.
In 2006, Apple abandoned PowerPC processors and switched to Intel chips. Because Windows PCs widely used Intel processors, installing a Hackintosh also became much easier. Later, Apple shifted again to its self-designed Arm-based Apple Silicon chips, leading many to believe for a time that Hackintosh would exit the stage of history entirely.
The Snapintosh project unveiled last month by engineer Miguel Cruz may become the first attempt to use Qualcomm Snapdragon chips to free macOS from its dependence on Apple Silicon. He demonstrated an Asus Zenbook A16 laptop successfully booting macOS; it could not only switch between different desktop modes but also open multiple applications. However, there is still a long way to go before it can be used normally.
Snapintosh currently only supports the Zenbook A16 with a Snapdragon X2 Elite processor; when running, it also needs to be connected to another Mac and cannot rely solely on the laptop battery for power. Features such as Wi-Fi, sound, camera, Bluetooth, sleep, and external monitors have not yet been implemented, and the frame rate cannot consistently reach 60fps. As for when a beta version will be released on GitHub, the project has not given a clear timeline.
The Stela project, developed by another engineer, Taylor Smith, targets a broader range of PC platforms. Stela uses Arm-to-x86 instruction translation technology to run macOS; the open beta supports Intel processors based on Nehalem and newer architectures, as well as AMD processors based on Bulldozer and newer architectures. In addition, the computer needs at least 8GB of memory and must be equipped with a 英伟达 GTX 16 series or newer graphics card.
IT之家 has learned that users can download the beta from Stela's GitHub repository, run the installer on a Windows PC, and then choose a USB drive to create the installation media. The online installer requires 8GB of space, the offline installer requires 32GB, and the target drive for installing macOS also needs 60GB of reserved space. Stela likewise does not yet support Wi-Fi or sound, but Bluetooth works normally.
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