- Apple tahoe macOS is the final version that Intel Chips admits
- That means that the death of Hackintosh is close
- It is sad news for the custom Tinkerers community and PC builders
Apple lifted the lid in Macos Tahoe in its WWDC 2025 event in early June, and one thing that announced during the direction of the platform status was that this software update would be the last to admit Intel Macs. That has had the effect of putting the last nail on the coffin of the humble Hackintosh, and this has left me more than a little sad.
In case you don’t know, a Hackintosh is a computer running macOS on custom PC hardware. Apple is not compatible or tolerates these computers, so the construction of a requires a lot of complex work and specific files that convince macos that are being executed in components approved by Apple.
Part of the equation is that a hackintosh generally requires an Intel chip. You cannot buy Apple silicon chips outside the shelf, but with recent versions of macOS that support Intel processors, this was an alternative.
With Apple dropping this support, it is the end of the road for hackintoshes.
We knew that this day would come
For many years, I was fascinated by the idea of building a hackintosh. For a long time I felt frustrated with the daily peculiarities of Windows, but I love to build too much PC to go to the macOS. A Hackintosh felt like the perfect way to put on his hand, build a powerful computer capable of working and games, and still obtain all the softness and rich characteristics of the macOS.
But with the difficulties constantly increasing in the construction of a hackintosh and the increasingly complex solutions that were needed to work, I never launched myself.
Years ago, a Hackintosh was the best of both worlds: the hardware performance that Apple simply could not provide and the software characteristics and stability that Windows lacked a lot. But now that Apple Silicon offers tremendous performance, even in demanding games such as Cyberpunk 2077Something once considered unthinkable for a Mac: the need for a Hackintosh has decreased.
Despite the news, not all in the Hackintosh community have taken the news badly. Even before Apple’s announcement, he occasionally explored Hackintosh forums, and the council often was the same: the modern Mac do much of what Hackintoshes set out to achieve.
They offer much more blows for their money than they used to (the M4 Mac Mini is a good example), less than fill the specific niche of loving both the macOS and the construction of DIY computers and refuses to obtain a Mac and a PC, Apple’s own products do the job. Many of the most recent reactions are in the same line.
Maybe someone finds a way to make hackintoshes work in Apple Silicon. But with the harsh security measures, Apple has incorporated into its chips, which is far from guaranteeing. While many in the community are taking the news well, I can’t help feeling disappointed by what we are going to lose.
