I’m using macOS Sierra as an alternate operating system. Mostly i use windows as a number of softwares and games are available only on Windows. Anyhow when I think of doing work instead of playing games, I usually boot into macOS Sierra for video and photo editing.

Hackintosh are upgradeable and are cost-effective as compared to Mac Pro or iMac. Hackintosh is the best option if you’re concerned about the physical appearance of your machine as well as the hardware selection. Although there are some compatibility issues and installing Hackintosh requires a lot of patience and energy. Anyhow there are some forums related to Hackintosh.

Forums can help you build a decent Hackintosh and you may avoid the issues that may occur during installation. Users share the details of their hardware and installation procedure with recommended settings. I also installed Hackintosh in my system an year ago. It’s specs were Intel Devil’s Canyon 4790K, MSI z97S Krait SLI and Nvidia GTX 970. I was able to run it at full potential and this build scored the 16266 points on Geekbench 4. OpenCL score was around 101469 Points using GTX 970 and macOS Sierra.

It is acceptable score considering the release date of this CPU and GPU, almost 3-years-old.

Hackintosh

When Apple began to shift onto Intel processors, almost a decade ago. Mac hardware lost it’s uniqueness which used to set it apart from stock PCs: an incompatible architecture. Today, Macs aren’t that different from Windows machines, something that Apple itself takes advantage of is Boot Camp. It’s the official way to boot Windows in Mac environment. Apple never supported other hardwares in the beginning (installing macOS on non-Apple hardware). But nowadays many PCs have almost same specs as Macs as a reason macOS can be installed on them.

1- Outdated Expensive Apple Products

Apple hasn’t released any Mac Pro in recent years. The latest Mac Pro is around 3000$ boasting an Intel Xeon E3 6 core processor with 15MB cache and clocked at 2.7 Ghz. It also features Dual AMD FirePro D500 graphics processors with 3GB of GDDR5 VRAM each and 16GB DDR3 Memory. So at a high price point, you’re getting a 3-year-old Mac pro which you can’t customize apart from some limited expansion options. At this point, Hackintosh is a preferred choice. You have the latest Intel processors and Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti support. So you can build a powerful Mac operated computer, which will save you a fortune as compared to apple.

Although one can’t deny the quality and compatibility of Apple products. As the hardware used is completely synchronized with macOS, so there is no chance of bottlenecking. In Hackintosh, you may have some issue while connecting to Wifi, as your wireless adapter will not be supported. Consequently, you won’t be able to listen to music as your sound drivers will not be working. In my Hackintosh, I’d to replace my Wireless adapter to get an access to the internet. Only plus point was it had cost me around 8$. It is always fun to play with the custom build as you’re in charge of selecting hardware whether it is GPU or CPU.

2- Freedom of choice

As discussed earlier, Mac computer has very limited configurations available. So as a hardware enthusiast, you’ll feel robbed or inferior while performing various rendering tasks. In Hackintosh, you can pick your favorite component. Not only the freedom of choice but it’s also budget friendly. So buy the hardware which has better performance to cost ratio.

3- Upgradeability

Hackintosh is very easy to upgrade and it also gives a wide range of options at hand. You’ll comparatively get a decent buyer of your hardware as the market has high demand for those components in contrast with Mac computers. Nvidia recently released drivers for 10 series GPUs so you can even upgrade to 1080Ti in near future if you’re low on budget.

4-  Better Graphics and Visual Experience

As compared to windows macOS has better graphics and CUDA support for GeForce graphics. You can push your graphic card to limits while rendering a video in Premiere Pro or After Effects. MacOS also has finely tuned icons and visual experience. Minimalistic design helps it to outperform various tasks on macOS and also provides a premium and professional feel. Although there is not a lot of game released for macOS as compared to Windows. Windows is still considered ahead if you’re comparing gaming scenarios of both operating systems.

5- Windows vs macOS

MacOS Sierra is available for free while you have to purchase a copy of windows. Moreover, you’ll get performance upper hand while running CPU and GPU benchmarks on the same computers running macOS and Windows. In the test 4790K at 4.0Ghz on windows scored 13376 points on Geekbench while on macOS it scored 16266 points. Windows platform scored 113758 points on openCL while macOS scored around 101649 points.

Conclusion

MacOS Sierra can be installed in your PC and it won’t cost you a single penny.  It is also customizable. Moreover, you can dual boot it with Windows. You can use it as primary OS if you’re concerned about limited apps. Hackintosh is difficult to build in terms of installation and hardware selection. As there are only a few successful combinations. The most important components of a Hackintosh are the motherboard and graphics card: if they aren’t fully compatible with macOS, Installing macOS will be an impossible task. As there will be bottlenecking issues. Any processor compatible with that motherboard will work. So in case of intel you can get either a Core i3 or Core i7 depending on your performance requirements. After that, selecting RAM, storage (SATA), and other components is pretty straightforward.

Before building always visit forums related to Hackintosh and check the specifications of successful builds. You can configure your own macOS machine based on your budget and performance priorities.

Is HACKINTOSH illegal? – Yes, macOS is supposed to install on Apple branded computers only. The currently preferred method of creating a hackintosh uses a bootloader to make a legally-purchased copy of macOS think it’s running on actual Apple hardware. In those circumstances, Apple’s software isn’t being pirated or modified, which would seem to make hackintosh projects immune from suits under the DMCA.