Rob Griffiths decides to replace his nine-year-old Hackintosh with a new DIY Mac
Fellow Macworld contributor Kirk McElhearn recently built a mini Hackintosh; that is, a generic PC styled like a Mac mini on which he installed and ran macOS. This is a road I’ve gone down myself, way back in 2008, when I built my Frankenmac (go.macworld. com/fr). As Kirk was building a relatively low-end Mac clone, and as Apple has ignored the high-end Mac Pro (go.macworld.com/hemp) for so many years, I thought it'd be interesting to build a new high-end Frankenmac.
WHY BUILD A HACKINTOSH
My current machine is a late 2014 5K iMac, and while it works well for most tasks, it really suffers when I pursue my avocation: Flying the X-Plane flight simulator (go. macworld.com/xpl). Frame rates can vary from decent to slow, and the iMac’s fan ramps up nearly as soon as I launch the simulator. In the end, the simulator is what really drove my desire to build a new Frankenmac: I wanted a machine that could run X-Plane really well, without a screaming loud fan, and hopefully be used as my iMac replacement (at least until the “new new” Mac Pro is released [go.macworld.com/rld]).
The key to this project was Nvidia’s announcement of Pascal drivers for the Mac (go.macworld.com/ pdma). This meant that I could put in a leading-edge video card—one of the GeForce GTX 10 series cards (go.macworld.com/x10). These cards will easily outperform (in games, at least) anything in any Mac that Apple currently ships.
I won’t provide as much detail as did Kirk, but here are the components I used.
MOTHERBOARD
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
GAMESIR X2S TYPE C: TURN YOUR iPHONE INTO A SMALL STEAM DECK
If you're serious about getting a better handle on your iPhone gaming, consider a gamepad, an external device that provides physical controls-actual buttons, joysticks, direction pads, and more.
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT APPLES NEW IPAD PRO M4
HERE'S ALL THE LATEST NEWS ABOUT THE iPAD PRO REFRESH.
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE 2024 M2 iPAD AIR
HERE'S THE LATEST NEWS ABOUT THE NEW IPAD AIR, INCLUDING PRICING. SPECS. AND NEW FEATURES.
Are we in Apple's post-iPad era?
The new Pro and Air raise more questions about where the tablet fits in Apple’s lineup.
ANKER 675 USB-C 12-IN-1: STYLISH DOCKING STATION AND STAND COMBO
The Anker 675 USB-C 12-in-1 Docking Station and Monitor Stand solves several of your laptop's limitations in one user-friendly, stylish, friendly and functional product.
TIMBUK2 CLASSIC MESSENGER BAG: STYLISH UPDATE TO AN URBAN ICON
There was a time when a trip downtown was filled with the hustle and bustle of people. And a lot of those people sported Timbuk2's Classic Messenger Bag-not just bicycle messengers, but also commuters going to work, tourists sightseeing, and anyone else trying to get where they need to go.
Apple needs to become a software company again
The Al features baked into iOS 18 and macOS 15 need to be compelling enough to convince people to upgrade.
Don't expect the Mac Studio and Mac Pro to be updated at WWDC-or in 2024
Updates to the high-end desktop Macs won’t happen until 2025.
Apple's M3 chip lineup is a victim of the times
The chip that was supposed to be the next generation of Apple silicon has suddenly become a footnote in Apple history.
The iPad Pro's M4 chip breaks the rules and changes everything about Apple silicon
Now that the M4 iPad Pro is here, what will this mean for the chips coming to the iPhone and Mac?
