If you're someone who likes the idea of running macOS but just doesn't want to be beholden to Apple's hardware, the Hackintosh is likely something you've already come across. The idea of getting macOS Sonoma and earlier releases isn't a new one — it's been around for a long, long time — but it's one that could be coming to an end sooner rather than later.
Making macOS run on non-Apple hardware has long been something tinkerers have enjoyed, not least because it allows people to get Mac Pro performance for iMac prices. But the process can be complicated and the pitfalls are many. Now it seems Apple is finally putting an end to the Hackintosh, almost accidentally.
How? The company has finally dropped support for key Wi-Fi/Bluetooth cards whose drivers were key to making connectivity work on a Hackintosh, and that's bad news for those looking to update to the new operating system or start afresh. And it could signal the end of Hackintoshes as we know them.
All hacked out
That's what Hackintosh fan and developer Aleksandar Vacić has warned in a blog post that details exactly what's going down, at least.
"In Sonoma, Apple has completely removed all traces of driver support for their oldest WiFi/Bt cards, namely various Broadcom cards that they last used in 2012/13 iMac / MacBook models," the post explains. "Those Mac models are not supported by macOS for few years now thus it’s not surprising the drivers are being removed."
However, those who might suggest Apple's move was malicious might find that isn't the case at all. "Most likely reason is that Apple is moving drivers away from .kext (Kernel Extensions) to .dext (DriverKit) thus cleaning up obsolete and unused code from macOS. They did the same with Ethernet drivers in Ventura," the developer explains.
Those drivers were key to making Hackintoshes that worked with Apple's iCloud, iMessage, FaceTime, AirDrop, and other features and without them, compatibility goes out the window. The result? If you want to run macOS and have everything work, you're going to want a Mac from here on out. But don't worry too much, Apple makes some pretty good ones these days.
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