<< Solved >> Creating the Last Mac Clone? [NM, changed mind]

[Pyromethious]

After reviewing the replies to my other thread(s), it's become painfully obvious that it's basically no longer worth trying to Hackintosh my existing hardware for what I actually want it to do. So then I thought about maybe doing a Mac Mini Clone, but perhaps that's too limiting. Before I go too far into that concept though, I thought I'd ask about the actual Macs first.

If I were to build the ideal Mac Clone (clone of an Intel Mac with the absolute latest specs), then what would that look like in a hardware breakdown (chipsets, CPU/GPU, etc)? I'm seeing that things like Broadcom networking and AMD graphics appear to be the big hitters. The goal would be for this thing to run Monterey/Ventura (probably won't last beyond that as I'm betting Intel support will drop sooner than we expect) so that I can use Parallels for basic toying around. I can't do this with an M1 because you can only run Big Sur and newer (because of the platform change) in Parallels and even that requires Monterey installed.

 

[Stork]

It depends upon what you are going to use the hackintosh for. I recommend you look at @CaseySJ's Golden Build description for the Gigabyte Z690 Aero G + i5-12600K + AMD RX 6800 XT which I also use.

Good luck!

 

[Pyromethious]

It depends upon what you are going to use the hackintosh for. I recommend you look at @CaseySJ's Golden Build description for the Gigabyte Z690 Aero G + i5-12600K + AMD RX 6800 XT which I also use.

Good luck!

If I stand back and look at it honestly, really not all that much. Which is the same logic that had me sell the M1 Mini I had (well, that and I found out you can't run/VM anything older than Big Sur on M1). IDK what my next contract will be, but for a time I was using VMs of basically all Win/Mac Oses to help me in creating a database (Screenshots, etc) for the work I was doing. Ever since That changed, I've mostly just been grabbing/storing the incremental updates for both and archiving them. At this point, IF I proceed, then I think it'll be a Mini clone as it'll keep the size constraints low and I do pretty good at keeping tech long-lived, so maybe it would find a use later.

Edit: Ouch, that build ends up being well above $2k, making it rather iffy on why one would go Hack vs Mac. Nicely formatted and researched design though.

 

[Middleman]

If I stand back and look at it honestly, really not all that much. Which is the same logic that had me sell the M1 Mini I had (well, that and I found out you can't run/VM anything older than Big Sur on M1). IDK what my next contract will be, but for a time I was using VMs of basically all Win/Mac Oses to help me in creating a database (Screenshots, etc) for the work I was doing. Ever since That changed, I've mostly just been grabbing/storing the incremental updates for both and archiving them. At this point, IF I proceed, then I think it'll be a Mini clone as it'll keep the size constraints low and I do pretty good at keeping tech long-lived, so maybe it would find a use later.

Edit: Ouch, that build ends up being well above $2k, making it rather iffy on why one would go Hack vs Mac. Nicely formatted and researched design though.

If trying to future proof your system is want you want to achieve, perhaps this might interest you:

The Framework laptop is a fully user-upgradeable system and is designed to be modular with all of its parts compared to current design methods used by laptop makers. You can upgrade any part of the system whenever you wish. So say a new CPU or GPU or USB port controller comes out - you can swap that part out and have it replaced manually.
Want a better or faster screen or need extra USB or Ethernet ports? You can do that too.

 

[etorix]

The Framework laptop is a fully user-upgradeable system and is designed to be modular with all of its parts compared to current design methods used by laptop makers.

But it began with 11th generation and its unsupported iGPU. So it's not suitable for a hackintosh.

Edit: Ouch, that build ends up being well above $2k, making it rather iffy on why one would go Hack vs Mac. Nicely formatted and researched design though.

Replace the RX 6800 by a RX 6600, or any supported dGPU you may find second-hand for less money, and you're below $2k.
If the sole purpose is coding, look at 10th generation builds on 400-series chipset (important!) for a supported iGPU. That's not the "absolute latest specs" but it's cheaper!

 

[Pyromethious]

I mulled it all over and ended up just getting a last-to-be-made Intel Macbook Pro with some nice stats for a good price. I pondered getting the newer GPU, more RAM, etc, but the purpose vs cost benefit weren't there. It's bad enough that I did it in the first place, but PayPal decided to offer me 2 years to pay and only ~$50 in interest. Now I get the fun of moving the existing VMs over. I tried using the Finder transfer option, but it said it would take 3 Weeks to transfer. I guess I'll just grab a USB/TB adaptor and use an external HDD for the transfer. X.X

2019 Apple MacBook Pro Touch Bar 16" Gray 2.4GHz 8 Core i9 32GB 2TB SSD 8GB GPU | eBay

This model was originally released in 2019. Release Date: Introduced in November 2019. The notebook also features 32 GB of onboard 2666 MHz DDR4 SDRAM, and 2 TB of internal SSD storage. Apple MacBook Pro 16" Laptop with Touch Bar | Space Gray Color.

www.ebay.com

 

[etorix]

Well, that's "an Intel Mac with the absolute latest specs". Sort of…