What was your primary reason for building a hackintosh?

[pastrychef]

I would like to know what your PRIMARY reason was to build a hackintosh.

 

[MacMan]

I built my first hack to replace my MacPro1,1 as I couldn't afford a new one and needed a faster rig.

 

[Stork]

I build my first hack to replace my Apple G4 Sawtooth computer.

First hack: Stork 1st Hackintosh - GA-P55M-UD2 & TonyMacX86Basic System

Second hack: Stork's Batman Build: GA-P55M-UD4 - Core i7-875k - GA 5770 "Batmobile"

I was so amazed that how easy it was to make a hack with the recommended CustoMac (at the time), that I built a 2nd system, and I was hooked.

 

[rwillett]

I have had more Apples's than I can remember, my first was an Apple Lisa, cost around £10,000 in 1983/4. Since then I've had Apple Mac 128K with single floppy, double floppy, Mac SE, SE30, LC, II IIx, various G4's, and Mac Pro's. I have also brought thousands of them for University's and for media work. I have worked as an senior IT bod in education and for media companies. However the last Macs I brought were an iMac in 2012 and a Macbook Pro Retina in 2013.

I set a new business up in 2015 and went out to look at the new Mac Pro (Trashcan) to replace my ageing Mac Pro. I had an appointment to talk through my needs and see if the new Mac Pro would satisfy them. I fully expected to place an order for the new Mac Pro.

I came back empty handed. After talking through the specs I needed and really looking at the new Mac Pro it simply didn't have the speed I needed, the storage capacity I needed, the graphics capability I needed and the expandability at a less than obscene price. It was basically a closed system that was expensive. I could have added lots of external disk via Thunderbolt, but the cost of external 4 bay Thunderbolt disks systems is still eye wateringly expensive. the CPU's are now long in the tooth as the insane cooling system built into the Mac Pro can't handle the extra heat generated by the new CPU's and the GPU's are long in the tooth.

Since I looked Apple has basically abandoned the Mac Pro. It has done a little bit of an upgrade but sod all really since 2013. They have also admitted they got it wrong.

I decided to build the Mac Pro I wanted at the price point I wanted. At the time, the Z97X motherboard and the i7 4Ghz CPU was the fastest. I threw 32GB of RAM in (the maximum), threw loads of internal disk, two 280X graphics cards to drive my three HD monitors, a couple of 512SSD's and I had a great machine that was close to what I wanted at about 1/3 the price of a Mac Pro. Its stable and whilst not as fast as the very latest machines, its still good enough for everyday use. The only downside I can think of is that it doesn't sleep. I hammer it and it never misses a beat. Upgrading seems to be easy, the combo's work better than the ones downloaded from the Apple store (no idea why). I back it up using Chronsync and CCC and its done sterling service as my main development machine.

Apple has lost a chunk of my business. If and only if they produce a proper pro machine next year, and the rumours are it's end 2018, then I might look to replace my Hack, however there's no compelling reason at the moment.

I think Apple has certainly lost its way over the last 3-4 years. I don't think this started with the death of Steve Jobs but actually started before then. The Mac Pro Trashcan is probably a fine example of design over functionality. Nice idea, great computer for hipsters who push coloured pixels round Powerpoint or Keynote slides. Useless for serious work. Look at how the price of 2012 Mac Pro's has held up, people still like them and use them.

Just my 2p worth.

Rob

 

[msh]

I build my first hackintosh to test apple system and I found it is different from windows I love it but it is very expensive

 

[Feartech]

I did it because i was bored one day at work and i think it was Cheetah back then (was a few years ago!).

Then on and off until El Capitan and now Sierra as a daily machine

 

[macs_forever]

I would like to know what your PRIMARY reason was to build a hackintosh.

Because I wanted a powerful Mac that fit under the seat on an airplane... with a handle on the top.

 

[Abe Frohman]

I wanted to build a gaming PC and not be stuck with Windows. That was in 2011. Been hackintoshing ever since.

 

[pastrychef]

I built my desktop to replace my MacPro5,1 because I didn't like the MacPro6,1. I spent approx $1600 on components to build it. For me, it was most definitely not due to cost but to get a system with the specs I wanted. The fact that I did save some money was just a byproduct.

On the other hand, for my laptop which I have very modest needs for, cost was a major factor. Surfing represents about 90% of what my laptops are used for. I wanted something to replace my very old MacBook5,1 (2008 model) and I wanted 16GB. Since Apple only offers 16GB on MacBook Pros, I was faced with spending at least $1700+tax. My other option was to purchase used which didn't appeal to me because of fear of losing supports for macOS updates too early.

So, I purchased a used Dell laptop for $190 instead and it has been perfect for my needs. Additionally, I have been extremely impressed with how cool and efficient the Broadwell CPU runs as opposed to some of the temps I've seen from older generations of MacBook Pros.

 

[desktopia]

I'm going Hackintosh because I want an expandable, upgradeable Mac but can't afford a tricked out cheese grater Mac Pro / don't want a used box / don't want to rely on four-year-old hardware.