apple about hackintosh and customac

[ciki]

what apple thinks about hackintosh and customac builds
sorry on my english

 

[Lnx2Mac]

Objection: Hearsay!

Why not ask Apple ?

 

[Stork]

Move from Laptop Support forum section to Bat Cave forum section.

 

[Rage]

I haven't seen any official comments from Apple on it this since 2007, but guess there won't be any trouble from Apple's side for us soon. Hackintoshing is good for them: it prevents people from buying Windows (so MS loses their revenue) and makes us their prospective buyers. Even if somebody refuses to buy Mac for home, building Hackintosh, there might be interest to getting MacBook/iPhone/Magic Mouse/OSX+software, etc and its quite good, because Mac's market share is just 7.4%.
I think Apple can "put a grits in the machine" only if hackintoshing will become really popular breaking genuine Macs sales. It haven't happened yet: the really easy way getting Hackintosh (for non-geeks) appeared a little bit more than just year ago with tonymacx86 (and other software, similar to Multibeast).

 

[cpukid]

Well if so many people are willing to buy their OS, then they must know they are doing something right

Like most people here, I'd love to have a real Mac Pro, I just can't afford it. Apple hardware is gorgeous and I'd buy it if I could afford it. Hackintosh is a good alternative for the tech-savvy because it's a fun project, you build experience in both hardware and software, and it's a real "bang for the buck".

While Apple doesn't make as much money off a hackintosh, people still buy their software, and in some cases, even some of their hardware. For example, Apple got $210 of mine from my Apple keyboard, Trackpad, and Magic Mouse.

However, a hackintosh can only be successfully run and maintained if the person has patience, is willing to learn, and knows a thing or 2 about computers. Since Apple usually simplifies things, most people want simplicity rather than a low price tag, so they turn to legit Macs. Overall, I don't think Apple is losing out toooooo much on Hackintoshes.

Granted, most people that do get hackintoshes go for the Mac Pro specs, which means Apple loses at least $2,500 dollars for every person that would get a Mac Pro, but decided to go the hackintosh route. However, Apple is doing very well right now and is making Billions of dollars everyday, so I don't think we're doing too much harm

 

[dmchenry35]

Using Mac OSX software on anything other than official Apple hardware is a violation of the software EULA/TOS/Whatever and isn't recommended. Apple has shut down numerous companies who tried to custom build mac's.

 

[cpukid]

It's not recommended, but it isn't illegal. It is a violation of the service, but at that level, I don't think Apple could do anything. Yes, companies selling these machines are profiting off of Apples OS, or at least, the ability to run it, which is definitely illegal. However, a consumer building their own machine isn't really illegal, just not recommended. I don't think Apple ever imagined that people would get it running as good as this community has gotten it to

 

[bwhinnen]

I don't think Apple would be overly pleased but in reality this community and the wider "hackintosh" community does help them in reality as we tend to run things closer to the ragged edge than most "general" Apple users.

Taking things away from Apple? Maybe, but I think it does draw in more customers that they may not have had in the first place. While I use it as my desktop, my laptop is about to be replaced with a new 11" MBA and my wife's old laptop will be replaced with a 13" MBA in September. Being drawn to Apple was primarily from using it on a Hackintosh and being annoyed at the small idiosyncrasies of my current laptop running it.

 

[tremmelin92]

Hackintoshing is good for them: it prevents people from buying Windows (so MS loses their revenue) and makes us their prospective buyers.

unfortuately I bought my copy of Windows 7 cause my old pc was a pile of donkey droppings, now I have a new pc that can finally run OS X i'm using windows less

 

[powerpcg5]

Granted, most people that do get hackintoshes go for the Mac Pro specs, which means Apple loses at least $2,500 dollars for every person that would get a Mac Pro, but decided to go the hackintosh route. However, Apple is doing very well right now and is making Billions of dollars everyday, so I don't think we're doing too much harm

Apple seemed to have changed during the last few years... before, the PowerPC G5 is the "king" of the Apple product lineup, followed by the iMac.

Nowadays, it's the iPhone, iPad.... I think it's easier for them to sell 10 iPhones/iPad at $500 apiece than a MacPro at $2500 apiece.