[Guide] Dell XPS 13 9360 on MacOS Sierra 10.12.x - LTS (Long-Term Support) Guide

[bozma88]

I have a generic adapter/dock on order, next week I'll try to make things work.

With USB-C, we have many things to check:
- USB 2 + 3 data lanes: this will make USB and ethernet part of a dock work
- Displayport: it has to work in "DP alternate mode", negotiating two Thunderbolt lanes and then converting the signal to HDMI via active electronics
- Pure Thunderbolt 3
- Power Delivery output negotiation: I don't know how many profiles can the laptop output, my guess is 5V@3A max. I don't know if the negotiation is done at OS or hardware level.
- Power Delivery charging: this should work out of the box if a proper USB PD charger is used. Be careful, at the moment many USB PD adapters sold online are out of spec and may/will damage the laptop if used for charging.

USB-C 3.1 Data + Thunderbolt and DisplayPort pass-through
Didn't work at this moment, was checked with hub usb-c to (hdmi | usb 3.0 | eth), but nexus 6p charges from laptop through usb-c.

It's a single annoying reason to don't use xps with sierra like daily drive machine for me.

 

[pspracers]

Xps 13 9360 seems to be the one and only good working hackintosh ultrabook ever thank you for this guide! You rock!!! RehabMan thank you also!

So with hibernation switched off the laptop goes automatically into standy when closed without fs corruption?
Yours Markus

 

[R.MnTnA]

Just want to say that I think this could be the best damn laptop guide I've seen on here. And love the fact that you are dedicated to the LTS. Thank you @bozma88 for creating it and to rehabman and all others credited for making these HackBooks possible!

 

[bozma88]

Xps 13 9360 seems to be the one and only good working hackintosh ultrabook ever thank you for this guide! You rock!!! RehabMan thank you also!

So with hibernation switched off the laptop goes automatically into standy when closed without fs corruption?
Yours Markus

No observed corruption in the week I've been using it for work.
Standby performance is solid and goes into standby when lids closes.

 

[R.MnTnA]

FYI: https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/dell-xps-13-9360-w-i5-7200-kaby-lake-899.213469/

$899

 

[R.MnTnA]

Just reread your guide and just as a precaution you may want to add in the section where you said to carefully pry off the bottom case with the tools, to also be careful of the sharp aluminum edges. I bet they are just as sharp as the 9350 I have, which yes I cut myself on.

Update: @bozma88 Also the coil-whine you mentioned. I had this on my 9350 as well. Here are some tips on how to lessen or get rid of it. -http://marcovirgostuff.eu/blog/index.php/2016/05/16/reducing-intel-skylake-coil-whine-buzzing-noise-dell-xps-13-9350-ubuntu-16-04/

To sum it up though, you would need to turn off C-States in BIOS and just like in GRUB boot-loader, Clover has a C6 option that you can also disable. Although like the blogger mentioned it may reduce battery performance/hours.

 

[bozma88]

Update: @bozma88 Also the coil-whine you mentioned. I had this on my 9350 as well. Here are aome tips on how to lessen or get rid of it. -http://marcovirgostuff.eu/blog/index.php/2016/05/16/reducing-intel-skylake-coil-whine-buzzing-noise-dell-xps-13-9350-ubuntu-16-04/

To sum it up though, you would need to turn off C-States in BIOS and just like in GRUB boot-loader, Clover has a C6 option that you can also disable. Although like the blogger mentioned it may reduce battery performance/hours.

Mine is totally silent unless the audio amp is powered up.
Disabling C-states is not advisable as per Intel 6th-gen processor datasheet "Caution" paragraph.
Moreover, it kills battery life which is the main reason this laptop (in the FHD configuration) exists and the reason we strive to optimise everything in MacOS to reach the lowest idle power consumption possible.
Also please try not to talk about 9350, this is the 9360 guide.

___

BTW, guide updated with a nifty trick to change keyboard backlighting timeout duration.

 

[R.MnTnA]

Mine is totally silent unless the audio amp is powered up.
Disabling C-states is not advisable as per Intel 6th-gen processor datasheet "Caution" paragraph.
Moreover, it kills battery life which is the main reason this laptop (in the FHD configuration) exists and the reason we strive to optimise everything in MacOS to reach the lowest idle power consumption possible.
Also please try not to talk about 9350, this is the 9360 guide.
View attachment 232940

___

BTW, guide updated with a nifty trick to change keyboard backlighting timeout duration.

Ok good to know. Sorry about the 9350 talk, I just thought since the noise thing is the same that article might help, but anyway mine was so bad that I'm sending it back (it was a refurb) and ordering this one instead.

Do you or anyone know if the memory is soldered in or is it accessible and can be upgraded later on? Dell doesn't let you configure it with 16gb unless you go up to the more expensive one with QHD screen.

 

[bozma88]

Soldered.
My advice is to go with the FHD i7 8GB (if it is sold in your market), less load on the GPU, less chance to get Coil Whine... if you can live with CABC.
Got mine for 1000€ from Dell during Christmas sales.

 

[bozma88]

no power management for GPU

Without plugin-type injected on CPU0, you will not have IGPU PM.

CPU and GPU PM seem to be working properly without HWPEnabler nor SSDTPrGen. Even GPU seems to work fine since I observe all the power states. According to Pike, reading 0.0GHz in Intel Power Gadget for quiescent GPU is correct.
Peak performance meets expectations for this chip, and it seems that on idle it reaches lower states.

@RehabMan, can you explain how's that possible? Are the OEM SSDTs of this laptop completely MacOS-compliant by factory?