[GUIDE] How to customize "About This Mac"

[BitterMelon]

How to customize "About This Mac"

Sorry about the Swedish!
​

Introduction
I've seen some threads on this subject, but no real guides, so I thought I'd write one. This guide will show you how to change the images shown in About My Mac -> More Info. It does not (at least not yet) allow you to change the text (i.e. "iMac", "Mac Mini", "Macbook Pro" or "Mac Pro").

Disclaimer! You follow this guide at your own risk. As always, I will not guarantee that this will not mess up your system, or even work at all.


Tools
You will need a converter that allows you to save your image as .icns, which is what OS X uses for icon packages. I used Img2icns. The free version is enough.


Finding images
Try to find a high-resolution picture of whatever you want to display (e.g. your case), preferably with a clean transparent background and in .png format. It's not a requirement though, a .jpg will work too, but you might get a white frame. You can of course cut/clean the picture up in Photoshop and save it as a .png. The manufacturer's site is usually a good place to start looking.


Convert
Start Img2icns and drag-drop the image onto it. Select icns to save the image as an icns pack.


File names
Depending on what system definitions you are running, the name of the icns pack is different. Rename your file to match. (These are examples, they may differ)
iMac: com.apple.imac-unibody-27.icns
Mac mini: com.apple.macmini-unibody-no-optical.icns
Macbook Pro: com.apple.macbookpro-15-unibody.icns
Mac Pro: com.apple.macpro.icns

If you want to replace the image for your screen, a generic screen is usually displayed as a Cinema display.
Display: com.apple.cinema-display.icns


Deploy
1. Open Finder and navigate to /System/Library/CoreServices/.
2. Right-click on CoreTypes.bundle and select "Show Package Contents".
3. Continue to Contents/Resources/.
4. Backup the files you are about to replace. Copy them to your Desktop (or wherever you want to save them).
5. Copy the new files into this folder. You will be asked for your password.
6. Done! Check About My Mac to see if it worked. If it doesn't right away, try a reboot.

 

[ed_co]

Really nice guide.
Just share the images. Maybe the people with the same config will be glad to have it.
Maybe all the people that wants to share their images could do it here as well. Should be great to have a library for all the tonymac cases configs... and monitors as well

Cheers.

 

[hackintoshx86]

Awesome! I have great pictures to use for both the display and MacPro Icons! Thanks for this guide!

 

[hackintoshx86]

What about the year? Can we change that to say something else?

 

[sonicseamus]

What about the year? Can we change that to say something else?

Yes. Just change the serial number to that of a mac made in that year. Chameleon wizard has a Serial generator that can help you with this.

 

[MiniITX]

Really nice writeup, cheers..

 

[alpha beta]

I think I saw this guide almost line for line (except skipping one step) some where else...

 

[cavendishqi]

I think I saw this guide almost line for line (except skipping one step) some where else...

Is it this?
http://**********.wordpress.com/2012/10/03/customizing-about-this-mac-information/

 

[tonymacx86]

If anyone thinks that Bittermelon's guide looks familiar- it's because it's been around the internet for years, even posted on this site before in multiple places.

https://www.google.com/search?q=customize+about+this+mac&oq=customize+about+this+mac

Nice writeup though- this is a fun little tweak.

 

[nfsgamer]

After editing I have my own case picture in "Overview". But in "Display" I don't see a picture anymore. As far as I know, I only changed com.apple.cinema-display.icns with my own picture. After rollback, there is no picture. Can anyone tell me how to get a monitor picture at "Display"? In Lion, it shows an old model cinema display, but I can't find icns files on my lion drive.

Help would be very appreciated