What are some of the 'most' compatible Hackintosh Gaming Laptops available right now?

[GamerTosh]

Check the most recent reply I made, the Dell Inspiron 15 7567 seems to be the best hackintosh compatible laptop out there that has a clearly written guide here:

https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...7-and-similar-near-full-functionality.234988/

It's got a NVidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, supports up to 32GB of RAM, etc.

What are some of the 'most' compatible Hackintosh Gaming Laptops available right now?

Now I know for a fact that many of those that have customized their own Hackintosh laptops had made it clear that compatibility issues on laptop can become quite a hassle and is common this is known to be normal.

I know that is is normal that there won't be many non-Apple laptops out there that are absolutely 100% Compatible with a hackintosh setup, because you have only so much control on the hardware compatibility for a hackintosh set up onto a Laptop. Whereas a hackintosh setup on a custom built Desktop computer you can buy and get the most compatible components and then assemble it altogether. But for a laptop, it's not possible and you have limited options since it's pre-built and pre-configured according to the manufacturer's specs and therefore they can never be exactly or completely custom tailored to be a 100% compatible Hackintosh laptop. So just to clear that out of the way my expectations are realistic about it and I am not trying to find any 100% hackintosh compatible gaming laptop out there.

Right now I'm trying to narrow down which gaming laptops have the "least" compatibility issues as possible to when successfully installing the latest version Mac OS X as of now in March 2016.

The main requirement that will fit the criteria of what I am looking for is that the laptop should have a dedicated GPU instead of just one of those Intel Integrated Graphics units.

The 2nd criteria I had taken into consideration is the overall difficulty to actually install Mac OS X onto it, such as if there are already known good and consistent and clear guides that I can follow for them.

The 3rd criteria would probably be if it's slim-design format then it's ideal but not an absolute need for me. Slim like that Razer Blade line of laptops as an example. Just more lightweight and portable but still have a dedicated GPU and really good Hackintosh compatibility.

The last criteria would be price, and I will always try to keep my budget to no more than a maximum of $1800.

However if someone knows or can recommend me a really good budget gaming laptop for around $1000 or slightly more or slightly less than $1000 and also is mostly compatible (not too many incompatibilities) and is not very too difficult to install Mac OS X onto then that's even better.

I think the chances are that most gaming laptops with a dedicated GPU from either nVidia or AMD would generally cost more than $1000 anyway.

So far from what I've read, the ASUS G55VW, the Lenovo 50-70 and the Dell Inspiron 15 7548 are some of known "very compatible" Hackintosh Gaming Laptops.

I found them from various lists I have read from performing a Google search on Best Gaming Laptops and Hackintosh which typically bring me to this list of "Top 10 Best Laptops For Hackintosh 2015"

With the Asus one it seemed to be pretty solid and the only things that don't work when booted into Mac OS X are just some of the minor features such as the Back-light on keyboard and Battery Charging info.

For the Lenovo one, you won’t to able to use its dedicated NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M (Since OS X don’t support dedicated cards) and the wi-fi from the built-in Intel Wireless-AC 3160 adapter. But like the Asus one, only 2 things don't and can't work in Mac OS X out of the rest.

I'm not too sure about the specifics on what is not compatible with the Dell one when booted into Mac OS X.

I had also heard something about a MSI gaming laptop, think it was a GS70 or something, don't remember exactly, because it wasn't on that list, and heard it had good Hackintosh compatibility, don't know if that's true or not.

Are there any other laptops that may be more compatible than those 3 known ones or should I just decide from those 3 only?

Thanks for reading.

I eagerly await for anyone's response.

 

[RehabMan]

The main requirement that will fit the criteria of what I am looking for is that the laptop should have a dedicated GPU instead of just one of those Intel Integrated Graphics units.

Make sure you get one where the discrete GPU is dedicated, not switched (eg. not dual-GPU between DGPU/Intel, eg... not Nvidia Optimus, and not the equivalent with Radeon/Intel). The discrete GPU cannot be used in a dual-GPU switched configuration.

You will also want to do some research on which Nvidia/Radeon devices are supported by OS X. These kind of laptops are a bit uncommon, so solid information is difficult to find.

The 2nd criteria I had taken into consideration is the overall difficulty to actually install Mac OS X onto it, such as if there are already known good and consistent and clear guides that I can follow for them.

Look for guides for laptops that meet your criteria (there won't be many). Try to read the guide with an eye towards the quality of the guide. Not all guides are written well. And not all guides are "correct".

The last criteria would be price, and I will always try to keep my budget to no more than a maximum of $1800.

Honestly, you might consider a used Apple MacBook Pro.

 

[GamerTosh]

Make sure you get one where the discrete GPU is dedicated, not switched (eg. not dual-GPU between DGPU/Intel, eg... not Nvidia Optimus, and not the equivalent with Radeon/Intel). The discrete GPU cannot be used in a dual-GPU switched configuration.

I'm not entirely getting what you meant by a discrete GPU that cannot be used in a dual-GPU switched configuration. I get that nVidia Optimus types of dedicated GPUs should be avoided.

From what I've looked at, one of the current MacBook Pro laptops has a AMD Radeon R9 M370X with 2GB GDDR5 memory, so I would presume laptops that have dedicated GPUs that are of the AMD Radeon R9 series may have the best compatibility and least problems specifically for the graphics and video, but correct me if I am wrong.

You will also want to do some research on which Nvidia/Radeon devices are supported by OS X. These kind of laptops are a bit uncommon, so solid information is difficult to find.

I think nVidia ones are harder to figure out, other than what you had told me, avoid any that has a nVidia Optimus chipset type of GPU.

Look for guides for laptops that meet your criteria (there won't be many). Try to read the guide with an eye towards the quality of the guide. Not all guides are written well. And not all guides are "correct".

You may be right on this as well.

Because of the 3 laptops that had been mentioned in the Top 10 Best Laptops for Hackintosh 2015, I was only able to find guides for the Lenovo Y50-70, and this laptop has a dedicated GPU: nVidia GeForce GTX 860M 2GB

I was not able to find a guide for the ASUS or the Dell laptops anywhere so I don't know if I should consider taking my chances with them and trial and error-ing until I get a Hackintosh laptop working or what.

Honestly, you might consider a used Apple MacBook Pro.

I had before but then when I looked at the latest version of MacBook Pro, it costs like $2500 which I am sure I could get a laptop to Hackintosh that may be as good for less.

It's the 15-inch one with that AMD Radeon GPU. The rest of their laptops only have the Intel HD which doesn't fit the criteria, Apple did not offer any options for them include a dedicated GPU. I am trying to spend no more than $1800 if possible, and the less I would spend then the better.

But I would expect most of the really good gaming laptops even if they are very compatible with a Hackintosh setup with minor incompatibilities would still be closer to $1300 at least.

One other thing I forgot to add in the criteria is Dual-Booting compatibility between the latest version of Mac OS X and Windows (Windows 10) on a gaming laptop. That should have been my 3rd priority when it comes to criteria that I am looking for.

Unless I am wrong and that all of those non-Apple gaming laptops are absolutely fully compatible with dual-booting, right now I am presuming some of them can Dual-Boot fine with absolutely no problems, while other laptops may encounter problems.

Thanks for the tips, I really appreciate it.

 

[RehabMan]

I'm not entirely getting what you meant by a discrete GPU that cannot be used in a dual-GPU switched configuration. I get that nVidia Optimus types of dedicated GPUs should be avoided.

Simple example: Nvidia + Intel in Optimus.... In OS X, you can only use Intel. OS X does not support the switching mechanism used by Optimus equipped laptops. Mac laptops use a different (proprietary GMUX) mechanism.

From what I've looked at, one of the current MacBook Pro laptops has a AMD Radeon R9 M370X with 2GB GDDR5 memory, so I would presume laptops that have dedicated GPUs that are of the AMD Radeon R9 series may have the best compatibility and least problems specifically for the graphics and video, but correct me if I am wrong.

No idea. I don't purchase those kind of laptops. I have no use for high-end graphics.

You'll need to do the research.

I think nVidia ones are harder to figure out, other than what you had told me, avoid any that has a nVidia Optimus chipset type of GPU.

As far as discrete GPU laptops, I see more success with laptops that have dedicated Nvidia.

I was only able to find guides for the Lenovo Y50-70, and this laptop has a dedicated GPU: nVidia GeForce GTX 860M 2GB

Make sure it is not Optimus...

One other thing I forgot to add in the criteria is Dual-Booting compatibility between the latest version of Mac OS X and Windows (Windows 10) on a gaming laptop. That should have been my 3rd priority when it comes to criteria that I am looking for.

Dual-boot is fairly trivial. Clover can boot both Windows and OS X.

 

[themaskofwraith]

Let me save some trouble for you.

The slimmer gaming models always use Nvidia optimus. That means graphic card will not work in OSX. Lenovo y50 uses optimums too FYI


Rather than finding perfect gaming laptop that supports OSX (which is very hard to do), i recommend finding a MODULAR
laptop in which you can swap out the non functioning parts.

Take a look at my gaming laptop
http://www.tonymacx86.com/yosemite-...osemite-clevo-p650se-sager-np8651-clover.html

 

[GamerTosh]

Let me save some trouble for you.

The slimmer gaming models always use Nvidia optimus. That means graphic card will not work in OSX. Lenovo y50 uses optimums too FYI

Thanks for the tip!

Oh, ok. I'm starting to understand that it just meant a laptop with a dedicated GPU, such as a nVidia card just won't work on the OS X portion or side of the computer, if I were to configure the laptop to dual-boot Mac OS X and Windows. Which is what I wanted to do.

One other question is does it matter at all in which order I dual-boot them? Can I have Windows as the Primary Boot OS and Mac OS X as a secondary one?

There aren't too many OS X applications or programs currently out there that I would actually need a dedicated GPU for in the first place is there?

That's another thing I've been trying to figure out. If I won't be missing too many major or needed features that absolutely requires a dedicated GPU such as nVidia or AMD Radeon cards in Mac OS X then I guess it should not really be a big deal.

After all, I mean since most of the mainstream computer (non-console) games are released on Windows, and are rarely if ever at all released on Mac OS X, then wouldn't it be best to just install and run them from the Windows OS portion of the laptop after a Dual Boot setup configuration instead for a Hackintosh setup?

Rather than finding perfect gaming laptop that supports OSX (which is very hard to do), i recommend finding a MODULAR
laptop in which you can swap out the non functioning parts.

I see, so are Sager and/or Clevo laptops the most modular or the only modular gaming laptops available at the moment?

I looked around for the same laptop model that you had, the Sager NP8651/Clevo P650SE laptops.

But have not been able to find any of them left in stock.

All of the newer and currently available Clevo/Sager laptops are currently on the Skylake architecture motherboards. As I had heard Skylake Intel CPU laptops currently are not fully compatible for Hackintosh setups yet or something.

However, I do own another Sager laptop. It's the Sager NP8278, but it's more of a Desktop replacement for me.

Now, I don't know if this would be good for a Hackintosh setup or not, as I have not attempted it yet, and it does not fit my criteria of having a more portable slimmer Hackintosh gaming laptop.

 

[themaskofwraith]

Thanks for the tip!


I looked around for the same laptop model that you had, the Sager NP8651/Clevo P650SE laptops.

But have not been able to find any of them left in stock.

Mine is lying around not doing anything lol P.M me if you want it

 

[GamerTosh]

Just a minor update. It seems at this point that the Dell 7567 is the best choice as of December 2017:

https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...67-and-similar-near-full-functionality.234988

This only applies if you're planning to use a dual boot setup of Windows and Mac and boot into Windows OS for gaming, and this is because the Dell 7567 has a NVidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (Not quite a GTX 1060 so Virtual Reality applications won't be supported), as I've yet to locate a "hackintosh" compatible laptop with a clearly written guide that has a GTX 1060 GPU or above onboard.

As many times, it's been pointed out that when booting into Mac OS, you will only have access to the onboard Intel HD graphics card instead of any dedicated GPUs, simply because dedicated GPUs with the Optimus feature simply won't work.

The catch however, is when using Mac OS with Dell 7567 is the following, these features simply don't work at all or has known problems, at least for now:

• Full native 2.1 surround audio: I actually have solved this problem via implementing custom configurations to the AppleHDA driver, but there are a lot of “side effects” that come along with my implementation that I’m still trying to sort out! With the current configuration (from AppleALC), the speakers work in Stereo (basically 2.0 surround), but the built-in subwoofer doesn't work at all! That's what the extra ".1" signifies, and I've been trying to get it working for a while, and it's coming along! Still a few things to sort out, however...
• Keyboard brightness up/down keys: The SysPrefs -> Keyboard -> Display section is missing, so I can’t reprogram these keys to get them working! I haven’t figured out how to get this submenu to show up again, but this is probably a simple fix...
• Fans are not being properly reported in HWMonitor! (Or in general to the system) I’m working on a fix for this, and I will update this guide when I do manage to get this working accurately!
• HDMI & HDMI audio from HDMI port
  • This will probably not be able to work because the HDMI port is attached internally to the nVidia GTX 1050 Ti, which we have disabled to get macOS running on this laptop smoothly!

Now if someone here either writes/creates or is able to locate a really clearly written guide for a gaming laptop that has at least a GTX 1060 and/or have a 17-inch screen or beyond (the Dell 7567 is only a 15.6 screen laptop) then I will also add them here, because I think that it will greatly help many people save time in finding a "hackintosh" compatible gaming laptop out there to buy but have no idead whether if they are compatible and whether if they already have a clearly written guide for the entire process of converting them into a Hackintosh laptop, despite limitations of course.

I hope this greatly helps.