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After running a Hackintosh for about 6 months a few years ago I became convinced that they're not really for budget-minded Mac enthusiasts, but for people who e

After running a Hackintosh for about 6 months a few years ago I became convinced that they're not really for budget-minded Mac enthusiasts, but for people who enjoy maintenance and troubleshooting. Unless you're on a tight budget and planning to use existing hardware, I strongly recommend going the way of a Mac Mini and spend the time you would have lost to building a Hackintosh on literally anything else.

eterpstra 10y ago
This was my experience exactly. Seemed like a great idea at the time, but always required some sort of maintenance at various times that required researching solutions, posting on message boards, and trial-and-error. Basically, it's the same amount of effort required to run a linux based desktop.
- awesomerobot 10y ago
  I'd argue that it's more effort than running a popular distro like Ubuntu because the hackintosh knowledgebase is generally a lot smaller.
  - b_t_s 10y ago
    totally agree.
- bb88 10y ago
  Without intentionally trying to turn this in to an OS War, at least on a linux box, there was source code. So if something bothered you enough you could go in and fix it yourself (which added to your skills as a coder). These days, it feels like people enjoy digging around on their systems less and less, and they just want javascript to run in a browser.
beardedscotsman 10y ago
That's exactly how I felt. Every update had a risk of being a maintenance nightmare. The machine was really fast, but now I ended up buying a top end iMac 5K and a MacBook Pro. I'll never go back to a hackintosh, but if I didn't do it originally I doubt I would have gone Mac full time. My old hackintosh is now relegated to Win7 for those game devs that are making games for Windows only.
cloverich 10y ago
Me too -- would add that despite the time I sunk into troubleshooting, I don't feel like I learned anything useful in the process.
freehunter 10y ago
Maintenance and troubleshooting with PCs was the reason I switch to Mac in the first place. To me at least, it's worth a few extra dollars if it means I never have to look inside of it (the hardware or the software).

eterpstra 10y ago

This was my experience exactly. Seemed like a great idea at the time, but always required some sort of maintenance at various times that required researching solutions, posting on message boards, and trial-and-error. Basically, it's the same amount of effort required to run a linux based desktop.

awesomerobot 10y ago
I'd argue that it's more effort than running a popular distro like Ubuntu because the hackintosh knowledgebase is generally a lot smaller.
- b_t_s 10y ago
  totally agree.
bb88 10y ago
Without intentionally trying to turn this in to an OS War, at least on a linux box, there was source code. So if something bothered you enough you could go in and fix it yourself (which added to your skills as a coder). These days, it feels like people enjoy digging around on their systems less and less, and they just want javascript to run in a browser.

beardedscotsman 10y ago

That's exactly how I felt. Every update had a risk of being a maintenance nightmare. The machine was really fast, but now I ended up buying a top end iMac 5K and a MacBook Pro. I'll never go back to a hackintosh, but if I didn't do it originally I doubt I would have gone Mac full time. My old hackintosh is now relegated to Win7 for those game devs that are making games for Windows only.

cloverich 10y ago

Me too -- would add that despite the time I sunk into troubleshooting, I don't feel like I learned anything useful in the process.

freehunter 10y ago

Maintenance and troubleshooting with PCs was the reason I switch to Mac in the first place. To me at least, it's worth a few extra dollars if it means I never have to look inside of it (the hardware or the software).