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I don't understand why Apple don't release macOS for non-Apple devices. Sure, it's a huge undertaking support-wise but it's not like they don't have the resourc

I don't understand why Apple don't release macOS for non-Apple devices. Sure, it's a huge undertaking support-wise but it's not like they don't have the resources. I'm a full time desktop Linux user but I'd buy macOS for my laptop in a heartbeat to get a Unix environment with proper commercial apps like Office and Photoshop. I just don't want to pay the Apple premium for the hardware.

travbrack 8y ago
Because more people pay the premium when it's the only (legit) option if you want their OS.
jgtrosh 8y ago
Do you think the untapped market of people who would buy macOS only if it means not buying Apple hardware is a bigger incentive than what they would lose if people who get cornered into buying Apple hardware became able to get cheaper non-Apple hardware?
- romanovcode 8y ago
  And then they buy shitty hardware, everything lags and they blame it on macOS. Hello Windows problems.
linguae 8y ago
I would love to legally use macOS on a PC, too, as I'm disappointed with Apple's current hardware offerings yet I don't want to make the move to Windows or Linux. However, I don't see macOS for generic PCs happening for three main reasons. 1. If Apple licenses macOS for PC use, then this will disrupt Apple's Mac hardware business. The Mac business is designed around maintaining high profit margins on its hardware sales, and it can maintain these high profit margins by being the exclusive source of personal computers running macOS, the differentiator between a Mac and a PC. If macOS could legally be used on PCs, then this means that Apple would be forced to directly compete against the rest of the PC market, where profit margins are very low. Apple has historically avoided low-margin pursuits. Moreover, in the mid-1990s Apple experimented with Mac clones to help expand the marketshare of Mac OS. It ended up cannibalizing Apple Macintosh sales as some Mac users, new and existing, purchased Mac clones that were sometimes a better deal than Apple's offerings. 2. Licensing macOS for PC use will make macOS a direct competitor against Microsoft Windows. Microsoft hasn't had a direct competitor in the desktop operating system market since the days of BeOS, which struggled in the operating system marketplace due to the agreements that Microsoft had with large OEMs; these large OEMs could get Windows licenses at a substantial discount if they agreed not to preinstall their computers with competing operating systems. Now, things are different today; Apple is bigger than Microsoft these days and Windows is not as dominant today as it was twenty years ago. But Microsoft is still formidable, however, and Windows is still Microsoft's core business, even with Microsoft's foray toward the cloud. There's a risk that Microsoft will defend its long-time cash cow by squelching operating system competition from Apple, as macOS running on generic PCs would be a major threat to Microsoft's core business. 3. Apple has a long-standing reputation for quality and polish, and this reputation may be compromised if Apple takes on the challenge of supporting macOS for generic PCs with the plethora of hardware options available. It will take a large amount of resources for Apple to write the drivers for a wide variety of PC hardware. If Apple does not feel that it could recover the cost of developing macOS for generic PCs through license sales, then Apple won't provide macOS for generic PCs.
wilsonnb 8y ago
The short answer is because they are a hardware company. Selling software isn't what they do unless it's in support of selling their hardware.

travbrack 8y ago

Because more people pay the premium when it's the only (legit) option if you want their OS.

jgtrosh 8y ago

Do you think the untapped market of people who would buy macOS only if it means not buying Apple hardware is a bigger incentive than what they would lose if people who get cornered into buying Apple hardware became able to get cheaper non-Apple hardware?

romanovcode 8y ago
And then they buy shitty hardware, everything lags and they blame it on macOS. Hello Windows problems.

linguae 8y ago

I would love to legally use macOS on a PC, too, as I'm disappointed with Apple's current hardware offerings yet I don't want to make the move to Windows or Linux. However, I don't see macOS for generic PCs happening for three main reasons. 1. If Apple licenses macOS for PC use, then this will disrupt Apple's Mac hardware business. The Mac business is designed around maintaining high profit margins on its hardware sales, and it can maintain these high profit margins by being the exclusive source of personal computers running macOS, the differentiator between a Mac and a PC. If macOS could legally be used on PCs, then this means that Apple would be forced to directly compete against the rest of the PC market, where profit margins are very low. Apple has historically avoided low-margin pursuits. Moreover, in the mid-1990s Apple experimented with Mac clones to help expand the marketshare of Mac OS. It ended up cannibalizing Apple Macintosh sales as some Mac users, new and existing, purchased Mac clones that were sometimes a better deal than Apple's offerings. 2. Licensing macOS for PC use will make macOS a direct competitor against Microsoft Windows. Microsoft hasn't had a direct competitor in the desktop operating system market since the days of BeOS, which struggled in the operating system marketplace due to the agreements that Microsoft had with large OEMs; these large OEMs could get Windows licenses at a substantial discount if they agreed not to preinstall their computers with competing operating systems. Now, things are different today; Apple is bigger than Microsoft these days and Windows is not as dominant today as it was twenty years ago. But Microsoft is still formidable, however, and Windows is still Microsoft's core business, even with Microsoft's foray toward the cloud. There's a risk that Microsoft will defend its long-time cash cow by squelching operating system competition from Apple, as macOS running on generic PCs would be a major threat to Microsoft's core business. 3. Apple has a long-standing reputation for quality and polish, and this reputation may be compromised if Apple takes on the challenge of supporting macOS for generic PCs with the plethora of hardware options available. It will take a large amount of resources for Apple to write the drivers for a wide variety of PC hardware. If Apple does not feel that it could recover the cost of developing macOS for generic PCs through license sales, then Apple won't provide macOS for generic PCs.

wilsonnb 8y ago

The short answer is because they are a hardware company. Selling software isn't what they do unless it's in support of selling their hardware.