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It strikes me as odd in this day and age that Apple don't just officially support macOS on non-Apple hardware. If they're concerned about instability due to poo

It strikes me as odd in this day and age that Apple don't just officially support macOS on non-Apple hardware. If they're concerned about instability due to poor quality drivers and its impact on users' perception just offer an "approved supplier" program where hardware manufacturers can have their drivers verified and signed, as Microsoft have done in the past. I know it's not the same as being truly open but at least it offers more options and they could charge a fee to claw back the lost hardware revenue. Manufacturers would be falling over themselves to get on the list for a little shiny Apple sticker on their boxes. We're talking about the biggest tech company in the world here, surely they have the resources to make it possible? Failing all that, what about an "Open" community supported macOS like Fedora is to RHEL? (Isn't this pretty much what the Darwin project used to be about?)

SyneRyder 8y ago
Apple already tried that from 1995 - 1997. It completely cannibalized sales of their own hardware, which is where they were making their profit. Steve Jobs cancelled the licensed clone program in 1997 & Apple acquired the largest selling clone manufacturer Power Computing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_clone#Licensed_Macintosh_clones https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_clone#Licensed_Macin...
- danieldk 8y ago
  I agree that it does not make sense for them. But in 1995-1997 Macs were still largely their core business. Now Mac is just a small portion of their revenue.
  - ek750 8y ago
    I’d agree that their revenue streams are more diversified now. Hopefully in the future their increased services revenue and decreased hardware sales vs r&d expenses make that appealing for them But, I think it’s unlikely given how much they’re still investing in their hardware line. Albeit, the hardware is not going in a direction that many longtime pro users appreciate, and they keep coming out with nightmare “improvements” like their painful butterfly keyboards and touchbar . With my issues in my hands, those things are literally causing me physical harm. :(
    - tcoff91 8y ago
      I highly encourage you to try going to a rock climbing gym (or outside) and doing some climbing. Fixed my hand pains almost immediately.
bubblethink 8y ago
>It strikes me as odd in this day and age that Apple don't just officially support macOS on non-Apple hardware Hardware is the product they sell. So it's not surprising at all. If you commodotize the OS, suddenly the huge markup for similar x86 hardware doesn't seem that appealing.
drb91 8y ago
“Darwin” does not include a lick of UI or common framework code. It’s appproximately equivalent to gnu/linux or a bsd: x11 is the only option.
- scruffyherder 8y ago
  Although I have built Darwin 0.3 and it does run the DR2 userspace and UI. I never did try going with the later versions + 10.4.1 ...
  - drb91 8y ago
    Yes, I should have clarified that the UI/userspace runs fine, but you still need to get those compiled bits from somewhere.
grecy 8y ago
> If they're concerned about instability due to poor quality drivers and its impact on users' perception just offer an "approved supplier" program where hardware manufacturers can have their drivers verified and signed, as Microsoft have done in the past. Riiiight. And how was the stability of Windows on that "certified hardware"? No way in hell Apple want to degrade their experience that much.

SyneRyder 8y ago

Apple already tried that from 1995 - 1997. It completely cannibalized sales of their own hardware, which is where they were making their profit. Steve Jobs cancelled the licensed clone program in 1997 & Apple acquired the largest selling clone manufacturer Power Computing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_clone#Licensed_Macintosh_clones https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_clone#Licensed_Macin...

danieldk 8y ago
I agree that it does not make sense for them. But in 1995-1997 Macs were still largely their core business. Now Mac is just a small portion of their revenue.
- ek750 8y ago
  I’d agree that their revenue streams are more diversified now. Hopefully in the future their increased services revenue and decreased hardware sales vs r&d expenses make that appealing for them But, I think it’s unlikely given how much they’re still investing in their hardware line. Albeit, the hardware is not going in a direction that many longtime pro users appreciate, and they keep coming out with nightmare “improvements” like their painful butterfly keyboards and touchbar . With my issues in my hands, those things are literally causing me physical harm. :(
  - tcoff91 8y ago
    I highly encourage you to try going to a rock climbing gym (or outside) and doing some climbing. Fixed my hand pains almost immediately.

bubblethink 8y ago

>It strikes me as odd in this day and age that Apple don't just officially support macOS on non-Apple hardware Hardware is the product they sell. So it's not surprising at all. If you commodotize the OS, suddenly the huge markup for similar x86 hardware doesn't seem that appealing.

drb91 8y ago

“Darwin” does not include a lick of UI or common framework code. It’s appproximately equivalent to gnu/linux or a bsd: x11 is the only option.

scruffyherder 8y ago
Although I have built Darwin 0.3 and it does run the DR2 userspace and UI. I never did try going with the later versions + 10.4.1 ...
- drb91 8y ago
  Yes, I should have clarified that the UI/userspace runs fine, but you still need to get those compiled bits from somewhere.

grecy 8y ago

> If they're concerned about instability due to poor quality drivers and its impact on users' perception just offer an "approved supplier" program where hardware manufacturers can have their drivers verified and signed, as Microsoft have done in the past. Riiiight. And how was the stability of Windows on that "certified hardware"? No way in hell Apple want to degrade their experience that much.