| I purchased this (https://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Dell-In...) laptop from the Microsoft store, paying right around ~$700 with a student discount. I bought an m.2 solid state and a wifi adapter that is known to work well with hackintosh's (the stock wifi card wasn't compatible), and another 8gb of ram for another ~$150. I followed this (https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/guide-dell-inspiron-15-75...) guide to get a nice hackintosh out of this laptop. Obviously this is a decent bit more difficult for the regular computer user to do. So for ~$850, after 'hackintoshing' this computer, I get:
A laptop that gives me the choice to boot into an SSD imaged with latest OSX Sierra, or the regular 5,400 rpm Windows 10 drive. The last thing I want to do with this laptop is exchange the 1tb 5,400 windows drive for a 1tb SSD. When booted into Sierra:
The software runs exactly the same as using a real mac. I've done some video editing in Final Cut, some audio work in Ableton, streamed 1080p youtube / netflix videos no problem. There's decent battery life, as the guide above shows you how to disable the nvidia graphics card entirely when running OSX (doesn't work anyways) to save battery. The specs are comparable to a modern macbook pro, and in one case even better. Pros
- Actually get 4k resolution/screen Cons
- SD card reader does not work
- Mobile graphics Nvidia 960m does not work, but intel 530 HD graphics card does just fine
- Backlight adjustment doesn't not work (could probably spend time to get it to work, but I'm fine without it for now)
- Trackpad is a little too sensitive Sames
- Hardware: Core i7, 16gb ram
- Full airdrop support Where am I going with this? In my opinion the general public is becoming more tech savvy. If Apple does not embrace the culture of people wanting to experiment with code (theirs or not) on different devices, then they are putting themselves at a disadvantage. The guides to make hackintoshes are more than likely getting easier and easier as time goes on and support grows. (this was my second attempt and first success) What a disappointment this macbook pro reveal was. So instead of spending $2,399.00 on a new 15" macbook pro, I decided to hack together a very comparable one for ~$850. I'll take the $1,550 savings for a little software and screwdriver work, even with a couple of minor issues, any day. As long as those dedicated apple fans eat it up, I don't expect anything to change anytime soon. But for everyone else who can't afford those business practices, there are ways like what I did above to get what you want without breaking the bank. |
The difference is that Apple could do anything to accidentally or intentionally break future updates. It would be in their right to do so, since it is illegal to run macOS on non-Apple hardware [1].
I bought a 2016 MBP for 1480 Euro (after the educational discount) and it will always work without a hassle. I don't have to worry if the latest minor release that also has security fixes breaks anything. That, plus Apple's great support (had to use it twice in 10 years and in both cases I had new or fixed hardware within 2 hours) is worth the extra cost to me.
An additional factor is that Apple hardware is often less expensive mid/long-term. I now buy a new MacBook every 1.5 years or so, my wife gets my current MacBook, and we sell her old one for 800-1000 Euro. So, we both have state-of-the-art MacBooks for ~400 per 1.5 year, or 133 Euro per year per person. There is a store across the street from my office where they sell second hand Dells and Lenovos. Three year old models go for around 300 Euro. So the resale value on other laptops is pretty bad.
Of course, I can understand that when you are on a tight budget, a Hackintosh can be attractive :^). When I was a student, I started with a Hackintosh. But after a month I realised it was easier to get a reasonably-priced Mac Mini ;).
[1] I also find it quite risky, unless you verify the Clover + custom kext source code and compile them yourself.