[anshargal]

The days of x86 macOS are numbered. I don't think there are good ways for running ARM macOS on non-Apple ARM CPUs and I am not even sure there are ARM servers comparable with M1 in single-core performance (maybe latest AWS Graviton?)

[pjmlp]

With ARM Macs, Apple has killed the Hackintoshes, which I never found appealing anyway.

It was like those folks that put Ferrari logos on red Fiat sport models.

Either get the real deal or something else

[yardie]

Long time Mac user here. The Hackintosh is what allowed me continue to use MacOS after Apple finished the PowerPC era. Because they also dramatically raised prices on the Pro workstations. It was now out of my budget even though the price of PCs were falling. I used a Hackintosh for years for 1/2 the price of the equivalent Nehalem based MacPros. You may not like them but they serve a purpose and they have a fan base.

[windowsrookie]

"Because they also dramatically raised prices on the Pro workstations."

The PowerMac G5 Quad cost $3300. The Base model Mac Pro that was release less than a year later cost $2200, and it greatly outperformed the G5.

Base model PowerMac in 2005 - $2000 Base model MacPro in 2012 - $2500

Adjusting for inflation from 2005 to 2012: $2,000 becomes $2,359.67

After adjusting for inflation, Apple raised the price by $140 between 2005-2012, but they also 6x the base RAM and WiFi became standard. Not to mention the significant performance and efficiency improvements.

I don't know how much the WiFi upgrade cost on a G5, but if it cost more than $140 Apple actually reduced the price of the Pro workstations during the switch to intel.

[comprev]

By good fortune the PC I built from eBay parts was 100% compatible with a hackintosh macOS 10.6, even down to wireless and bluetooth.

This allowed me to experience using macOS as a daily driver (at home) while saving up for an eBay macbook (macbook pro 13 mid-2010)

The Hackintosh community is a vital step of "try before you buy" for many like myself.

[chislobog]

On the other side of this the ibm x3550 m2 and m3 in any configuration ran OS X SL right out of the box without any customization besides the bootloader, a happy accident I discovered

[martinkivi]

Appeal was simple - at the time of peak Hackintosh (with Intel CPUs and Nvidia GPUs), you were able to get much better performance both CPU and GPU level for fraction of the price while still having MacOS experience (as it brings together best of both the GUI as well as Linux terminal functionality). The overhead of having to mess around with updates was well worth it at that time.

[avidphantasm]

Yeah, I never understood the appeal. macOS but you have to mess around with hardware and drivers. No thanks. The appeal of macOS is that it just works with Mac hardware.

[yardie]

Messing around with hardware and the software that runs on it is how you really learn how computers and software work. The original Mac SE and Mac IIs came withe a hardware debugger you could enter anytime with a literal button on the front.

If I wanted buttoned up single-use OS there is iOS. But almost no one wants that as their primary OS because they want the customizable, extensible OS.

[avidphantasm]

I did this with Linux and PCs 25-30 years ago when I was in high school and college. I don’t have time or interest in that anymore. Besides, the small amount of embedded work I do scratches my hardware itch better than any PC could, with their layer upon layer of crap (management engines, etc.).