I installed macOS on my Dell laptop
It is already one year since I switched jobs looking for a new challenge. At this company I landed, they gave me a MacBook Pro. I have never had one, so it was nice trying it out (experimenting with new technology stuff feels to me like when a child is given a new toy). What I did not like was having to change my mental model for the operating system or OS I was using, as from that point I started using macOS for work and Linux in my free time. I did not want either to buy a MacBook for myself without knowing if I would like it or not.
A long time ago (I cannot remember how), I stumbled across this project called OpenCore. What is OpenCore you ask?
When you turn on your computer, the hardware has to be initialized and, after that, be able to tell which OS has to run and then call the OS so it can take over. This whole process is done by what’s called a bootloader, OpenCore in this case.
With OpenCore, I could then install macOS on my own laptop and have the same OS to be used at any time, although not any hardware is allowed to run macOS. There’s a hardware compatibility list so you can check which laptop or components to buy if you want to go into this adventure. I already had an aftermarket Dell Latitude 7490 which is mostly compatible, its SSD had to be replaced by another one to make it work. Following the installation guide is straightforward but, if you get stuck while doing so, there’s this Reddit community called r/hackintosh where you can ask for help.
Overall, this is a nice way to check if you like macOS and whether you would like to use it as a daily driver, but now with the transition to Apple Silicon, macOS on Intel is being slowly deprecated in favour of ARM. So far, macOS 15 aka Sequoia supports Intel, but probably in one or two years the new version will not support Intel and this project will be discontinued. Until then, enjoy your hackintosh! 🧑🏻💻
