Hackintosh Installation Guide

Introduction

A Hackintosh is a non-Apple computer running macOS. In this guide, you'll learn a fast and practical workflow for installing macOS on PC hardware using OpenCore.

Prerequisites

1. You need a Windows PC. For the best Hardware-Sniffer experience, use Windows.
2. The PC must be connected to the internet.
3. Python must be installed on this PC.
4. A USB drive (at least 16 GB).
5. Download Rufus.
6. Download OpCore-Simplify.
7. Download OpenCore.
   In this workflow, you only need the macrecovery tool from OpenCore.
8. Keep in mind that the most reliable approach is still to build your EFI manually by following Dortania's OpenCore Install Guide. EFI files generated by tools like OpCore-Simplify may not be perfect for every machine. If you want a faster and more general workflow, set aside about one hour and let's get started.

Installation Process

1. Create the USB drive
   1. Use Rufus to prepare the USB drive.
   2. In Device, select your USB drive.
   3. In Boot selection, choose Non bootable.
   4. In Partition scheme, choose GPT.
   5. Keep other settings at their default values, then click START.
2. Generate the EFI
   1. Open the downloaded OpCore-Simplify folder and run OpCore-Simplify.bat.
   2. Select Select Hardware Report.
   3. Enter e to generate a hardware report for your current machine. Use this report to check whether your device is suitable for Hackintosh.
   4. If the hardware report indicates support, select Build OpenCore EFI. Choose the macOS version you want to install, and OpCore-Simplify will generate an EFI for you.
   5. After generation is complete, the EFI folder opens automatically. Copy the EFI folder to the root directory of your USB drive.
3. Download macOS recovery files
   1. Open the downloaded OpenCore folder and go to Utilities/macrecovery.
   2. Choose the command for your target macOS version based on Dortania's OpenCore Install Guide.
   3. Run the command to download macOS recovery files.
   4. Copy the generated com.apple.recovery.boot folder to the root directory of your USB drive.
4. Configure BIOS settings
   1. Adjust your motherboard BIOS settings according to Dortania's OpenCore Install Guide.
   2. Required settings vary by motherboard series, so use Dortania's documentation as the source of truth.
   3. For AMD platforms, refer to Ryzen and Threadripper (17h and 19h).
5. Install macOS
   1. Boot from the USB drive to launch OpenCore.
   2. Start the macOS installation process and complete setup.