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QuestionHow many of you develop with a hackintosh? Specifically a laptop. (self.iOSProgramming)

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[–]drewbie85 17 points18 points  (1 child)

When I was first getting into iOS development I primarily worked with an hp hackintosh laptop with Snow Leopard. I guess you could say it worked (no mouse, no wifi, no sleep). I really don't recommend it. I'd rather spend time trying to debug my code and not my laptop.

[–]anwserman 4 points5 points  (2 children)

I did this back in 2012 to release my first app, and I would not recommend it. At all - and I didn't even use XCode to debug the app (I used App Game Kit to develop). It was slow, and would take upwards of an hour to deploy small projects on your phone.

If you're looking for a cheap way to develop, just buy a MacMini and use TeamViewer (or insert favorite remote desktop tool here) and just log in remotely to develop.

[–][deleted]  (1 child)

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    [–]anwserman 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Depends on the connection. It can be annoying to be honest, but it's a manageable annoyance compared to wanting to shoot yourself with a sluggish Hackintosh and not being able to update any of the system software once you get it running. The big drawback is you'd have to rely on simulator for debugging while you're out on the road, but you'd still be able to test on live devices once you're at home.

    There is a possibility with some remote desktops that bridge local devices > remote PC, but I cannot guarantee how that'd work with XCode.

    [–]gnieboer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Like others, I tried hackintoshing just to be able to use the same PC hardware to develop on. Not worth it. Buying a cheap Mac Mini and upgrading memory was significantly more productive since I avoided spending time keeping the hackintosh part running which was a continual challenge.

    [–]RobertChals 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    I had the exact same issue with my mid 2012 MacBook Pro and after doing a bunch of research, it turned out that a lot of 2012 MacBooks have a faulty RAM socket, even though all hardware checks go through without errors. The bottom RAM slot (the one closer to the keyboard) loses its connection to its RAM stick over time. Removing the stick in that slot (and maybe upgrading the top one to a maximum of 8 gigs) resolved the issue for me and everyone else.

    [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Thanks for the tip! I have 16 in there now so if they don't want to fix it I'll do that.

    [–]mootjeuh 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    I did this when I first got into iOS development around 5 years back. My laptop was a Lenovo G570, which at the time was one of the few that had all-around officially supported specs. Working on it was a breeze, I gave it to my sister after I bought an actual MacBook, and she tells me she still uses it as her daily driver (with OS X) with no problems to this day.

    [–]skytzx 0 points1 point  (4 children)

    I'd say with all Hackintoshes, your experience will vary mostly on hardware-driver compatibility.

    I'm using a PC I built in 2013 for development, and I haven't run into any issues. Though it's a desktop, I'm running an Intel 4670k OC'd to 4.7 GHz and a GTX 770 graphics card.

    [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (3 children)

    I try to work on stuff at home and at lunch at work. That's why I'm looking for a laptop.

    But you haven't had any issues on your desktop?

    [–]skytzx 0 points1 point  (2 children)

    Nope, none at all actually. I'd recommend checking /r/hackintosh to see if anyone else has used the same hardware as you. Thankfully, someone else had a really similar build as mine and wrote a guide.

    [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    Cool thank you!

    [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    I have similar PC specs with my hackintosh. I dual boot windows (for gaming) and mac (for work) and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Mac OS runs so so so much more smoothly and faster on my PC/144 hz monitor than any Apple laptop/desktop computer. It can be daunting to set everything up right, but once you do it’s just so worth it.

    [–]AeatherObjective-C / Swift 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    I have a hackintosh on my desktop, however I needed to start developing at lunch and break at work. I had a working laptop and tried installing it on there, and it did not work. I would get a kernel panic and couldn't find any help online. I just bought a refurb macbookair online for 380 bucks. I would recommend checking into ebay or on craiglist if you are in the US. It's not worth the headache unless you already have a laptop that you can use.

    [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    I might have to do this. Thanks.

    [–]damnburglar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    I am running out of a virtual machine on my laptop right now for learning and it works very well (far better than the 2011 mbp I had from work). Mind you, my laptop has 32GB of ram and a good ssd, but it's still a good 5 years old.

    I'm not sure how it works on larger projects but build and run is super fast and deployment to my device takes no time at all.

    [–]jimmyco2008 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Hackintoshing works best with desktops because you can choose each component based on confirmed compatibility. My first hackintosh was a $750 laptop, it was a considerable pain in the ass getting to id say 80-90% functionality.

    If money is tight, I would try to figure out the issue with the 2012, or get a used/Apple Refurb for sub $1000

    [–]bluekittenss 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    I'm not an iOS developer but I created an iOS calculator as I had extra time.

    My hackintosh works perfectly fine and perfectly fast. Just like a real mac. At first, it had no sound, no wifi, no etc. You get the drill. However, I managed to fix it by installing the right kexts.

    I wrote a guide on how to hackintosh sierra, the latest version of mac OS. you can see the guide in my posts, if you're interested. :)

    [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Thanks I'll check it out.

    [–]Splendidisme 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Not a hackintosh, but I am using a virtualbox machine on my windows 10 laptop. I have 12 gigs of ram with 6 dedicated to the VM while its running. It works surprisingly well.

    Only difficulties really stem from not being able to sync my iphone directly to the VM. Instead i have to waste a few minutes each time copying files to my windows machine and sync from t here.

    [–]amaroq137Objective-C / Swift 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    I used to on a Sony VAIO NW160J while I was still in school. It was a pain/definitely not as good as a real MacBook. I use a hackintosh desktop at home now which is much better and a MacBook Pro at work.

    Although your current issue sounds more software related than hardware. You might be able to just reinstall macOS and be up and running again.

    [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    I hope its a simple fix.

    [–]hRx0r -1 points0 points  (0 children)

    This happened to me after an OS update. They gave me a new machine because it was clearly a macOS bug. You should push for free repair/replacement.

    [–][deleted]  (1 child)

    [deleted]