A new company called “OpenCore Computer” (no affiliation with the OpenCore Bootloader) this week launched a commercial Hackintosh computer called the “Velociraptor,” which, of course, is a violation of Apple’s end-user license agreement or EULA for macOS.
OpenCore Computer’s “Velociraptor” specs include:
• Configurable with Ryzen 8, 12, or 16 core CPUs
• Up to Radeon VII GPU with 16GB HBM2 Memory
• Configurable up to 64GB RAM
• Up to 2TB NVME SSD (macOS)
• Up to 2TB SATA SSD (Win10)
• Up to 4TB HDD (shared natively betwen macOS & Win10)
Hartley Charlton for MacRumors:
The company’s lineup of computers, which they call “zero-compromise Hackintoshes,” are advertised as coming with macOS Catalina and Windows 10 Pro pre-installed. The first available model is the “Velociraptor,” which is configurable with up to a 16-core CPU, 64GB of RAM, and a Vega VII GPU, and starts at $2,199. OpenCore Computer intends to launch more models at a later date, with options allowing for up to a 64-core CPU and 256GB of RAM…
Apple sued Psystar in 2009 and won a permanent injunction against the company, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the case in 2012. Given this precedence, it is particularly surprising that OpenCore Computer has chosen to sell a Hackintosh.
MacDailyNews Take: OpenCore Computer and their Hackintosh are not long for this world.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
Uh, the word “hack” is inherently associated with bad or illegal actions… not the best name in the world for starters…
Is there really any such need for a machine? Pro users can’t have any sort of reliability, crashing, you name it issues… and pros are not as price sensitive, as the equipment is written off and it makes them money.
So who are these for? Joe consumer isn’t buying… Pros aren’t buying?… Hackers perhaps? College kid’s rich parents?…
”Is there really any such need for a machine?”
Old people on a fixed income looking for a configurable computer between the Mini and the Pro?
Nah, there’s no significant market for this OR for an Apple branded equivalent.
Old people aren’t buying pro-spec computers whose base model costs $2,200 that can only be purchased with Bitcoin.
Velociraptor
IMPORTANT: Completing Your Purchase
Because of the convoluted macOS EULA agreement, our payment provider options are limited. Thus we’ve chosen only to accept Bitcoin (BTC) payments currently. We appreciate the trust issue with bitcoin given that there have been so many scams and undelivered projects associated with cryptocurrency, which is why we’re offering the option of escrow payment through the established and respected Bitrated platform.
Initially, and while we establish trust in the user community, Bitcoin escrow payments will be free of charge. HOWEVER, if you bypass escrow and settle the BTC payment in full through our own secure BTC payment server then you’ll get a 10% discount (make sure to use the coupon code ‘PAYFULL10‘ at checkout.)
Please bear in mind that going the escrow route will add a little lead time to the ordering process, and can result in potentially higher prices when it ultimately comes time to settle the escrow payment (depending in which direction BTC prices move between the time you open the order with your deposit payment and complete the final escrow payment once we confirm your order has been shipped).
If you don’t already own bitcoin then you’ll need to buy some – the good news is it’s extremely simple these days. We recommend Binance who allow simple purchasing or BTC with a credit/debit card but there are plenty of other options to buy bitcoin outlined in this recent article.
The Escrow Process Explained:
You configure your system and then pay 30% of the total price. This 30% deposit serves to show as a commitment on your part that you do intend to actually complete the order while we build your machine. The 10% actual USD value of the deposit is subtracted from the outstanding amount that will be settled in escrow.
Once we’ve built your computer, we’ll snap a picture of your shiny new machine along with the exclusive, one-off serial number (case and OS screenshots) which we assign to all machines.
We inform you that we’re ready to ship.
You sign up at Bitrated.com and email us with your Bitrated ID.
We create a very simple escrow contract on Bitrated. You deposit the remaining BTC funds in the Bitrated multi-signature escrow wallet.
We then ship your new system and add the tracking number to the Bitrated system. Once the tracking number is confirmed as valid, then you must release payment immediately. If you don’t, then we’ll have to call upon a bitrated escrow arbitrator to release the funds. Our only responsibility is to build and ship the system which is why we expect you to agree to fast release of funds after we provide online verifiable tracking.
I don’t think it is called Hackintosh. That is a term used by the person who wrote the article, as a reference to a third party Mac.
They are not going to make enough to cover their upcoming legal bills.
Just shows the Mac world is looking for a configurable computer between the Mac Mini and the Mac Pro, and not an all-in-one. Back in the latter 90s, my favorite computer until the B&W G3 came along (superb design!) was PowerComputing’s PowerBase. Really filled the niche. Probably contributed to Apple’s accelerated development of the new highly configurable B&W towers.
My guess is that once Apple bottles up the OCC project in court, they’ll just sell the hardware, and let end users hack the OS on. This could just be a marketing ploy — nothing like a bunch of free advertising exposure from the controversy to launch a product! I’d love to see what their design looks like on the inside.
They have a turtle right problem with this. There will be no way they can legally obtain the new ARM SoCs as the Macs move onto them in the next 18 months. All purchasers wil be stuck with old versions of MacOS and Apple will stop supporting that soon enough.
But at least such users will be able to continue running the software they already have, instead of constantly having their purchases break for one reason or another.
Lawsuit coming in 3….2….1….
I really wish Apple made something like this. Many of us would love a computer that could take a video card upgrade, but without the Xeon price tag.
this is why apple changes cpu
Well that was quick! The OCC website has an announcement (https://opencore.computer).
“We have taken on board community views and criticism of our ‘Hackintosh’ business model. We offer an unreserved apology to all; especially the Acidanthera OpenCore bootloader team. We chose their bootloader as we found it to be the simplest and most effective option. It was short-sighted of us to have branded our products the way that we did.
We are currently changing the site content and domain, and will be offering the hardware described here previously which is fully compatible with all mainstream operating systems. We will NOT be including any macOS software. If customers wish to install macOS, they will be able to do so themselves. We will contribute to the Hackintosh community on a non-commercial basis.
We have NOT accepted payment for any computers. Our new business model will not require Bitcoin payments and will instead feature a mainstream payment processor option.
Thank you for your indulgence and understanding.”
This is the correct way. Now Apple will sue Acidanthera, or call in SWAT teams or something.
Apple has reversed it’s decision to be more open and more welcoming to the Apple community by adding more crap to the OS. People need to stand up and revolt.
at $2100 you can just buy a MAC, parallels and a Legal version of windows 10 and have money left to buy some programs….