How to install Mac OS X Snow Leopard on an Ivy Bridge Hackintosh (experimental)

Earlier this year, Intel released Ivy Bridge, its newest generation of computer processors. As a result, a majority of new Hackintosh builds now use Ivy Bridge. However, while Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5 and all versions of OS X Mountain Lion support Ivy Bridge natively, Mac OS X Snow Leopard does not. This is a major problem, since Snow Leopard is the only modern version of Mac OS X that can be installed on PCs without the help of a real Mac, existing Hackintosh, or Mac OS X virtual machine. Luckily, it turns out that there is still a way to install Snow Leopard on Ivy Bridge after all-- with the help of iBoot Ivy Bridge.

Quick Tip: Sound not working on your Hackintosh? Just buy a USB audio adapter.

Getting sound to work on your Hackintosh isn't always as easy as running Multibeast once or twice. Instead, some computer motherboards have "nonstandard" audio codecs, which don't work with the normal Realtek audio drivers included with Multibeast. In this case, your only option may to be to install VoodooHDA, the notoriously unreliable Hackintosh sound driver known for its poor sound quality (and tendency to cause kernel panics). If you don't want to use VoodooHDA, or you're simply having problems with your Hackintosh's audio in general, you might want to buy a USB audio adapter instead.

UPDATE: ASUS WL-138g V2 added to our list of Hackintosh wifi adapters

We recently updated our list of Hackintosh-compatible WiFi adapters to include the ASUS WL-138g V2. Though the WL-138g V2 is no longer available from most major retailers, it qualifies for the list because it still works out of the box with all recent versions of OS X. This addition increases the count of our list of WiFi adapters to four. If you have any more suggestions for WiFi adapters that work out of the box in Hackintoshes, please email us at info@macbreaker.com, or leave a comment on any relevant article on our website.

How to enable AirPlay Mirroring on a Hackintosh

AirPlay Mirroring is a useful feature in OS X Mountain Lion that allows you to "mirror" the display of your Mac onto your Apple TV. Unfortunately, AirPlay Mirroring rarely works with Hackintoshes by default. If you're encountering problems with AirPlay mirroring on your Hackintosh with OS X Mountain Lion, try these steps.

The Best Hackintosh Laptops of 2012 - For Mountain Lion

It's very difficult to find a laptop that can easily be turned into Hackintosh. As mentioned in our Hackintosh compatibility guide, most laptops aren't good Hackintoshes, because the compact design of laptops makes it very difficult to replace non-compatible parts.

With this in mind, I've compiled a list of Hackintosh-compatible laptops, all of which can run OS X Mountain Lion without the need to replace any hardware. As expected, many of the laptops on this list were also on our previous list for Mac OS X Lion-- after all, the hardware requirements between Lion and Mountain Lion are relatively similar. Most of the guides provided below are from tonymacx86, and have files attached to them. To view and download attached files on tonymacx86, you have to register an account on the website.

The Best Hackintosh Bluetooth Adapters

LATEST UPDATE (January 13, 2013): Added IOGEAR GBU521 to the list.

All Macs have built-in Bluetooth, so setting up Apple wireless accessories on a Mac is always a quick and simple process. However, if you want to use an Magic Mouse, Wireless Keyboard, or Magic Trackpad with your Hackintosh, you'll have to buy a third-party Bluetooth adapter. This article is here to help!

The Best Mini-ITX Hackintosh Motherboards

Hackintoshes are often stereotyped as big, lumbering workstations with full-size ATX boards and 40-pound computer cases. In reality, there are quite a few Hackintosh builds based around mini-ITX motherboards, which are smaller alternatives to more standard micro-ATX and ATX motherboards. Though we might never be able assemble a computer as small as Apple's super-tiny Mac Mini, it's still easy to assemble a respectably size-conscious Hackintosh for your personal use. So in the interest of saving you time, I've put together a list of Hackintosh-friendly mini-ITX motherboards, all of which can run OS X Mountain Lion with Unibeast.

How to use Multibeast 5: a comprehensive guide for Mountain Lion

LATEST UPDATE (October 27, 2013): Updated guide to reflect Multibeast 5.5 updates.

Recently, tonymacx86 released Multibeast 5, a version of Multibeast customized specifically for OS X Mountain Lion, Apple's newest version of Mac OS X. The layout of Multibeast has been revamped, and many incompatible and outdated options have been removed. Even so, opening Multibeast can be an intimidating experience for anybody new to Hackintoshes. This guide is here to help. 

How to install OS X Mountain Lion on a MBR partition with Unibeast

When you install Windows on a hard drive, it automatically sets the partition scheme of your hard disk to MBR (Master Boot Record). Mac OS X doesn't support this partition scheme, but you can still install OS X Mountain Lion on a hard disk with the MBR partition scheme by modifying "OSInstall.mpkg" and "OSInstall", two installation files inside your Unibeast USB drive. This means that you can install Mac OS X on a hard drive that already has Windows installed.

How to set up the UEFI of your Hackintosh's Gigabyte motherboard

In their newest series of motherboards, Gigabyte has replaced the traditional motherboard BIOS with UEFI, a newer (and better-looking) interface for managing motherboard settings. The layout of the UEFI on Gigabyte motherboards is different from the old BIOS layout, and there are a few new settings that need to be changed to work optimally with Mac OS X. Rather than adding yet another section to our standard OS X installation guides, we've put together a separate guide to cover the UEFI setup process.