The Difference Between Unibeast, myHack, and Kakewalk

LAST UPDATED: December 22, 2012

Unibeast is by far the most popular installation software for Hackintoshes, but alternatives like myHack and Kakewalk have their own followings, respectively. However, it is not completely clear what the difference between these three tools is. Forums that support myHack and Kakewalk specifically avoid talking about Unibeast, while forums that support Unibeast specifically avoid talking about myHack and Kakewalk.

To answer this question once and for all, I've put together a comparison of these three pieces of Hackintosh software. For each app, I summarize its feature set, and then compare its capabilities to the other two apps. The results may surprise you.

Install Mac OS X Lion on an Ivy Bridge Hackintosh

Intel recently released Ivy Bridge, the successor to their Sandy Bridge line of processors. There aren't any Macs that use Ivy Bridge processors yet, which means that Mac OS X doesn't natively support the chipset. However, you can still install Mac OS X on a PC using an Ivy Bridge processor, by using the tool Bridge Helper (along with some hackwork in the Terminal).

How Much Money Will A Hackintosh Save You?

It’s well-known that Macs have an extremely high price tag, which is why low cost is one of the biggest advantages to building a Hackintosh. However, it’s not always clear exactly how much money a Hackintosh will save you, compared to buying a real Mac. To answer this question once and for all, I’ve assembled a price analysis to compare the price of a real Mac to the price of a Hackintosh.

Enable Intel HD 2000 graphics on your Hackintosh (experimental)

If you have a Hackintosh running Mac OS X Lion, it's pretty easy to enable the HD 3000 graphics built into Intel processors. However, Mac OS X Lion doesn't natively support Intel's HD 2000 graphics, so Hackintoshes with HD 2000 have been out of luck-- until now. Thanks to recent developments, it is now possible to enable HD 2000 graphics on Hackintoshes running Mac OS X Lion, by replacing several default graphics kexts with modified versions and installing a modified version of Chameleon bootloader.

Hackintosh SSDs: All You Need to Know

One of the easiest ways to speed up your Hackintosh is to install Mac OS X on a SSD. Using a SSD will make a Hackintosh boot faster, apps start faster, and files copy faster. In case you don't know, a SSD is a "solid state drive", which is essentially a speedier version of your normal computer hard drive. SSDs don't use any moving parts, so they're much smaller, longer-lasting, and faster than traditional hard drives, but they're also much more expensive. Interested in using a SSD for your Hackintosh? Read on.

The Easy Guide to Installing Lion with Kakewalk

If you want to install Mac OS X Lion on your PC, Kakewalk makes the process incredibly easy. When you normally set up a "Hackintosh", you have to do a lot of extra work to enable things like sound, ethernet, sleep, and even the ability to boot from the hard drive. Kakewalk does all of this for you, by installing the appropriate kexts and configuration files for your Hackintosh beforehand. This way, after your initial installation, you can immediately boot into a fully-functional copy of Mac OS X Lion. Everything works out of the box!

Speed up your Hackintosh's boot time by changing the boot priority

If your Hackintosh is taking 10-20 seconds to get past the "Loading Operating System" screen every time it boots, there's an easy solution to your problem: adjust your boot priority. Hackintoshes have to use AHCI mode for their BIOS, but AHCI mode wastes a lot of time searching for extra boot devices, like DVDs or USB drives. If you're just trying to boot from your Hackintosh's hard disk, setting the hard disk at the top boot priority can speed up your boot time noticeably.

The Best WiFi Adapters For Your Hackintosh

If you want to connect your Hackintosh to the internet via WiFi, you'll have to install a wireless adapter (also known as a WiFi card). However, finding the right wireless adapter for your Hackintosh can be tricky, since Mac OS X only supports an extremely limited number of wireless chipsets. Instead, to save you a lot of time, we've compiled a short list of the most Hackintosh-compatible wireless adapters on the market.

Fix screen artifacts on your Hackintosh

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Any Hackintosh with Intel HD 3000 integrated graphics can get full graphics support in a relatively easy process, but these HD 3000 graphics are known to cause occasional freezing and screen artifacts in OS X. Luckily, these graphics issues seem to be fixed by the newest release of FakeSMC 4.2.

Lion legacy kernel finally released!

A legacy kernel for Mac OS X Lion was recently released on OSx86.net, allowing AMD Hackintoshes to run Lion for the first time. The kernel is currently in beta, but any brave souls who wish to install Lion on their AMD Hackintosh should feel free to try it out (just be sure to make a backup beforehand).