The Best Hackintosh Laptops Of 2012 For Lion

HP ProBook 4530s 
Hackintosh Ability: This laptop is the only one on the list that I would recommend to someone without previous Hackintoshing experience-- when it comes to ease of installation, the ProBook 4530s is pretty much the gold standard. If you've never set up a Hackintosh before, get this laptop. It's even endorsed by tonymacx86 himself. 

HP ProBook 4430s 
Hackintosh Ability: The ProBook 4430s lives up to the Hackintosh-friendly reputation of the HP ProBook line. Compatibility-wise, the 4430s is just as good as the highly-regarded 4530s: all of the laptop's features work with little to no effort. However, like all ProBooks, the ProBook 4430s has issues with bluetooth and brightness controls, and the VGA port and external microphone don't work. 

HP ProBook 4730s 
Hackintosh Ability: The ProBook 4730s mostly works with Mac OS X Lion, but it's not nearly as Hackintosh-compatible as the 4530s. The graphics card in the 4730s (the AMD Radeon 6490M) doesn't work with Mac OS X, so you'll have to disable it in the BIOS. This isn't a huge loss, but it's inconvenient, and it definitely complicates the installation procedure. The 4730s also has problems displaying Mac OS X at the correct screen resolution, since it uses a different resolution (1600x900) than other ProBook models. 

Lenovo G470 
Hackintosh Ability: Setting up Mac OS X on the Lenovo G470 is not totally straightforward. Fortunately, the standard Unibeast installation method works. After the initial installation, all you have to do is run Multibeast once and install a few extra extra kext files. From there, almost everything will work properly: graphics, WiFi, ethernet, Bluetooth, sound, trackpad gestures, the battery meter, and even the Fn keys on the keyboard. The laptop does not automatically go to sleep when you close the lid, but you can still sleep manually (by clicking the "Sleep" button in the Apple icon menu, at the top-left of Mac OS X). The webcam also works, though it apparently suffers from brightness issues. The only parts of the laptop that don't work at all are the SD card reader and the brightness controls, neither of which is a major issue. 

Lenovo IdeaPad B570 
Hackintosh Ability: With a good amount of tweaking, you can get everything on the Lenovo B570 to work except for the card reader. WiFi, ethernet, graphics, audio, CPU power management, battery, sleep, and the trackpad all work. The webcam does not work normally, though it works with the app CamTwist (this is a common Hackintosh quirk). However, the post-installation process for the B570 isn't a one-click process; installing Mac OS X on this laptop is much more complicated than running Multibeast. The guide for the B570 (provided in the "Resources" section below) is very hard to read if you're not already very familiar with Hackintoshing, so be warned. 

Acer Aspire 5750G 
Hackintosh Ability: The Aspire 5750G has a smaller support community than the HP ProBook, but it still works pretty well with Mac OS X. The biggest problem with Hackintoshing this laptop is that there isn't any comprehensive, up-to-date guide about it. A lot of people have been able to get the 5750G running with full OS X compatibility, but the necessary information is spread throughout the 30+ page installation thread on tonymacx86. 

ASUS G53JW - A1 
Hackintosh Ability:  If you're looking for a high-end Hackintosh laptop, the ASUS G53Jw isn't a bad choice, as long as you're willing to spend some time on the installation. Be sure to get the A1 model of the G53Jw if you can-- this is the best supported model. There's a guide for installing Mac OS X on the G53Jw, but it's not a simple installation process, so you'll need some previous Hackintosh experience to pull off this install. 

ASUS G73Sw 
Hackintosh Ability: Unfortunately, there isn't a comprehensive guide to setting up Mac OS X on the G73Sw, so you'll need a lot of previous Hackintosh experience to pull off the installation. Once you finish the post-installation, most of the things work: graphics, WiFi, audio, sleep, bluetooth, and the trackpad. The keyboard backlights should work as well, though the results differ from person to person. However, like the G53Jw, the Fn keys and microphone on the G73Sw don't work. The SD card reader built into the laptop hasn't been confirmed to work, either. There is a DSDT patch available for the laptop on Olarila (how to patch a DSDT).

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Milan Tomic

Hi. I’m Designer of Blog Magic. I’m CEO/Founder of ThemeXpose. I’m Creative Art Director, Web Designer, UI/UX Designer, Interaction Designer, Industrial Designer, Web Developer, Business Enthusiast, StartUp Enthusiast, Speaker, Writer and Photographer. Inspired to make things looks better.

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