Commercial Hackintosh Gone Before the Lawyers Can Stop Drooling

Several years ago, computer manufacturer Psystar became (in)famous for being guilty of copyright infringement against Apple. Their sin was in building and selling unauthorized Mac OS X-compatible PCs. Basically, they were selling Hackintosh computers. On June 13, we learned that another company, OpenCore Computer, was following in those footsteps. It didn’t take long for that commercial Hackintosh company to encounter Psystar’s fate, though.

Commercial Hackintosh Computers Just Won’t Survive

I’m a big fan of the Hackintosh movement, as many seasoned readers already know. However, I’m bright enough to realize that a commercial enterprise built around the hobby simply won’t survive.

Psystar had its day in court, and the US District Court for the Northern District of California gave the company until December 31, 2009 to stop selling Hackintosh PCs. Psystar appealed that decision, but lost and the company eventually faded into the woodwork.

Commercial Hackintosh versus Apple, Round Two

A new company, OpenCore Computer, launched a commercial Hackintosh computer in early June 2020. The company, which has no affiliation with the OpenCore Bootloader, called its entry into the market the Velociraptor.

OpenCore Computer said that it hoped to make Mac Pro-like workstations more affordable and accessible. The Velociraptor was to come with both macOS Catalina and Windows 10 pre-installed.

Perhaps in an effort to bypass Apple’s End User License Agreement (EULA), OpenCore Computer was only accepting payment using the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. To prove it wasn’t trying to scam people, OpenCore Computer offered buyers the option to use Bitrated, an escrow provider for Bitcoin.

Gone in Less Than a Month

Interestingly, it didn’t take long for OpenCore Computer to fold. The web page for the company is no longer available. The server’s IP address simply cannot be found.

Google searches for OpenCore Computer only get you the numerous news articles about the company, and pages for the OpenCore Bootloader, which is in no way affiliated with the would-be commercial Hackintosh manufacturer.

Then again, with Cupertino moving away from Intel processors in favor of its own Apple Silicon, would OpenCore Computers have lasted long, anyways?