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Single-board Hackintosh: Hackers load MacOS 10.14 Mojave onto LattePanda Alpha

Image via ETA Prime (YouTube)
Image via ETA Prime (YouTube)
Hardware tinkerers ETA Prime and Novaspirit Tech have managed to load macOS 10.14 Mojave on the LattePanda Alpha, a powerful single-board computer. While there are several bugs ranging from non-working audio to broken WiFi, this is currently one of, if not the, smallest Hackintosh-capable system currently available.

The single-board computer (SBC) world was set on fire with the introduction of the Raspberry Pi 6 years ago. One of the latest (and most powerful) SBCs is the LattePanda Alpha, a compact device packed with some serious hardware. The 4.3” x 3.1” x 0.5” SBC sports an Intel Core m3-7Y30 CPU, 8 GB of RAM, an optional 64 GB of eMMC storage, and plenty of ports to choose from. For an SBC, that’s some serious hardware, but it comes at a relatively steep cost: US $298. Oh, and you can load macOS 10.14 Mojave onto it.

Since the LattePanda Alpha uses a similar CPU to the base model 12-inch MacBook, most of the Hackintosh heavy lifting has been taken care of. There are a few caveats, though. For one, there seem to be some issues with getting the onboard GPU working properly, although hardware hacker Novaspirit Tech seems to have resolved this. The built-in WiFi on the LattePanda won’t work, so you’ll need either a hardline Ethernet cable or a USB WiFi adapter. Onboard audio won’t work either, so a USB sound card is needed. Lastly, macOS refuses to install on either a microSD card or the built-in eMMC storage, so you’ll need an m.2 SSD or an adapter to a standard SATA drive.

Still, this makes the LattePanda Alpha one of, if not the, smallest Hackintosh build currently available. If you’re looking for a decent, small Mac desktop and don’t mind some grunt work and solving your own IT issues, this may be a good alternative. At the very least, it makes for a fun side project.

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2018 10 > Single-board Hackintosh: Hackers load MacOS 10.14 Mojave onto LattePanda Alpha
Sam Medley, 2018-10-30 (Update: 2018-10-30)