Is hackintoshing illegal?

Now, before you go all crazy and close the question, is hackintoshing illegal?

Thanks to all those who don't close the question!

illegal mac hackintosh

asked Feb 25 at 16:32

Robert Longo
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edited Feb 25 at 17:47

Fogarty ♦♦
11.7k●12●27●38

I assume this is in relation to my closing of the Mac Pro vs Hackintosh question?

(Feb 25 at 16:51) Tim Fontana

7 Answers:

oldest newest most voted

It is a violation of the Apple's EULA (End User License Agreement). It is not criminally illegal, however they can sue you if they so desire for misusing their software. This would be a civil suit and they would have to convince a jury, or a judge, that you did something wrong via a preponderance of the evidence.

They have never sued an individual for this but if you start putting their software onto non-licensed hardware and selling it, they can and will take legal action against you to shut you down (See Psystar as an example).

answered Feb 25 at 16:43

Zbob750
2.6k●6●13●38

Thanks for your help!

(Feb 25 at 16:44) Robert Longo

Read Are Hackintosh Computers Legal? and The Ethics Behind the Hackintosh Computer (And Other Things), two articles published on LockerGnome.com last year, and both approaching different sides of the issue.

answered Feb 25 at 17:43

Harold
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Thanks, Harold! I was just going to point to those.

(Feb 25 at 17:44) Fogarty ♦♦

It's as illegal as Jailbreaking. Jailbreaking should, technically be illegal since it violates Apple's EULA, but the DMCA made an exception for jailbreaking phones that went into action October 28, 2012. Hackintoshing is the same way, as it violates the EULA, but since there is currently no execption for Hackintoshes, It is technically illegal. But, as stated by previous users, Apple has never sued an individual over this. Basically saying, Its not illegal unless Apple decides to take action. Hope this helped. :)

answered Feb 26 at 00:35

swagmanT
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It's contractual. In order to install the software you have to accept the license agreement. It is essentially a breach of contract and therefor illegal. If you install it on anything other than a certified Mac computer, you have entered into an agreement that you had no intention of keeping. There are many reasons why they might not go after an end user but it's still risky.

answered Feb 25 at 17:29

ClosetFuturist
1.7k●6●14●27

edited Feb 25 at 22:46

In the following sentence, you have a grammatical mistake:
"In order to install the software you have to except the license agreement."

In this case, you would use the word accept instead of except. If I just edited your answer, you wouldn't learn anything, so I hope that you take note of this for the future.

(Feb 25 at 17:59) catchatyou

LOL! In this context is not exactly an error.

I didn't mean to do that though. Thanks for pointing it out. My nose is now booger free. :)

(Feb 25 at 22:46) ClosetFuturist

@catchatyou You forgot to take your meds again didn't you?

(Feb 26 at 00:41) Drmgiver

The mistake was there I just fixed it.

(Feb 26 at 02:13) ClosetFuturist

0	All I know is that OS X installed on non Apple branded Hardware is illegal answered Feb 25 at 22:21 Juancastim135 400●29●37●43

0	It technically is, but I view it as more unethical than illegal. answered Feb 25 at 23:44 jjb0894 721●5●13●25

0	It is not criminally illegal, however it is in a civil court. answered Feb 26 at 00:42 Drmgiver 1.2k●2●5●22

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