Before coming to a conclusion about which one is the best, we should first know about both the terms – Hackintosh and Macintosh.

Macintosh

Macintosh or Mac is a specially designed operating system for Apple. Unlike other operating systems that you can install on any computer, Macintosh is for Apple computers and laptops. Apple invented Macintosh in January 1984. Apple also launched its operating system for personal computers.

Hackintosh

A Hackintosh is a system that is running an Apple Macintosh operating system or macOS or OX S. Hackers became successful in hacking the Apple Macintosh and named it Hackintosh. This Hackintosh system allows all devices to install this system. Now, you can install this Apple operating system on other companies’ devices.

Mac and Hackintosh are both among the most famous operating systems right now. But they are very different in terms of features, apps, and also the interface. Which one is better among these is a very tough question.

Macintosh Overview

The first thing you notice when opening a Mac operating system is how minimal the design is. Most of the things are hidden and are very small. The bar on the top is tiny, and it is common for all applications. If you maximize any window, it will go for a complete full screen and will hide the top bar.

This design is pretty cool, but this minimal design can be a bit problematic as well. You don’t have the option to increase the volume at the top of the bar. You have to enable it manually by going into the settings menu. By the way, there are lots of shortcuts. You have three different shortcuts for taking three different types of screenshots.

Hackintosh Overview

Hackintosh is quite different, and it is definitely not a minimal design. When you click on the start button, it will show you everything at once; it will show all the programs, the Microsoft features, the power menu, and many more things. For example, the task manager has a lot more options for windows, and you also have a lot of variety of inbuilt applications.

But all of this can get really messy as well. We have the control panel and the settings together, and some of the options overlap between these. There are also two inbuilt systems, Microsoft Edge and the old-age Internet Explorer. These are the things that we all have gotten used to, but they can be problematic for new users.

Difference in Features

Both of the operating systems have different kinds of features that you won’t find in the other one. For example, we have windows snapping on Hackintosh; you can snap a window to the corner or snap it to the top to make it full screen, and you have the text dragging feature. You can drag text from one window and can drag it to the desktop.

They work differently like for installing on Mac, you can just copy the application to the application folder on Mac. However, on Hackintosh, you’ll have a window that you will have to use to go through a process to complete the installation. But most features are similar, and you will find all the basic functionality on both of these operating systems.

Gaming

Gaming is where it gets a little interesting. If you keep the hardware aside and compare only the software and the gaming performance, Hackintosh really comes out on top. It has a lot more games that are not compatible with Mac; it is clear Mac is not suitable for gaming. But there are some other things which Mac is good at. For example, the audio production on Mac is a bit better, and that is because of the low amount of DPC latency spikes.

Apps Compatibility

If you want to build apps for the iPhone, you will always have to use a Mac. On Windows, you will have to make a virtual environment using some applications, and it is not definitely that straightforward. If you don’t understand this, it doesn’t matter; all you have to understand is that if you want to do programming, then Mac is a slightly better option. Mac and Hackintosh have a lot of exclusive options; for example, Final Cut Pro is only available on Mac, alongside apps such as Logic Pro and GarageBand.

I’m using Mac OS, and my reason for using it is Final Cut Pro. You can install it on other laptops as well, but it can be a little tough; these are the things that are not just with Hackintosh but also with all other Mac systems. Most Apple phones or iPads sync nicely with macOS, but you have to install drivers for everything else. For example, my Android mobile does not connect directly to other devices. Additionally, drives formatted with NTFS do not work with Mac, so you will have to reformat all your hard drives to ExFAT or FAT32 if you are using Mac.

Mac is just made for Apple devices, so when it is installed on devices other than Apple in the form of Hackintosh, it causes compatibility issues. Hence, you should first confirm if your PC is compatible with Hackintosh or not. If you have an Intel Core processor, then it is likely to be compatible. The compatibility of a motherboard is also essential for power management. It should be compatible with the graphics card used for editing.

Conclusion

If you need some kind of specific software, then you can choose either Mac or Hackintosh according to the software. For gaming, it would definitely be Hackintosh because its performance is a lot better. However, Mac is the choice for programming or audio production because of its fewer compatibility issues. For productivity, you have to ensure that you use a problem-free system. In such a situation, Mac is a better option than the Hackintosh, which can pose compatibility issues at any time.