Running every Intel-based macOS (Mac OS X Tiger 10.4 through macOS Sonoma 14) on the same Hackintosh (HP ProDesk 400 G1 - Haswell)

For more details about this project and the full guide, please visit my GitHub repo: https://github.com/HJebbour/HP-ProDesk-400-G1-Hackintosh-every-macOS

I was inspired to create this project when I prepared macOS installers (from Mac OS X Tiger 10.4 to macOS Sonoma 14) in an external hard drive and wanted to test these installers to see if they worked properly. I tried recent versions of macOS on my daily hackintosh HP Z640, but it only supports OS X El Capitan 10.11 and above. I had an older machine (Core 2 Quad Kentsfield) but only managed to get as far as OS X Mountain Lion. I still wanted to test old Mac OS X (Tiger-Lion), and then I found this repo about running all Intel-based macOS releases on a single computer, it motivated me to do the same thing because I thought of another computer I have, HP ProDesk 400 G1 (Haswell). From here on the real fun starts, I needed to build a hackintosh capable of running all Intel-based macOS versions from Mac OS X Tiger 10.4.10 to macOS Sonoma 14.5 with ONE EFI folder allowing all Intel versions of macOS to be run on the same computer.

This hackintosh is one of the most powerful Mac OS X Tiger computers, since version 10.4.4 was released in 2006 (initial Intel release) way before this hardware (2013). I've noticed that Mac OS X versions 10.6 and earlier are very snappy and responsive, and I miss the feel of the old Mac OS X and the Aqua theme.

Features -Same hardware configuration: No need to swap GPU cards or Ethernet cards. - Same BIOS configuration: No need to change BIOS configuration to run a specific macOS version. - Same connectors: No need to switch video output, LAN, USB to run a specific macOS version. - Same bootloader: No need to use different bootloader like Chameleon or Clover for older macOS versions. OpenCore covers all Intel macOS releases. - Same config.plist: No need to have multiple config.plist to run specific macOS versions.

Hardware - Processor: Intel Core i7-4770 (3.40 GHz) - Graphic Card: NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 1536 MB (G80) - Storage: 2TB SATA SSD, 128GB SATA SSD, and 32GB USB flash drive - Memory: 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 - Ethernet: Realtek RTL8151GH-CG - Audio: Realtek ALC221 - Bluetooth: CSR8510 A10 4.0 - BIOS: 2.56 Rev.A (30/04/2019)

Video: - Booting Tiger and Sonoma: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSjW0jXXZ6w - Booting every Intel-based macOS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahVEb-pAtow

Everything is working under every Intel-based macOS, you can find more details here.

This project took me exactly one month, between searching for the perfect GPU, testing on candidate computers (Kenstfield & Haswell-E), and fine-tuning the designated computer (Haswell). I built this project just to have fun and take on a new challenge in the hackintosh world. I was lucky enough to have the right hardware for this project (except for the graphics card, which I had to buy). I wouldn't recommend this project to those who have no patience and can't afford to damage anything, in fact, I damaged my oldest Hackintosh (from the Leopard era) while installing a GPU and Bluetooth functionality on my T919 from my daily Hackintosh HP Z640.

Finally, when I finished this project and succeeded, I was very happy with the result and I don't regret the damage I did, nor the time I spent on it.