back to article $329 for a MacBook? Well, really a 'HacBook' built on an old HP

An outfit called “Hacbook” is channeling Psystar*, offering Mac OS laptops for US$329. The laptops are actually refurbished HP EliteBooks, with a 14-inch, 1600x900 display, Sandy Bridge i5 CPU, 802.11 a/b/g/n, up to 1TB of disk and 8GB of RAM. That's a spec Apple could have sold you in about 2013. “Looks like a Mac. Feels …

  1. m0rt

    Apple will want their ball back in 3...2...1...

    1. frank ly

      It's not their ball but it does have round corners, everywhere, all over.

    2. xperroni
      Paris Hilton

      Rough awakening in 3, 2, 1...

      We're merely selling kits that users can then do whatever they want with afterwards. (...) It's optimized to run OS X, but you can install Linux or Windows on it and use it however you want - that's completely up to the user. If Apple contacts us with concerns we'll work together to solve them.

      I love how he seems to think of Apple as a sensible, reasonable entity that would totally be deterred by a convincing argumentation.

      Oh boy, new to the business world aren't we?

  2. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge
    Joke

    Is that the model for a new Apple Logo?

    @Simon Sharwood

    I could say that - you couldn't possibly comment

  3. A Non e-mouse Silver badge

    Psystar

    Wasn't the difference with Psystar that they were shipping MacOS on their machines? Whereas this outfit are just flogging a laptop that could run MacOS if you supply it yourself.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Psystar

      Wasn't the difference with Psystar that they were shipping MacOS on their machines? Whereas this outfit are just flogging a laptop that could run MacOS if you supply it yourself.

      Yup. Good as Apple's lawyers are, I don't think they'll have much grip on these guys - at most they can throw "enticement" at them, but all the Hacbook guys have to say is that you could try installing OSX on it.

      I can understand Apple's approach, though: giving a free OS becomes a costly exercise if you also have to support its use on hardware combinations you've never tested on. Microsoft seems to have solved that by mainly hiding behind forums - the fashionable way of big business of making users do support instead.

      I also like the idea that it's recycled hardware, although I tend to have reservations about such kit because of the finite life span of batteries.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Psystar

        I'm not sure that will help much.

        It doesn't matter who's right and who's wrong. With Apple's budget, their Lawyers can keep you tied up in court for ever.

        1. PhilipN Silver badge

          Re: Psystar

          It's called "inducing breach of contract".

          Or to be really nasty, tortious (economic) interference

          For which, by the way, El Reg's article would be supporting evidence, regardless of how much doe-eyed butter-wouldn't-melt naivete the manufacturers exude.

          1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

            Re: Psystar

            It's also called a very good test of Apple's rights to enforce where you can use an OS you bought.

        2. martinusher Silver badge

          Re: Psystar

          >With Apple's budget, their Lawyers can keep you tied up in court for ever.

          They've got a slightly larger legal problem to go after at the moment -- a 19 billion Euro one.

          The system sounds like a good deal; you could run OS-X on it but there's not really much point except to show that its possible because you know that Apple will figure out some way of screwing it up sometime in the future. It would be better to just put a modern Linux on it (or even -- gasp! -- Win10).

          1. Naselus

            Re: Psystar

            "you could run OS-X on it but there's not really much point "

            This tbh; I've no idea why anyone would WANT to put an Apple OS on a non-Apple device.

            It's the worst of both worlds - all the hardware restrictions, system limitations and legal complications of OS-X, with none of the convenience of having it arrive pre-installed on custom-matched high-end hardware and none of the hipster kudos of having a big shiny Apple logo on the tin.

            It's pretty simple, really. If you're going for 'good hardware, great price', ship 'em with a decent Linux distro. If you're aiming for better market penetration, ship 'em with Windows. If you're looking to get sued into bankruptcy for no benefit whatsoever, ship 'em with OS-X.

      2. TVU Silver badge

        Re: Psystar

        "Yup. Good as Apple's lawyers are, I don't think they'll have much grip on these guys - at most they can throw "enticement" at them, but all the Hacbook guys have to say is that you could try installing OSX on it".

        However, I would not be at all surprised if Apple got their lawyers to look at this case though to see if anything can be done. While Apple seem to tolerate hobbyists and lone traders making hackintoshes, they do seem to draw the line at larger businesses trying to do that.

      3. td97402

        Re: Psystar

        "I can understand Apple's approach, though: giving a free OS becomes a costly exercise if you also have to support its use on hardware combinations you've never tested on. Microsoft seems to have solved that by mainly hiding behind forums - the fashionable way of big business of making users do support instead."

        Actually, it is likely that over 95% of Windows licenses are delivered to end users via computer manufacturers. Microsoft requires the manufacturers to support the Windows installed on their computers. Only those one or two people who actually go out and by the "Full Retail", not the cheaper "System Builders", version of Windows are entitled to support from Microsoft. They don't hide behind message forums as much as they pass the buck.

        Apple has always been very helpful to me when I have called for support but they do want to know my device serial number and they only provide voice support to customers currently entitled to "Apple Care"

        I guess you get what you pay for now and then.

    2. Cuddles

      Re: Psystar

      "Wasn't the difference with Psystar that they were shipping MacOS on their machines? Whereas this outfit are just flogging a laptop that could run MacOS if you supply it yourself."

      I'm not so sure that's all they're doing. From the article:

      "The machines ship with no operating system but do include an installer... Jack Kim, one of the people behind the project, suggests you buy an OS X licence from Apple."

      It sounds as though they are supplying you with an unlicensed copy of OS X, they just make you install it yourself and "suggest" you buy a license separately.

  4. jzl

    EBay

    Actual 2013 Macbooks are available on eBay for about the same money.

    1. Trevor_Pott Gold badge

      Re: EBay

      But they don't have a real keyboard.

      1. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge

        Re: EBay

        That's what a USB (or BT connection) is for.

        I use an old Dell KB with my Macbook. Bought 2nd hand for £5 at a computer fair almost 10 years ago. Still going strong. Weighs almost as much as the Macbook (sic)

        1. Trevor_Pott Gold badge

          Re: EBay

          You want me to carry around a keyboard for my notebook.

          The fuck, what?

          1. Alan Edwards

            Re: EBay

            I'm toying with getting one of those numeric-pad-less mechanical keyboards to use with my work-supplied HP ProBook 430 when out of my home-office.

            The iMac and ProBook are at the top of my list of worst keyboards, narrowly beaten by the HP Pavilion X2 only because it's also smaller than normal.

        2. Baldy50

          Re: EBay

          You could use one of those roll up keyboards? Don't know if they are any good.

      2. jzl

        Re: EBay

        > "But they don't have a real keyboard."

        That's what I thought when I got a Macbook a few years ago. The only thing that bugged me after a week or so was the lack of forward delete.

        It still bugs me a little bit, but only a little. Aside from that, the keyboard is outstanding in terms of feel and typeability.

        1. Quando

          Re: EBay

          @jzl: Forward delete is fn + backspace

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: EBay

            Just over £20 on eBay got me a BT keyboard that folds into 3; is about the same size as the phone folded and unfolds into pretty well a full-sized KB. (Chinese crew called KKMoon makes them...I bought another type before and it self-destructed almost immediately which is why I mention the brand...I've been abusing this one for over a year and it's still going strong). I also saw a kickstarter for something similar but wafer-thin...no idea what they're like or what stage the kickstarter got to...they were around $90 a go if memory serves.

            No security, but it's very convenient (the act of unfolding connects it if you've remembered to switch bluetooth on), and it turns my phone into a very useful note-taking device.

        2. cd

          Re: EBay

          fn-Delete

        3. Jez-UK

          Re: EBay

          Use "fn" and backspace together. Your welcome :-)

    2. Dan 55 Silver badge

      Re: EBay

      Yes, but it's a 2013 MacBook Pro. Any Apple laptop after 2012 and the Retina laptops from 2012 have had the useful ports removed and everything soldered and stuck down. Propriety SSD, soldered-in RAM. Utter cock.

      I look forward to the reveal to find out how they've managed to make it worse again this year.

      1. Benchops

        Re: EBay

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHZ8ek-6ccc

    3. jeromedude

      Re: EBay

      WRONG !!!

  5. Francis Boyle Silver badge

    A bit chunky

    but I wouldn't mind putting Mint on it. (That surprisingly isn't any sort of double entendre.)

  6. TWB

    How do I buy a license from Apple?

    I thought you could no longer buy OSX except via the app store as a download and you need to have a Mac with OS X on it to start with - can anyone enlighten me? Or are they suggesting you buy something like a Snow Leopard CD secondhand then upgrading from there? I'm interested. If I did'nt have a machine already I'd consider it.

    The website lists the machine as a Mac - I strongly suspect Apple will go after them for this if nothing else. (I wonder what happens for rain coat sellers....)

    1. David Lawton

      Re: How do I buy a license from Apple?

      I'm guessing you would use a Torrent ......

    2. Charlie Clark Silver badge

      Re: How do I buy a license from Apple?

      It's definitely a grey area since Apple stopped officially charging for the OS but if you can contain a copy of the OS then, at least in Europe, you are within your rights to install it on whatever you want: the hardware restrictions in the EULA are null and void.

      Of course, Apple is also more or less within its rights to add things to the OS that break installs like this in a software "update", presumably by playing with the kernel extensions. And even if the OS still boots and runs, it's unlikely you'll get optimum power management out of it.

      You're probably better off picking up a second hand MacBook. Or wait for Apple to finally update their line up.

    3. Dan 55 Silver badge

      Re: How do I buy a license from Apple?

      The licence is the serial number of the machine they sell you, so, no, you're not going to get a licence without hardware. There was a problem when El Capitan launched, it had trouble reading motherboard serial numbers which meant you couldn't log into iCloud or the App Store.

      They should have really supplied FreeDOS or a Linux on that, not market it as a Hackintosh machine as their lawyers will go for it like a red rag to their bull. Word would have got around anyway and it'd've bubbled up to the top of a Google Search for 'best hackintosh laptop'.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: How do I buy a license from Apple?

        Well that's simply not true.

  7. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

    The cached Google page says that it "comes with the latest OS X El Capitan installed". The current version of the page says that it "ships with everything needed to start running the latest version of OS X" but "Once installed, OS X cold boots...". Maybe they've already had a call from Apple's lawyers.

    1. Dan 55 Silver badge

      If you scroll down it's also got a HP logo on the back. Perhaps it's a bet to see how many multinational corporations they can piss off.

    2. ShrNfr

      They do not have any available for shipment. This is just putting a site (that appears not to work) to collect interest and perhaps advance orders. If they get enough orders they will buy a bunch of these HP laptops from wherever and do the hackintosh trip on them.

  8. Mage Silver badge

    1600 x 900

    2013 Really? WS, less than 1920 x 1080, or better 1920 x 1200 is a decent minimum.

    I've had 1600 x 1200 since 2002. 1600 x 900 is bit lacking for text editing or reading PDFs.

    Seems like a bit of a waste of money. Also really the only valid way to have a spare Mac OS license seems to be to buy the Mac HW and break it.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: 1600 x 900

      At least it isn't 1366x768. Many HP Laptops supplied to the corporate market are still that out of the ark screen resolution.

      I know because I'm looking at a new one with Windows 10 Enterprise edition on it right now. My HP Elitebook 8770W (Full HD resolution, 17in) went belly up this morning. Go this from IT support while they try to get mine fixed.

      1. P. Lee

        Re: 1600 x 900

        1600x900 isn't that bad and ... probably a matt screen!

        That might be worth the price.

    2. cortland

      Re: 1600 x 900

      I thought 640x250 was fantastic resolution on my old (bankruptcy sale) Hyperion. Of course, I came to it from a TRS-80 Model 4P!

      http://www.sinasohn.com/cgi-bin/clascomp/bldhtm.pl?computer=dynhyp

  9. OtotheJ

    Sounds like a bargain....

    ...until a quick eBay search shows that a similarly specced EliteBook 2560p sells for sub £100.

    What more exactly are the Hacbook charlatans offering?

    1. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge

      Re: Sounds like a bargain....

      They have been infected by the HUGE% markup that seems to be common in the apple world.

    2. dajames

      Re: Sounds like a bargain....

      What more exactly are the Hacbook charlatans offering?

      “A gorgeous full-aluminium body that looks and feels extremely polished”, apparently.

      Like any used car salesman, they probably have to buff out the scratches ...

      1. OtotheJ

        Re: Sounds like a bargain....

        Yes, they've also conveniently forgotten that the 2560p weighs a ton!

    3. This post has been deleted by its author

  10. PassiveSmoking

    Apple don't seem to take the mac seriously any more. None of the range has had any significant update in years, and their last "pro" machine is unfit for use as a pro workstation. You can't even replace the GPU. That machine hasn't seen any updates at all for 3 years.

    Apple might as well just admit they don't care about the Mac anymore and just license OSX to anybody who wants to run it on generic hardware. At least we can then have modern hardware to run OSX on without having to wait for Apple to throw us a bone

    (Bitter Mac Pro 2008 owner with no upgrade path to speak of here)

    1. Dan 55 Silver badge

      Don't know why you were downvoted. After the Pro 2012 models everything went to bollocks as Jony went mad with the glue gun. They lost the DVD drive, non-replacable batteries unless you melt the glue sticking them in, and everything got soldered in so can't even upgrade your RAM. They barely classify has amateur machines, let alone pro. I'd rather have a Mac Mini or a hackintosh.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I'm not sure that you should be taken seriously anymore either. You are talking about a machine from 8 years ago. Who on earth expects that to offer anything now? You can't really upgrade the GPU (or CPU) in almost all laptops.

      If you want an upgrade path buy a desktop. End of.

      1. PassiveSmoking

        The mac pro is a desktop, you prat. In fact it's a workstation.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    A linux style macOS 'LiveCD' isn't going to happen*

    but 'macOS Live', on USB purchased,including an annual subscription for iMessages/Facetime might just be in the pipeline as a 'taster' / Live version of macOS to run on a limited set of generic PCs. (which is actually quite a large set, given the consolidation of the Intel hardware)

    A possible exclusive deal with AMD for macOS Live?

    The Apple App Store/Services revenue is getting near that tipping point for Apple, to make that idea very worthwhile. All roads lead to Apple hardware, its win-win.

    *no DVD drive on modern macs (if you didn't get it).

    1. BebopWeBop

      Re: A linux style macOS 'LiveCD' isn't going to happen*

      Well if you want one a £8 (including shipping) version is quite adequate. I use a Mac Mini as a home/base server with two cheap DVD player/recorders on it (one for region 1 and one for region 2) - less hassle than hacking aUSB DVD to be multi region.

    2. Mage Silver badge

      Re: A linux style macOS 'LiveCD' isn't going to happen*

      Because after sale they make lots from iTunes with iOS users (and 1000s times more of them) and almost nothing after a MacOS sale.

  12. Yugguy
    Headmaster

    Cross youR fingers

    Proof-read please.

  13. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

    Incoming sueball in 5-4-3-2 ....

  14. Fink-Nottle

    Semantics, but ...

    I've heard Hacintosh folk advance this dodgy argument / loophole.

    1/. The EULA states that OS X may only be installed on an "Apple-branded computer".

    2/. A computer can be Apple-branded by the addition of a decal displaying the Apple brand logo.

    3/. Profit!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Semantics, but ...

      I built a Hackintosh for a home studio a few years ago - mini-ITX motherboard, i7 processor and 32GB RAM. It absolutely flies, looks great and the hardware cost something like £400 (may have been a little more but certainly a lot less than the equivalent from Apple)

      The lovely anodised aluminium case has an apple logo that came with my iPad so it is "Apple Branded" and the OS was a download on my work Macbook Pro so no problem with app store only availability.

  15. jeromedude

    $329 not such a good deal

    This an commonly available laptop that sells on eBay for about $200.... the software to convert it to a "hackintosh" is available FREE online from a number of sources....... I guess all they are doing is selling you a cleaned up laptop and a custom installer to make the process easier for the novice....

  16. Fenton

    MacOS as alternative to Windows

    If (an unlikely scenario I know), Apple were to shrink wrap OSX (even with a tight hardware compatibility list) it would really hurt Microsoft. Given that phone/tablet integration with Microsoft is so poor compared to iOS/MacOS.

    Set MacOS free and Apple would see even more adoption of iphone/ipad at the expense of Android as well (Android integration with desktop/laptop is pretty much non existent unless you use a google apps).

  17. Mutton Jeff

    Mi Book Air

    Anyone?

    http://www.banggood.com/Xiaomi-Laptop-Intel-Core-i7-8G-DDR3-NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-760M-15_6-Inch-p-941729.html

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