With the Alder Lake generation, Intel has changed its processors in a fundamental way, introducing the concept of asymmetric cores. Well known in the ARM world, its principle is to have more efficient cores and others more economical, to offer good performance without consuming too much.
Alder Lake: Intel traces its path to catch up with Apple (1/2)
Alder Lake: Intel traces its path to catch up with Apple (2/2)
This change implies numerous adaptations on the software side and in particular at the level of the operating system. Intel has worked with Microsoft to improve this in Windows 11, but nothing should be expected from Apple for macOS as Macs have ditched Intel-designed processors. This could worry hackintosh enthusiasts, these PCs on which we install macOS, but good news: OpenCore has started its support for Alder Lake CPUs.
It’s a start and there are still a few limitations and bugs to be taken into account. In addition, the developers of OpenCore have tested only one ASUS motherboard and there could be incompatibilities with other models. Either way, macOS can run smoothly, although you shouldn’t expect performance as good as it does under Windows right now. The problem stems from the management of cores at different speeds, there are obviously optimizations to be done.
Although it is now possible to install macOS on a PC with Alder Lake, it is safer for now to stick to previous generations to achieve a more stable hackintosh.
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