EFi-X USA among latest to sell OS X capable machines
Update: The EFi-X development team contacted Engadget to report that they have nothing to do with "EFi-X USA" and they do not approve of this effort to sell Mac OS X-compatible machines. Classy!
Update #2 (6 p.m. ET): EFi-X has let Engadget know that it is shutting down EFi-X USA's plans to sell the Millennium machine, stating it refuses to support systems that would directly compete with any brand.
Engadget has reported that EFi-X USA is among the latest companies to announce that they will sell OS X capable machines targeted at high-end users. EFi-X is already known for selling a dongle, shown at right, t
hat allows certain Intel machines to run OS X.
According to the Engadget post, the EFi-X Millennium 4 will contain the following:
This announcement comes days after Argentina-based OpeniMac announced that it would begin selling Mac clones. Of course, there is still that small case with Psystar still going on.
[Via Engadget]
Update #2 (6 p.m. ET): EFi-X has let Engadget know that it is shutting down EFi-X USA's plans to sell the Millennium machine, stating it refuses to support systems that would directly compete with any brand.
Engadget has reported that EFi-X USA is among the latest companies to announce that they will sell OS X capable machines targeted at high-end users. EFi-X is already known for selling a dongle, shown at right, t
hat allows certain Intel machines to run OS X.According to the Engadget post, the EFi-X Millennium 4 will contain the following:
- An overclocked 3.8GHz Core 2 Quad
- 4GB of RAM
- A GeForce 8800 GTS graphics card in an Antec P180 case
- The dongle that fools your machine into installing OS X
This announcement comes days after Argentina-based OpeniMac announced that it would begin selling Mac clones. Of course, there is still that small case with Psystar still going on.
[Via Engadget]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jash Sayani said 1:47PM on 12-12-2008
What does EFi-X do exactly....? I guess it just installs the OS X patched distros and installs appropriate kexts...
Or does it do anything else...?
Reply
Digaos said 2:03PM on 12-12-2008
From their website:
- Install and select your favourite, genuine operating system.
- Update your original operating system with official software updates.
So it looks like you can just put a OS X install DVD and have fun withou patching it...
Pacha said 2:07PM on 12-12-2008
EFiX is a USB dongle that promises to take care of all of that for you, automagically on any PC. Pop it into the port and you can install OS X straight from the DVD "without having to worry about patches, replacing files and anything like that"
Digaos said 2:35PM on 12-12-2008
Not any PC. There is a hardware compatibility list.
There is a very interesting interview with the creator on Tom's Hardware website: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/efi-x-efix-leopard-usb,2021.html
He's a mac user since 94 and apparently is not a big Windows fan.
Jesse said 1:55PM on 12-12-2008
Seems everybody is hopping on this bandwagon. Microsoft might as well too...
Reply
Ben said 2:16PM on 12-12-2008
But can't companies just sell computers which are OSX-Capable but don't have any OS pre-installed and just give the costumers a DVD for auto-installing or a DVD that comes which very detailed instructions for installing this on the computer?
That might be more of a problem for Apple to sue on, won't it?
Reply
balls said 2:32PM on 12-12-2008
Except if they can prove that EFIX circumvents Apple's protections on OSX, which then they can claim that EFIX violates the DMCA.
meatwad said 5:09PM on 12-12-2008
why bother posting an update without revising the text to remove the impied association between EFi-X and Efi-X USA. there really is a lot of sloppy editing on this site anymore with the lazy article revisions and inaccurate and misleading headlines.
Reply
liquidmark said 9:42PM on 12-12-2008
http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/12/efi-x-shuts-down-efi-x-usa-says-it-doesnt-support-mac-clones/
Reply
Megan Lavey said 6:07PM on 12-12-2008
Thanks for the tip! The post has been updated.
J said 2:17PM on 12-13-2008
With the kit and dongle coming up to $2100 why not just suck it up and buy an Apple?
Reply
ZeroCorpse said 4:44PM on 12-13-2008
I don't get all this "run OS X on a PC box of random parts" desire. Why would you want to do that? I mean, yeah, you might save $200 at first, but then when you need to do an Update, your hardware might just flake out, and then you have to spend the cash on hardware that doesn't freak out with each new Update.
On top of that, with the "random box of crap" method, you don't get AppleCare, nor do you get 100% compatibility for third-party software unless you use all the same hardware as a Mac... And if you price out the exact same hardware + software you'll probably end up close to the Mac price anyway.
Finally, half the reason to buy a Mac is the slick hardware. Slot-loading Superdrive on a laptop? Only on a Mac. All the PC laptops use trays. Cool chiclit keyboard? Only a Mac. Command/Apple key? Only on a Mac. Excellent design, cool gesture-capable trackpad, MagSafe adapter, easy upgrade of hard drive and RAM, well-designed port layout, General Mac durability and quality... All those things are part of the price.
Macs aren't just a random box of crap parts from Taiwan. Yes, they're built with a lot of the same hardware, but they're built in a certain way, with a certain engineering standard, and SPECIFIC parts that make them a uniform standard so that OS X doesn't have to support a bajillion different manufacturers. Where Dell just makes the lowest-cost parts fit into a case and sorts out any issues in software, Apple makes the parts work together well in the first place and then gives you a top-notch OS to bring it all together.
I wouldn't trade my MacBook for any Dell, Acer, or HP laptop. No way. They SQUEAK when you hold them! My MacBook is a solid, amazing piece of tech, and I got exactly what I paid for when I paid the "Apple tax" of around $100 over the price of a PC with comparable specs.
It's a waste to run OS X on a hunk of Dell junk.
Reply