Macintosh clone

A Macintosh clone is a computer running the Classic Mac OS operating system that was not produced by Apple Inc. The earliest Mac clones were based on emulators and reverse-engineered Macintosh ROMs. During Apple's short-lived Mac OS 7 licensing program, authorized Mac clone makers were able to either purchase 100% compatible motherboards or build their own hardware using licensed Mac reference designs.

During Apple's switch to the Intel platform, many non-Apple Wintel/PC computers were technologically so similar to Mac computers that they were able to boot the Mac operating system using various combinations of community-developed patches and hacks. Such a Wintel/PC computer running macOS is more commonly referred to as a Hackintosh. Apple's transition to Apple silicon means that making Mac clones is considerably harder.

The Apple II and IBM PC computer lines were "cloned" by other manufacturers who had reverse-engineered the minimal amount of firmware in the computers' ROM chips and subsequently legally produced computers that could run the same software.^[1] These clones were seen by Apple as a threat, as Apple II sales had presumably suffered from the competition provided by Franklin Computer Corporation and other clone manufacturers,^[1] both legal and illegal. At IBM, the threat proved to be real: most of the market eventually went to clone-makers, including Compaq, Leading Edge, Tandy, Kaypro, Packard Bell, Amstrad in Europe, and dozens of smaller companies, and in short order IBM found it had lost control over its own platform.

Apple eventually licensed the Apple II ROMs to other companies, primarily to educational toy manufacturer Tiger Electronics in order to produce an inexpensive laptop with educational games and the AppleWorks software suite: the Tiger Learning Computer (TLC). The TLC lacked a built-in display.^[2] Its lid acted as a holster for the cartridges that stored the bundled software, as it had no floppy drive.^[2]

As of 1989, the only legal Macintosh clone was an Atari ST with Mac ROMs.^[3] The ST can emulate a Mac by adding the third-party Magic Sac emulator, released in 1985, and, later, the Spectre, Spectre GCR, and Aladin emulators. The first three of those emulators requires that the user obtain a set of Mac ROMs sold as system upgrades to Macintosh users. Later, multiple emulators were released for the Amiga.^[4]

Starting with the sales of the Power Macintosh line in 1994, a CPU emulator to run 68000 applications was built into the Mac OS. By the time 68060 processors were available, PowerPC Macs became so powerful that they ran 68000 applications faster than any 68000-based computer, including any Amiga, Atari ST, and X68000.

Connectix also released another 68k emulator for Macs, replacing the original, called Speed Doubler, supposedly reported to be even faster than Apple's. As the years went by, the emulator was not updated to work with later versions of the original Mac OS, however, supposedly because Apple's own 68k emulator eventually surpassed it in performance, and the OS itself relied further on native PowerPC code with each new Mac OS update.

There was also a software emulator for x86 platforms running DOS/Windows and Linux called Executor, from ARDI. ARDI reverse-engineered the Mac ROM and built a 68000 CPU emulator, enabling Executor to run most (but not all) Mac software, from System 5 to System 7, with good speed. The migration from 68000 to PowerPC, and the added difficulties of emulating a PowerPC on x86 platforms, made targeting the later Mac OS versions impractical.

Wary of repeating history and wanting to retain tight control of its product, Apple's Macintosh strategy included technical and legal measures that rendered production of Mac clones problematic. The original Macintosh system software contained a very large amount of complex code, which embodied the Mac's entire set of APIs, including the use of the GUI and file system. Through the 1980s and into the 1990s, much of the system software was included in the Macintosh's physical ROM chips. Therefore, any competitor attempting to create a Macintosh clone without infringing copyright would have to reverse-engineer the ROMs, which would have been an enormous and costly process without certainty of success. Only one company, Nutek, managed to produce "semi-Mac-compatible" computers in the early 1990s by partially re-implementing System 7 ROMs.^[5]

This strategy, making the development of competitive Mac clones prohibitively expensive, successfully shut out manufacturers looking to create computers that would directly compete with Apple's product lines. However, companies like Outbound Systems, Dynamac and Colby Systems, were able to sidestep the Mac cloning process by targeting high-end, high-profit market segments without suitable product offerings from Apple and offering Mac conversions instead.^[6][7][8]

In the early 1980s, Brazil's military dictatorship instituted trade restrictions that prohibited the importation of computers from overseas manufacturers, and these restrictions were not lifted until 1993. A Brazilian company called Unitron (which had previously produced Apple II clones) developed a Macintosh clone with specifications similar to the Mac 512K, and proposed to put it on sale. Although Unitron claimed to have legitimately reverse-engineered the ROMs and hardware, and Apple did not hold patents covering the computer in Brazil, Apple claimed the ROMs had simply been copied.^[9] Ultimately, under pressure from the US government and local manufacturers of PC clones the Brazilian Computer and Automation Council did not allow production to proceed.^[10]

Cuando Apple migró a la plataforma PC-Intel a mediados de la década de 2000, el hardware de Apple era prácticamente idéntico al hardware genérico de PC desde la perspectiva de la plataforma. Esto, en teoría, permitía la instalación de Mac OS X en hardware que no era de Apple. Hackintosh es el término adoptado por programadores aficionados que han colaborado en Internet para instalar versiones de Mac OS X v10.4 en adelante —conocidas como Mac OSx86—  para su uso en hardware genérico de PC en lugar del hardware propio de Apple. Apple sostiene que esto es ilegal según la DMCA , por lo que, para combatir el uso ilegal de su software de sistema operativo, continúa utilizando métodos para impedir la instalación de Mac OS X (ahora macOS) en hardware no oficial que no es de Apple, con resultados dispares. Actualmente, con los conocimientos y las instrucciones adecuadas, la instalación de macOS es bastante sencilla. Han surgido varias comunidades en línea para ayudar a los usuarios que desean instalar macOS en hardware que no es de Apple. Algunos ejemplos representativos son Dortania e InsanelyMac.

En abril de 2008, Psystar Corporation, con sede en Miami , Florida , anunció el primer OSx86 disponible comercialmente , una computadora Wintel / PC con Mac OS X Leopard preinstalado ^{[ 11 ]} parcialmente con software del proyecto comunitario OSx86 . ^{[ 12 ]} Apple demandó inmediatamente en julio de 2008 ^{[ 13 ]} y siguió una larga batalla legal, que terminó en noviembre de 2009 con un fallo sumario en contra de Psystar. ^{[ 14 ] [ 15 ]} En mayo de 2012, la Corte Suprema de los Estados Unidos denegó la apelación de Psystar, cerrando el caso definitivamente. ^{[ 16 ]}

En 1992, Macworld publicó un editorial en el que afirmaba que los clones de Apple estaban por llegar y que la compañía debería licenciar su tecnología a otras para beneficiarse del crecimiento del mercado general de Macintosh. ^{[ 17 ]} Para entonces, Apple ya contemplaba la posibilidad de crear clones oficiales de sus ordenadores. Anticipando que la alianza AIM de 1991 con IBM daría como resultado que esta última se convirtiera en un importante fabricante de clones de Macintosh, Apple no permitió que otras compañías lo hicieran. ^{[ 18 ]}

By 1995, increasing demand for IBM mainframes decreased that company's interest in personal computers.^[18] Macintoshes accounted for around 7% of the worldwide desktop computer market. Apple executives decided to launch an official clone program in order to expand Macintosh market penetration. Apple's Mac OS 7 licensing program entailed the licensing of the Macintosh ROMs and system software to other manufacturers, each of which agreed to pay a flat fee for a license, and a royalty (initially US$50 (equivalent to $105.65 in 2025)) for each clone computer they sold. This generated quick revenues for Apple during a time of financial crisis.^[19]

From early 1995 through mid-1997, it was possible to buy PowerPC-based clone computers running Mac OS, most notably from Power Computing and UMAX. However, by 1996 Apple executives were worried that high-end clones were cannibalizing sales of their own high-end computers, where profit margins were highest.^[19]

A total of 75 distinct Macintosh clone models are known to have been introduced during the licensee era.^[20]

The following companies produced licensed Mac clones:

A number of major PC clone manufacturers, including Gateway 2000 and Acer, along with a number of Taiwanese clone vendors, had sought to license Mac OS and produce Mac clones but had been rebuffed by Apple. Such decisions were interpreted as Apple not wishing to relinquish its position of control over the Macintosh market and being unable to support existing licensees.^[21] Licensing agreements with other companies remained unannounced during September 1995, these involving Acorn Computers, Olivetti and GoldStar, ostensibly due to supply issues around certain components used in Mac systems. Reports in MacWeek had also suggested that Dell and Compaq had been "seriously considering" the production of Common Hardware Reference Platform (CHRP) systems.^[22] Systems conforming to the CHRP standard were anticipated to reduce the support burden on Apple, allowing clone manufacturers to more readily deviate from Apple's own designs.^[21]

In early 1997 Apple indicated that it wanted much higher license revenue from clonemakers, and other conditions. In June it and Power Computing tentatively agreed to new terms. The deal was not finalized before the July 9 departure of Apple CEO Gil Amelio. After Steve Jobs became de facto CEO,^[23] he personally tried to renegotiate licensing deals more favorable to Apple five times over the course of three weeks; each time, in his own words, Jobs was "basically told to pound sand".^[24] This response caused him to halt negotiations of upcoming licensing deals with OS licensees that Apple executives complained were still financially unfavorable.^[25]

Debido a que las licencias de los fabricantes de clones eran válidas solo para el sistema operativo System 7 de Apple, el lanzamiento de Mac OS 8 por parte de Apple dejó a los fabricantes de clones sin la capacidad de distribuir una versión actual de Mac OS y, en efecto, puso fin al programa de clonación. ^{[ 26 ]} A pesar de anunciar que la especificación se convertiría en un requisito para el hardware de clonación futuro, Apple también restó importancia a CHRP y, finalmente, se negó a licenciar por completo el hardware de clonación basado en CHRP. ^{[ 27 ] [ 28 ] [ 29 ]} Apple compró el negocio de clonación de Mac de Power Computing por US$100,000,000 (equivalente a $200,559,701 en 2025) y les dio a sus usuarios discos de actualización de Mac OS 8 gratuitos, poniendo fin a la era de la clonación. ^{[ 23 ]} Solo UMAX obtuvo una licencia para distribuir Mac OS 8 y obtener discos de actualización de Mac OS 8, que expiró en julio de 1998 (Power Computing también obtuvo discos de Mac OS 8 tras su adquisición por parte de Apple). ^{[ 19 ]}

A finales de 1997, todos los demás fabricantes vieron rescindido su contrato para la fabricación de clones de Macintosh y continuaron con sus marcas como clones de PC o las descontinuaron por completo. Algunos fabricantes de clones incluso quebraron. Según se informa, una acalorada conversación telefónica entre Jobs y el director ejecutivo de Motorola, Christopher Galvin, resultó en la polémica rescisión del contrato de Motorola para la fabricación de clones, y Apple, que durante mucho tiempo había sido su favorita, fue relegada a "un cliente más", principalmente para las CPU PowerPC. ^{[ 30 ]}

En 1999, Jobs mantuvo conversaciones con Ben Rosen , entonces presidente y director ejecutivo interino de Compaq , para que el mayor fabricante mundial de PC Wintel licenciara Mac OS, lo que habría supuesto un gran éxito para Apple. Sin embargo, no se llegó a ningún acuerdo, ya que Apple tenía dudas sobre licenciar su "joya de la corona", mientras que Compaq no quería ofender a Microsoft, con quien había colaborado desde su fundación en 1982. En 2007, cinco años después de la fusión de Compaq con HP , Rosen le comunicó a Jobs que se había pasado a Mac. ^{[ 31 ]}

Según se informa, en 2001 Jobs se reunió con ejecutivos de Sony y dijo que estaba "dispuesto a hacer una excepción" para que el Sony VAIO ejecutara Mac OS X , aunque las negociaciones posteriormente fracasaron. ^{[ 32 ]}

Since Apple transitioned the Macintosh to an Intel platform in 2006, and subsequent to a major increase in visibility and a gain in computer market share for Apple with the success of the iPod, large computer system manufacturers such as Dell have expressed renewed interest in creating Macintosh clones.^[33] While various industry executives, notably Michael Dell, have stated publicly that they would like to sell Macintosh-compatible computers, Apple VP Phil Schiller said the company does not plan to let people run Mac OS X (macOS) on other computer makers' hardware. "We will not allow running Mac OS X on anything other than an Apple Mac," he said.^[34]

Unlike Mac clones that contain little or no original Applehardware, a Mac conversion is an aftermarket enclosure kit that requires the core components of a previously purchased, genuine Apple Mac computer, such as the Macintosh ROM or the motherboard, in order to become a functional computer system. This business model is most commonly used in the car industry, with one of the most famous examples being the Shelby Mustang, a high performance variant of the Ford Mustang, and is protected^[35] in the U.S. by the First-sale doctrine and similar legal concepts in most other countries.

While Mac clones traditionally aim to compete directly with Apple's solutions through lower prices,^[36] Mac conversions target market segments that lack dedicated solutions from Apple, and where the need for a Mac solution is high enough to justify the combined cost of the full price of the Mac donor computer plus the price of the conversion kit and labor.^[37][38]

The following companies produced Mac conversions:

• IBM PC compatible
• Darwin (operating system)

• Mac Clones and New O/S movie from archive.org
• Mac Clones by Manufacturer (at EveryMac.com)
• Macintosh clones (at LowEndMac.com)
• Infos on all macs and clones (incl. details on some mainboard PCBs / at MacInfo.de)
• Apple Squeezes Mac Clones Out of the Market (at LowEndMac.com)
• "Dynamac (Macintosh clone), 360 degree model", Russian Vintage Laptop Museum (museum), 6 April 2017