Challenging Apple's New Mac Pro

The video documents Linus Tech Tips team attempting to build a bare metal Hackintosh to challenge Apple’s announced Mac Pro, focusing on a high core count Xeon system and intensive hardware preparation. The crew begins by outlining the plan to use a 28 core configuration, water cooling, and overclocking, aiming to outperform Apple’s new Mac Pro before it becomes widely available. They switch from an Asus Dominus board to a Gigabyte C621 Aorus Extreme due to expansion needs and Mac OS compatibility, highlighting the difference in PCIe slots and internal layout. Throughout the early segments, the team emphasizes the goal of achieving a Mac-like experience while staying on non-official software and hardware combinations, noting the compromises and tradeoffs inherent in a Hackintosh approach. The discussion also covers memory configurations, with an initial six 32 GB DDR4 modules and a long term plan for 384 GB using the fastest available sticks, which underlines their intent to maximize bandwidth and capacity beyond typical consumer builds. The video then transitions into installation steps, issues with Clover bootloader, and the initial boot attempt, clarifying that this is not a tutorial but a guided exploration of the practical steps involved and the hurdles faced when trying to macOS boot on non-Apple hardware. Closing sections pivot to performance results and future ambitions, where Geekbench, LuxMark, Blender, Final Cut Pro, and HandBrake are used to compare to Apple’s hardware. The team reports notable gains in multi-threaded cpu performance and single-thread improvements that exceed their previous virtualization-based approach, while gpu-related tests reveal a smaller uplift, suggesting that virtualization overhead affects CPU workloads more than GPU workloads. They conclude that the project shows promise, with the expectation that additional core counts, improved cooling, and further RAM expansion could push the Hackintosh closer to the Mac Pro’s capabilities, while acknowledging the time and engineering required to realize such a build. The video ends with a teaser for further progress, a sponsored segment, and a nod to community engagement and DIY hardware culture, inviting viewers to follow the project as it unfolds.

Topics · hardware · technology · benchmarks · computer_build · overclocking · macintosh_compatibility · performance