MacOS Tahoe on Dell Latitude 7390

After spending couple of sleepless night, I finally managed to install macOS Tahoe on my Dell laptop. Even though I will not use this device on daily basis, I thought of trying it out regardless. Hackintosh builds are always problematic with the newest macOS. It takes lots of time to read and dig through stuff to make it work. Then there are times when certain things that just simply does not work at all. In any case, I took it as a challenge for myself to follow the hackintosh guide and see if it is possible at all or not.

I went over the Dortania's macOS Tahoe page and read though some of the topics. I instantly realized that making the audio device work properly would be an issue eventually even if I manage to install the OS properly. However, I was able to make the device work with VoodooHDA kext which was mentioned on the guide. Another issue was not being able to use my older Broadcom WiFi module which worked just fine with native support even in macOS Ventura.

I decided to go ahead with Intel 8365 WiFi AC module which is quite old but works with itlwm kext with the help of Heliport client app. It does not have native support but it works regardless with lots of limitations. As long as I can use the WiFi, I am ok with that. However, we must not forget that we will need the internet connection during the macOS installation process if we are using recovery image. Since WiFi will not be available during this time we have to solely rely on the Ethernet connection. No matter how we perform the macOS installation, our trusted good old IntelMausi is there to support the Ethernet.

Another important issue here is that we need to map our available USB ports and internal devices that uses such interface so that macOS can recognize them. Devices like built-in webcam, internal microphone others may use such interface. Even if you do not know which devices are using such interface on your device, don't worry. For this I used a tool widely known as the USBToolBox which can identify all of your internal USB based devices and make necessary changes required. Use this tool to generate the kext based on your laptop. Without proper USB port mapping you may not be able to boot at all. So, take it a bit seriously.

For any hackintosh build, it is crucial to get to know your computer hardware components and their limitations before anything else. This is particularly important for laptop devices over desktops as hardware on laptops can not be easily be changed. Sometimes it is even harder to find macOS compatible devices for laptops. So, study as much as you can before you get in to any hackintosh project regardless.

Couple of months back when macOS Tahoe was released, I was super excited and waited for our hackintosh community to come up with some sort of solution, so that we can try it out on our x86-64 based computers. Instead of messing with my main workstation, I thought of using my laptop as my test bed. I could have used my second desktop computer but laptop seemed much more easier route for now.

I already shared the EFI of my laptop on GitHub, feel free to check it out whenever you get time. Good luck with your build.