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| Mac transition to Intel processors |
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TheApple–Intel architecture is an unofficial name used forMacintoshpersonal computers developed and manufactured byApple Inc. that useIntelx86 processors,[not verified in body] rather than thePowerPC andMotorola 68000 ("68k") series processors used in their predecessors or theARM-basedApple siliconSoCs used in their successors.[1] As Apple changed the architecture of its products, they changed thefirmware from theOpen Firmware used on PowerPC-based Macs to the Intel-designed Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI).[not verified in body] With the change in processor architecture to x86, Macs gained the ability to boot into x86-native operating systems (such asMicrosoft Windows), whileIntel VT-x brought near-native virtualization withmacOS as the host OS.
Apple uses asubset of thestandard PC architecture, which provides support formacOS and support for other operating systems. Hardware and firmware components that must be supported to run an operating system on Apple-Intel hardware include theExtensible Firmware Interface.[2]
With the change in architecture, a change infirmware became necessary.[3] Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) is the firmware-based replacement for the PCBIOS from Intel. Designed by Intel, it was chosen by Apple to replaceOpen Firmware, used onPowerPC architectures. Since many operating systems, such as Windows XP and many versions of Windows Vista, are incompatible with EFI, Apple released a firmware upgrade with aCompatibility Support Module that provides a subset of traditional BIOS support with itsBoot Camp product.
GUID Partition Table (GPT) is a standard for the layout of the partition table on a physical hard disk. It is a part of the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) standard proposed by Intel as a substitute for the earlier PC BIOS. The GPT replaces the Master Boot Record (MBR) used with BIOS.
Intel Macs can boot in two ways: directly via EFI, or in a "legacy" BIOS compatibility mode. Formultibooting, holding down "Option" gives a choice of bootable devices, while therEFIndbootloader is commonly used for added configurability.
LegacyLive USBs cannot be used on Intel Macs; the EFI firmware can recognize and boot from USB drives, but it can only do this in EFI mode–when the firmware switches to BIOS mode, it no longer recognizes USB drives, due to lack of a BIOS-mode USB driver. Many operating systems, such as earlier versions of Windows and Linux,[Note 1] could only be booted in BIOS mode, or were more easily booted or perform better when booted in BIOS mode, and thus USB booting on Intel-based Macs was for a time largely limited to macOS, which can easily be booted via EFI.
Booting to non-Mac operating systems is possible by holding the option or alt key right after the chime to select an operating system other than macOS to which the user would like to boot.[4][5]
On April 5, 2006, Apple made available for download a publicbeta version ofBoot Camp, a collection of technologies that allows users of Intel-based Macs to bootWindows XP Service Pack 2.[6] The first non-beta version of Boot Camp is included inMac OS X v10.5, "Leopard."[7]
Intel-based Mac computers use very similar hardware to PCs from other manufacturers that ship withMicrosoft Windows orLinux operating systems. In particular,CPUs,chipsets, andGPUs are entirely compatible. However, Apple computers also include some custom hardware and design choices not found in competing systems:
Some of these differences can pose as obstacles both torunning macOS on non-Apple hardware and booting alternative operating systems on Mac computers – Apple only providesdrivers for its custom hardware formacOS andMicrosoft Windows (as part ofBoot Camp); drivers for other operating systems such asLinux need to be written by third parties, usually volunteerfree software enthusiasts.
Digital rights management in the Apple–Intel architecture is accomplished via the "Dont Steal Mac OS X.kext," sometimes referred to as DSMOS or DSMOSX, a file present in Intel-capable versions of themacOSoperating system.[citation needed] Its presence enforces a form of digital rights management, preventing macOS being installed on stock PCs.[citation needed] The name of the kext is a reference to the macOS license conditions, using the name used for the OS at that time, which allow installation on Apple hardware only. According to Apple, anything else isstealing macOS. The kext is located at /System/Library/Extensions on the volume containing the operating system.[24] The extension contains a kernel function calledpage_transform() that performsAES decryption of "apple-protected" programs. A system lacking a proper key will not be able to run the Apple-restricted binaries, which includeDock,Finder,loginwindow,SystemUIServer,mds,ATSServer,backupd,fontd,translate, ortranslated.[25] If the check fails, a short poem is displayed, reading "Your karma check for today:There once was a user that whined,his existing OS was so blind,he'd do better to pirate an OS that ran great,but found his hardware declined.Please don't steal Mac OS!Really, that's way uncool.(C) Apple Computer, Inc."
After the initial announcement of first Intel-based Mac hardware configurations, reporting aTrusted Platform Module among system components, it was believed that the TPM is responsible for handling the DRM protection. It was later proven to not be the case. The keys are actually contained within theSystem Management Controller, a component exclusive to Apple computers, and can be easily retrieved from it.[26] These two 32-byte keys form a human-readable ASCII string copyrighted by Apple,[27] establishing another possible line of legal defence against prospective clone makers.
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The processors found in Intel Macs supportIntel VT-x, which allows for high performance (near-native)virtualization that gives the user the ability to run and switch between two or more operating systems simultaneously, rather than having to dual-boot and run only one operating system at a time.
The first virtualization software for Intel Macs wasParallels Desktop for Mac, released in June 2006.[28] The Parallels virtualization products allow users to use installations of Windows XP and later in a virtualized mode while running macOS.VirtualBox is another piece of virtualization software originally from Innotek (nowOracle Corporation), which had a first public beta release for Mac OS X in April 2007.[29] It supports VT-x and can run multiple other guest operating systems, including Windows XP and later. It is available free of charge under either a proprietary license or theGPL.[30]
VMware also offers a Mac virtualization product competing with Parallels calledFusion, released August 2007.[31] VMware's virtualization product also allows users to use installations of Windows XP and later under macOS.
Regardless of the product used, there are inherent limitations and performance penalties in using a virtualized guest OS versus the native macOS or booting an alternative OS solution offered via Boot Camp.
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