As you’ve seen on my Thinkpad T420 Hackintosh post, these Lenovo machines are quite a good alternative to Mac hardware! This guide is moreso of an information/resource page than an actual post, because the T420 page covered most of the details. The x220 and the T420 are pretty much the same machine on the inside plus or minus a few small details, however the hack guide used for this was based off of McDonnellTech’s website, as he is very, very thorough, and all-inclusive in terms of getting you set up from start to finish.
I use an x220 as a secondary daily driver laptop, and I’ve really had no complaints other than battery life. Then again, this is coming from someone who owns a Macbook Air.. I just won’t beat that!
As stated previously, with any Hackintosh setup, you assume that only wired ethernet will work, no audio, and barely any graphics support. For my setup, I am sticking with 10.11.6 since it is final (until later this year when High Sierra is released, then I will update to 10.12 Sierra), and any updates won’t break the OS at this point. That being said, 10.12 is actively supported and quite functional.
So how to get started? Here’s the main page to keep an eye on. It is frequently updated.
**READ THE INSTRUCTIONS THOROUGHLY**
I ran into a kernel panic after installing Clover to the hard drive and restarting because I did not change the label of the default volume in the config.plist file. I like to name my OS drives ‘Macintosh HD’, and this is by default set for ‘macOS’. Once this was fixed, I had no issues. Keep this is mind, and once again, READ THOROUGHLY!!
Resources/Specs
Processor Upgrades –
Memory Upgrades – PC3-10600 format, 1333mhz bus speed recommended. 8GB Max, costs anywhere from $35-$60.
WiFi Cards to use:
- Dell DW1510/1515 -> WiFi Only
- Dell DW1550 -> Continuity+Handoff Support, requires some patching to do.. see here
Updating the BIOS to accept the Dell cards are listed on McDonnellTech’s site, and the steps are given on how to do so.
