HackintoshUK (http://www.hackintoshuk.com/) is a new UK company that sells “Hackintoshs” — PCs that run Mac OS X 10.7 (“Lion”). Recently, “MacNews/MacTech” interviewed Tristan Kirkpatrick of HackintoshUK to get some details about the company — including how they planned to avoid the fate of Psystar.
MacTech: How long has HackintoshUK been in business?
Kirkpatrick: HackintoshUK is a very young company, started at the beginning of 2012 with the initial idea of building desktops that are open to all operating systems, including OS X and Linux.
MacTech What was the impetus for starting the company?
Kirkpatrick: We didn’t like the limitations that were offered by other companies in terms of operating system. With the belief that people should be free to decide whether to use Windows, OS X or Linux we make the decision a little easier by modern computers designed to be used however they wish by the end-user.
MacTech: what are your products and pricing like?
Kirkpatrick: Currently we offer a small range of desktop “hackintosh’s” starting with our Hackintosh Mini. The Mini is a very versatile machine and we expect this to be our top seller. For the price tag their isn’t much competition, even by big brands, and with the ability to be unlimited by operating system, we believe this will take our range far.
All our products are very well equipped and can even be upgraded on our website. We use the latest compatible hardware and HD3000 graphics processing. We do not compromise on quality, yet can still offer amazing value.
We also offer Budget, Pro and Ultra builds (the pro and ultra specs are still been finalized, but they are definitely going to be impressive).
MacTech: It seems you only offer desktops at present. Any laptop plans?
Kirkpatrick: Due to the company been a new start-up, we will be looking into the demand of laptop products and putting together our ideas to see if this is a viable option. I’m sure that our products will be well received in the marketplace and we will be able to start our prototype builds very soon. Short answer — highly likely, keep an eye out.
MacTech: How do you hope to convince people to buy Hackintoshes rather than Apple’s own computers?
Kirkpatrick: Our main selling point has to be the value of our machines; however, we don’t see ourselves in competition with Apple. That simply would be a losing battle. Value and choice of operating system will be what draw people to our products. They look great, run even better and are completely usable on Windows, OSX or Linux – its a consumer world and we’re offering what we think people want, something that people can be excited about.
MacTech: How is the Hackintosh business model different than the late Psystar’s? In other words, how do you perceive being able to avoid legal problems with Apple?
Kirkpatrick: Psystar was making PC’s that went directly into competition with Apple (Mac Clones). This isn’t what we at HackintoshUK are trying to do. We’re simply creating openOS machines that people can do as they please with. All our software is fully licensed.