How to install Mac OS on Virtualbox (on Windows PC)

We want to try Mac OS X on our PC with Windows? Let’s find out how to install it in a virtual machine with Virtualbox

MacOS is the operating system that governs all Mac products for desktop use, in this case iMac and MacBook.

This operating system is very fast, easy to use and practical enough to perform most of the tasks of office and graphics, with an eye to design (the Mac are among the most beautiful computers in circulation).

But if we wanted to try the operating system on our classic PC, without spending a fortune to buy a MacBook or an iMac, what should we do?

Here we will show you how to create a virtual machine with MacOS High Sierra (the latest version of the Apple operating system) directly on a PC with Windows using VirtualBox virtualization program.

1) Minimum requirements MacOS High Sierra

To run the virtual machine correctly with MacOS we need a PC with the following minimum requirements:

Intel quad-core CPU (Core i5 or i7)

RAM of at least 12 GB

500 GB hard drive

2 GB of VRAM video card

Windows 10 64bit

Features easily found on any PC released in the last 2-3 years, so it will not be a big problem to create the virtual machine with VirtualBox.

2) VirtualBox installation

As a first step we install Virtualbox on our PC chosen as the basis for running MacOS. The virtualization program can be downloaded for free here -> VirtualBox . Since we are using Windows as the basis for the virtual machine, we click on Windows Hosts to download the specific version for the Microsoft operating system. We install the virtualization program (it’s very simple, we always have to click Next ) and start it, to find ourselves with a main program screen. Now we are ready to create the virtual machine that will host MacOS High Sierra. 3) Download MacOS image and virtual machine creation

In order to create the virtual machine we will have to use a disk image ready to use, so as to associate it directly to the machine we are going to create later.

The image file that we’re going to download weighs about 6 GB and can be downloaded for free from the following link -> MacOS Hight Sierra Image for Virtual Machine.

You can also download the file divided into 6 pieces from this link.

At the end of the download, unpack the compressed archive (with WinRAR or 7-Zip ) and place the VMDK file at any point (even on the desktop).

Now we open VirtualBox and click on the top left on Newand type the name MacOS High Sierra, to automatically compose the remaining fields.

Now click Next and assign at least 4 GB of RAM to the virtual machine (4096 MB) but we can also assign more, so as to have a faster system.

We click Next again and in the virtual hard disk creation screen select Use an existing virtual hard disk file , going to select the downloaded image file shortly before (we can open the file manager by clicking on the icon on the side). Finally, click on Create

3) Virtual Machine Optimization

Before we can start the virtual machine we will have to optimize it to look like a Mac.

Right-click on the newly created MacOS virtual machine on VirtualBox and select Settings.

Let’s go in the System menu and enable EFI for maximum compatibility, while in the Processor board we bring 2 cores available for the virtual machine.

Finally, let’s go to the Screen menu and raise the video memory up to the maximum allowed by the program, ie 128 MB.

Press OK and close VirtualBox to make the changes effective.

The latest optimizations will have to be done from command prompt; open the Windows Start menu, look for cmd and right click on Command Prompt, so you can select the Run as administrator entry .

In the black window that you will see appear we will have to type some special commands, just make sure to retrieve the exact name of the virtual machine (the one you chose on the first screen at the time of creation).

Launch one at a time and confirm the following commands at the end of each passage.

cd “C: \ Program Files \ Oracle \ VirtualBox \”

VBoxManage.exe modifyvm “MacOS virtual machine name” –cpuidset 00000001 000106e5 00100800 0098e3fd bfebfbff

VBoxManage setextradata “MacOS virtual machine name” “VBoxInternal / Devices / efi / 0 / Config / DmiSystemProduct” “iMac11,3″

VBoxManage setextradata ” Virtual machine name macOS “” VBoxInternal / Devices / efi / 0 / Config / DmiSystemVersion “” 1.0 ”

VBoxManage setextradata” MacOS virtual machine name “” VBoxInternal / Devices / efi / 0 / Config / DmiBoardProduct “” Iloveapple ”

VBoxManage setextradata” MacOS virtual machine name ” “VBoxInternal / Devices / smc / 0 / Config / DeviceKey” “(c) AppleComputerInc”

VBoxManage setextradata “MacOS virtual machine name “” VBoxInternal / Devices / smc / 0 / Config / GetKeyFromRealSMC “1

At the end we close the prompt and reopen VirtualBox; now the virtual machine is ready, we can start it at any time by selecting it and clicking on Start .

Do not be surprised if you see a lot of writing and messages appearing and that the machine takes a lot of time when you first start, it’s all normal!

After a few minutes we will see the MacOS welcome window appear, ready to create a new account and to use the virtualized Apple operating system.

We perform all the steps as if we were on a real Mac and finally enjoy the famous interface of the operating system with the bottom bar (where you can find all the main programs and the launchers) and the upper bar, where to access the settings, the program menus and the files stored on the disk (in this case virtual).

Obviously do not expect everything to work properly or that everything is fast (some shots are normal), with virtualized systems there will always be some problems (after all it is not a real Mac system) but to understand what it means to use a Mac It is a convenient and fast solution, with all the main features that can be used without problems.