OpenCore
Ranked 5 of 7 bootloaders by recommenders
Free bootloader that lets people run newer macOS on older x86 PCs and Macs. Critics say the workarounds are hacky and the experience stays poor.
Free bootloader that lets people run newer macOS on older x86 PCs and Macs. Critics say the workarounds are hacky and the experience stays poor.
9 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 89%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Boots newer macOS on older hardware
“a number of OpenCore configurations that support booting into the various x86 builds of macOS”
Comment from 25 Aug 2026 in “Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra” “You can also get a newer macOS on that laptop altogether using something called OpenCore.”
Comment from 20 Mar 2026 in “"Al has joined your family"” “Open alternatives like Clover and OpenCore are fully viable for booting macOS.”
Comment from 6 Dec 2025 in “Framework Laptop 13 gets ARM processor with 12 cores via upgrade kit” Works once installed
“I just went and installed OpenCore once and that's it.”
Comment from 27 Jan 2026 in “Fedora Asahi Remix is now working on Apple M3” “at the moment it seems to work ok”
Comment from 28 Jan 2026 in “Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Hacky workarounds, updates need hackery
“I can't manually update them without hackery (OpenCore)”
Comment from 11 May 2026 in “Killed by Apple” “Even the hacky Opencore workarounds won't fix the experience on your laptop”
Comment from 15 Jun 2026 in “Newer macOS runs slower on Intel (undeniably) – on purpose or "accident"?” Does not fix laptop experience
“Even the hacky Opencore workarounds won't fix the experience on your laptop”
Comment from 15 Jun 2026 in “Newer macOS runs slower on Intel (undeniably) – on purpose or "accident"?” “Hackintosh is a museum piece now, even OpenCore can't save it”
Comment from 8 Apr 2026 in “I Ported Mac OS X to the Nintendo Wii”
Other bootloaders people recommend
The four most recommended other bootloaders, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| systemd-boot | 14 | 0 | 100% | 7 | — | Approved |
| ZFSBootMenu | 13 | 2 | 87% | 8 | — | Approved |
| U-Boot | 9 | 3 | 75% | 5 | — | — |
| GNU GRUB | 9 | 24 | 27% | 5 | — | — |
| OpenCoreThis page | 8 | 1 | 89% | 7 | — | — |
What people said
10 of the 11 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“look for the Dortania OpenCore guide GPU lists to find one that works”
“a number of OpenCore configurations that support booting into the various x86 builds of macOS”
“Even the hacky Opencore workarounds won't fix the experience on your laptop”
“I can't manually update them without hackery (OpenCore)”
“Hackintosh is a museum piece now, even OpenCore can't save it”
“You can also get a newer macOS on that laptop altogether using something called OpenCore.”
“OpenCore and MIST are two great tools for fans of obsolete Macs”
“at the moment it seems to work ok”
“I just went and installed OpenCore once and that's it.”
“Open alternatives like Clover and OpenCore are fully viable for booting macOS.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.