It’s been a long time since Apple was a distant runner-up to Microsoft in the personal computer world. Still, Windows is the most popular desktop operating system (OS). If you’re primarily a Windows user, you may need to dip your toes in the Mac world infrequently. Instead of buying a MacBook, You could install macOS in a virtual machine on your Windows PC.
Can I Run macOS on Windows?
If you’re a Windows power user, you know you can run Linux or other versions of Windows within فرط-V. If you’re a Mac power user, you know you can run Windows on a Mac with Boot Camp, or a virtual machine like VMWare Fusion, Parallels, or VirtualBox. But, can you run a macOS on Windows? You could run macOS on VMWare in Windows, but using VirtualBox is free.
You can install macOS in VirtualBox on Windows if you have:
- A legally obtained copy of a macOS
- At least 2 GB of spare RAM
- A 64-bit based CPU with at least 4 logical CPUs
- Administrator access on the PC
Fortunately, many computers today exceed the minimum hardware requirements.
Get a Copy of macOS
Open the Apple App Store and download a copy of BigSur. It’s an entire operating system, so it’s a large download. Make sure you’ve got the space and time to download it. If you don’t have access to download macOS BigSur from the App Store, we don’t recommend using other versions found on the internet, for security reasons.
Install VirtualBox on Windows
The newest version of VirtualBox that this process appears to work with is VirtualBox v6.1.26. Go to the VirtualBox 6.1.26 download الموقع وحدد فيرتثلبوإكس-6.1.26-145957-win.exe. Also select the VirtualBox Extension pack Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-6.1.26-145957.vbox-extpack.
- Install VirtualBox by running the downloaded installer.
- When the VirtualBox installation is complete, Install the VirtualBox extension pack.
Create a Virtual Machine In VirtualBox
Think of creating a virtual machine as building a computer inside your computer. This gives macOS its own place to install to and allocates the resources it needs to work.
- إختار ال جديد .
- Enter a name for the virtual machine in the الاسم field. A simple name is easier to work with, like ماك. Select where the macOS virtual machine will be installed in the Machine Folder field. For a multi-disk PC, pick a disk with at least 100GB of free space. If possible, pick an SSD disk. That will help performance. Or leave it as the default. VirtualBox will automatically set the النوع إلى نظام التشغيل Mac OS X و التجريبية إلى Mac OS X (64-bit) based on the name entered for the VM.
- Allocate as much memory as possible for the macOS VM without exceeding 50% of total memory. Your PC still needs resources too.
- ضمان قم بإنشاء قرص ثابت افتراضي الآن is selected and select إنشاء للمتابعة.
- Choose a hard disk file type. The default VHD is good. Or choose another one based on what you need.
- VDI (صورة قرص VirtualBox): Only works in VirtualBox. If you might migrate the VM to another VM host like Hyper-V or VMWare, don’t choose this one.
- VHD (قرص صلب افتراضي): Good for migrating the VM to Hyper-V.
- VMDK (Virtual Machine Disk): Good for migrating the VM to VMWare.
- If you’re creating the macOS on an SSD or nvMe drive, you can select المخصصة بشكل حيوي. SSDs are fast enough to resize without affecting performance much. If you’re not certain, choose حجم ثابت. حدد التالى للمتابعة.
- على File location and size screen, leave the default folder path. Allocate a minimum of 60 GB for the virtual hard disk. If you plan on installing several programs or upgrading the macOS to Monterey, use at least 100 GB. Select إنشاء للمتابعة.
- When the VM creation process ends, select the macOS VM and select the الإعدادات .
- انتقل إلى System page then the اللوحة الأم tab.In the ترتيب التمهيد field uncheck المرنة. Use the up and down arrows to adjust the boot order so بصري is first, and القرص الصلب is second. The defaults for the remaining options are good to leave as is.
- الانتقال الى المعالج tab. Adjust معالجات) to at least 2 CPUs. If your CPU has 4 cores and 8 logical processors, VirtualBox will show that you have up to 8 CPUs to use. Don’t use more than half. Leave سقف التنفيذ at 100% و تمكين PAE / NX should be selected by default as well. Select OK للمتابعة.
- انتقل إلى العرض page, then the شاشة tab. Max out فيديو الذاكرة إلى 128MB. Leave the defaults for the other options on this tab selected.
- انتقل إلى الخزائن صفحة. يختار Controller: SATA ثم تحقق من استخدم Host I / O Cache box. Then select the فارغ جهاز التخزين.
Select the DVD icon next to the مشغل الأقراص البصرية field. Then select Choose a disk file. Navigate to where you stored the macOS .iso download and select it. Select OK للمتابعة.
- To complete the next step, exit VirtualBox. The next step won’t work if you don’t exit it or it keeps running as a zombie process. You will not be able to create the macOS VM. After closing VirtualBox, open مهمة مدير and ensure the process is not listed.
- Go to GitHub and get the VirtualBox macOS codes. Copy them from there and paste them into Notepad. The codes will need to be edited to match your macOS VM situation.
If you installed VirtualBox to a location different from what’s shown in the first line, edit the first line to match.
In the remaining lines, change Your Virtual Machine Name to macOS, the name you gave this VM.
- فتح موجه الأوامر as المسؤول . Copy the first line of code and enter it. This will change the base directory in the Command prompt to where you installed VirtualBox. Then copy, paste, and run each line by itself in the Command prompt.
Install macOS Big Sur
- When the last command finishes, close the Command Prompt and open VirtualBox again. Choose your ماك VM and select آبدأ.
- You’ll see a lot of white text on a black background. This can take a few minutes. If the white text and black background step continues for more than 15-20 minutes, it’s probably not going to work. You’ll see the Apple icon and a progress bar. If you get this far, it’s probably going to work.
- Next you’ll see the اللغة screen. Choose the language you prefer and select the next arrow to go to the macOS Recovery screen.
- أختار أداة القرص.
- على أداة القرص الشاشة ، حدد ملف وسائط VBOX HARDDISK in the left column and select محو.
- It will ask you to confirm that you want to erase it. You need to give the volume a new name, too. Any name will do. Select محو للمتابعة.
- Once the volume is erased and renamed, select تم. للمتابعة.
- أقفل ال أداة القرص نافذة.
- على التعافى الشاشة ، حدد Install macOS Big Sur وثم اتبع الدورة.
- It asks you to اتبع الدورة again. Then it will ask you to agree to the software license agreement (SLA) twice. Agree if you want to continue.
- Select the disk to install macOS Big Sur on. Only your macOS disk should be showing so click on that. Then select اتبع الدورة.
- It starts installing. The screen might say that there’s about 12 to 18 minutes remaining. It’s not correct as this part can take an hour.
- It will go to a black screen with white text, then to a gray screen with the Apple logo that says, “Less than a minute remaining…” There is a lot more than a minute remaining.
- Eventually, you’ll see the اختر بلدك أو منطقتك screen. You’re now in the setup of your freshly installed macOS. Go through the set up.
- Once you’ve completed the setup, take a snapshot of the freshly installed state. This allows you to revert back to it easily should something go wrong with the macOS VM in the future.
Change the Resolution of the macOS Virtual Machine
If you prefer greater resolution than the VirtualBox default, you can do that too.
- Shut down the macOS virtual machine and completely exit VirtualBox.
- افتح موجه الأوامر كمسؤول.
- Navigate to where VirtualBox is installed.
- أدخل الأمر التالي:
VBoxManage setextradata “macOS” VBoxInternal2/EfiGraphicsResolution 1920×1080
The last part of the command, 1920×1080 is the resolution. It can be changed to any of 1280×720, 1920×1080, 2560×1440, 2048×1080, 3840×2160, 5120×2880, or 7680×4320 supported resolutions. Some may not work for you though. After the command completes, restart VirtualBox and your macOS VM to make sure the change works.
Tips on Using macOS in VirtualBox
During the install, if you see a circle-slash like a no parking sign, the installation isn’t going to work. Shut the machine down as there’s no sense waiting.
Again, check to ensure that you applied the VirtualBox codes correctly. Completely close VirtualBox and reapply them if needed.
If that doesn’t work, change the VM settings to use less RAM or CPUs. Sometimes the PC can’t keep up with a higher setting.
Once the install is complete, you can change the VM settings to use more RAM or CPUs to increase the performance, as long as you’re not doing anything else on the host PC.
Enjoy your new macOS virtual machine!