Windows x is a great operating system. Information technology has its quirks and annoyances, only which operating system doesn't? Even if you're beholden to Microsoft and Windows ten, y'all can still shop around.

What ameliorate way to do that than from the condom confines of your existing operating organization with a virtual car? This way, you tin can run macOS on Windows, which is perfect for using Mac-but apps on Windows.

So, here's how you install macOS in a virtual auto on Windows, making a virtual Hackintosh that lets y'all run Apple tree apps from your Windows auto.

What Files Do Y'all Need to Create a macOS Virtual Machine on Windows 10?

Before delving into the "how-to," you need to download and install the essential tools. The tutorial details how to create macOS virtual machines using both Oracle VirtualBox Manager (VirtualBox) and VMware Workstation Player (VMware Player).

  • Download the latest version of VirtualBox. This tutorial uses VirtualBox 6.i.22
  • Download the latest version of VMware Player. This tutorial uses VMware Thespian 16

You lot need a copy of macOS, besides. Big Sur is the latest macOS version. You lot can find the download links for macOS Big Sur in the adjacent department.

This tutorial will focus on installing macOS Big Sur in a virtual automobile running on Intel hardware, using either VirtualBox or VMware Histrion.

Unfortunately, I practice not take access to any AMD hardware, so I cannot provide a tutorial.

There is, however, the code snippet that anyone using an AMD system requires to boot a macOS Big Sur using VMware on AMD hardware.

Launching the macOS Big Sur virtual automobile is the aforementioned equally the Intel version just uses a slightly different lawmaking snippet. You can observe the tutorial and the code snippet in the section beneath.

Furthermore, y'all will find links to several AMD macOS Catalina, Mojave, and Loftier Sierra virtual auto tutorials, at the finish of the article.

Download macOS Big Sur Virtual Image

Use the download links below to download the macOS Big Sur image for both VirtualBox and VMware.

Download: macOS Large Sur Virtual Machine Paradigm

Download: VMware Player Patch Tool

How to Create a macOS Big Sur Virtual Machine With VirtualBox

Before creating the macOS virtual machine, you lot need to install the VirtualBox Extension Pack. It includes fixes for USB three.0 support, mouse and keyboard support, and other useful VirtualBox patches.

Download: VirtualBox Extension Pack for Windows (Free)

Scroll downwards, select All supported platforms to download, then double-click to install.

1. Create the macOS Big Sur Virtual Machine

Open up VirtualBox. Select New. Type macOS.

VirtualBox volition detect the Os as you lot blazon and will default to Mac Os Ten. You can leave this every bit is.

Regarding the virtual motorcar proper name, make it something memorable still easy to blazon. Y'all'll need to input this name in a series of commands, and it is frustrating to type a complicated name multiple times!

macos big sur virtualbox settings create virtual machine settings

Next, gear up the amount of RAM the macOS virtual machine can use. I would suggest a minimum of 4GB, merely the more you can give from the host system, the ameliorate your experience.

Remember, yous cannot assign more than RAM than your system has bachelor, and you need to leave some memory available for the host operating system.

At present, select Create a hard disk drive now and select Create. On the side by side screen, select Virtual Hard Disk, then set up the disk size to a minimum of 50GB, but ideally more if you tin can spare the space. macOS Big Sur requires at least 35GB of storage.

2. Edit the macOS Big Sur Virtual Machine Settings

Don't try and start your macOS Big Sur virtual machine yet. Before firing the virtual auto up, you lot demand to brand a few tweaks to the settings. Right-click your macOS virtual machine and select Settings.

macos big sur virtualbox settings motherboard storage
  1. Under Arrangement, remove Floppy from the boot order. Ensure the Chipset is set up to ICH9.
  2. Select the Processor tab. Assign 2 processors. If you have a CPU with ability to spare (such as an Intel Core i7 or i9 with multiple extra cores), consider assigning more. Even so, this isn't vital.
  3. Brand sure the Enable PAE/NX box is checked.
  4. Under Display, gear up Video Memory to 128MB.
  5. Now, under Storage, select the blank disc nether Storage Devices. Next, select the disk icon alongside Optical Drives. Browse to and select your macOS Big Sur disk image.
  6. Finally, caput to the USB tab and select USB iii.0, then printing OK.

3. Utilize the Command Prompt to Add Custom Lawmaking to VirtualBox

Information technology still isn't quite time to fire up your macOS Big Sur virtual automobile. In its current configuration, VirtualBox doesn't piece of work with your macOS disk prototype.

To go information technology upward and running, you have to essentially patch VirtualBox earlier the macOS virtual motorcar will function. To do this, you demand to enter some code using the Command Prompt. All the details are below.

Start by closing VirtualBox. The commands will not execute properly if VirtualBox or any of its associated processes are running.

Once closed, press the Windows central + X, then select Command Prompt (Admin) from the carte du jour. If your menu just shows the PowerShell option, blazon command into your Commencement carte search bar. And then right-click the Best Match, and select Run every bit Administrator. Utilise the following command to locate the Oracle VirtualBox directory:

                      cd            "C:\Programme Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\"

Now, enter the following commands, 1 by one. Suit the control to match the name of your virtual machine. For case, my virtual car proper name is macOS Big Sur.

Hither are the commands:

          VBoxManage.exe modifyvm "macOS Big Sur" --cpuidset 00000001 000106e5 00100800 0098e3fd bfebfbff
VBoxManage setextradata "macOS Big Sur" "VBoxInternal/Devices/efi/0/Config/DmiSystemProduct" "iMac19,1"
VBoxManage setextradata "macOS Big Sur" "VBoxInternal/Devices/efi/0/Config/DmiSystemVersion" "1.0"
VBoxManage setextradata "macOS Large Sur" "VBoxInternal/Devices/efi/0/Config/DmiBoardProduct" "Mac-AA95B1DDAB278B95"
VBoxManage setextradata "macOS Big Sur" "VBoxInternal/Devices/smc/0/Config/DeviceKey" "ourhardworkbythesewordsguardedpleasedontsteal(c)AppleComputerInc"
VBoxManage setextradata "macOS Big Sur" "VBoxInternal/Devices/smc/0/Config/GetKeyFromRealSMC" 1

After the completion of the commands and presuming yous encountered no errors, close the Command Prompt.

macos big sur virtualbox command prompt commands

4. Boot Your macOS Big Sur Virtual Car

Reopen VirtualBox. Double-click your macOS virtual auto to start it. Yous will see a long stream of text, followed by the Apple tree logo. On the next screen, select your language of choice, then Proceed.

macos big sur virtualbox disk utility create drive
  1. Adjacent, select Disk Utility. You lot create a clean bulldoze for macOS Large Sur to install to.
  2. In the Disk Utility, select VBOX HARDDISK MEDIA from the Internal drive column.
  3. After selecting the drive, head to the Erase option found at the meridian of the utility.
  4. Requite your drive a name, set the Format to Mac Os Extended (Journaled), and the Scheme to GUID Segmentation Map.
  5. Select Erase.
  6. Once complete, you tin can get out the Disk Utility back to the Big Sur recovery screen. From hither, you lot should select Install macOS Big Sur.
  7. Select the drive you created in the Deejay Utility, followed by Continue.
macos big sur virtualbox installation

Now, the installation says information technology'll take a few minutes. Nevertheless, in my experience, this wasn't correct. The initial installation phase took around 15 minutes, but then you state on a second installation screen afterwards the macOS Big Sur virtual machine restarts.

The initial installation time on that screen begins at around 29 minutes. However, once information technology reaches Less than a minute remaining and you get your hopes upwardly—don't.

It took another hour for the installation to complete from this point, but I've also read reports of people waiting for upwardly of three hours. Worse, in that location is no way to tell if the installation is ongoing on y'all're just wasting your fourth dimension.

macos big sur virtualbox setup new installation

If you lot can afford the time, go out it for several hours, and hopefully, when you come up dorsum, you'll be staring at the macOS Big Sur Welcome page.

Once you consummate the macOS setup, have a snapshot within VirtualBox. Caput to Machine > Take Snapshot, requite your snapshot a name, and wait for it to process. If annihilation breaks or the Large Sur virtual machine corrupts, you can head dorsum to the snapshot to restore your previously expert installation.

How to Create a macOS Big Sur Virtual Machine Using VMware Workstation Thespian

Prefer VMware over VirtualBox? Y'all can create a macOS Large Sur virtual machine using VMware that works exactly the aforementioned equally VirtualBox. And, just as with VirtualBox, VMware as well requires patching before the macOS Large Sur virtual machine will work.

This function of the tutorial works for Intel and AMD systems. AMD users must use the second code snippet when editing the virtual machine VMX file. Read through the tutorial to see what this means exactly.

1. Patch VMware Workstation Player

  1. In the "Download macOS Big Sur Virtual Prototype" department is the VMware Actor Patch Tool. Before commencing any further, download the patch tool.
  2. Browse to the location you lot downloaded the patch tool to. Extract the contents of the archive. This process works best when the folders are on the aforementioned drive (eastward.g., the VMware root folder and extracted archive are both establish on the C:\ drive).
  3. Make certain VMware is completely closed. In the Unlocker folder, right-click the win-install control script and select Run as Administrator. The script will open up a Control Prompt window, and the patch script will run.

Practise pay attention. The script whizzes by, and you demand to go along picket for whatsoever "File non Found" messages.

The most common reason for a "file non constitute" or a "system cannot observe the file specified" message is installing VMware Workstation Histrion in a different location to the default folder and executing the patch from a different directory.

Once the patch completes, you tin can open VMware.

ii. Create the macOS Big Sur Virtual Automobile with VMware

macos big sur vmware setup new installation
  1. Select Create a New Virtual Automobile. Choose I will install the operating organisation later.
  2. Now, select Apple Mac OS X, and alter the Version to macOS 10.xvi. If you don't see the macOS options, it is because the patch didn't install correctly.
  3. Next, you need to cull a proper noun for your macOS Big Sur virtual machine. Choose something like shooting fish in a barrel to recall, then copy the file path to somewhere handy—you're going to need it to make some edits in a moment.
  4. On the side by side screen, set a disk size of 50GB or larger and select Store virtual disk equally a single file. Consummate the virtual deejay cosmos sorcerer, but exercise non start the virtual automobile simply yet.

three. Edit the macOS Big Sur Virtual Machine Settings

Before y'all can kicking the virtual car, you must edit the hardware specification.

macos big sur vmware virtual machine hardware settings
  1. From the chief VMware screen, select your macOS Big Sur virtual machine, then right-click and select Settings.
  2. Crash-land the virtual machine memory up to at least 4GB. You can classify more than if you accept RAM to spare.
  3. Under Processors, edit the number of available cores to 2 (or more if bachelor).
  4. Now, select New CD/DVD (SATA) > Employ ISO image file. Browse to the macOS Big Sur ISO file and select it.
  5. Close the Hardware window, and select Finish.

Notwithstanding, don't start the VMware Workstation Player macOS Big Sur virtual machine just yet. There are still some edits to brand to configuration files.

iv. Edit the macOS Big Sur VMX File for Intel Hardware

This section is for Intel users, and information technology involves the final set of edits you need to make before switching your VMware macOS Big Sur virtual machine on!

Close VMware. Caput to the location you stored the macOS virtual automobile. The default location is:

          C:\Users\YOURNAME\Documents\Virtual Machines\YOUR MAC OS 10 Folder

Browse to macOS Big Sur.vmx, correct-click, and select Open with > Notepad (or your preferred text editor). Scroll to the bottom of the configuration file and add the post-obit line:

          smbios.reflectHost = "True"
hw.model = "MacBookPro14,3"
board-id = "Mac-551B86E5744E2388"
smc.version = "0"

Save, so Exit.

You can at present open up VMware, select your macOS Big Sur virtual car, and fire it upwards!

5. Edit the macOS Large Sur VMX File for AMD Hardware

This department is for AMD users. Like the above section, AMD users must likewise edit the VMX file before proceeding. The AMD edit involves a few more lines than the Intel version, but you lot tin can copy and paste the data into the file.

Close VMware. Caput to the location yous stored the macOS virtual automobile. The default location is:

          C:\Users\YOURNAME\Documents\Virtual Machines\YOUR MAC Os 10 FOLDER

Browse to macOS Big Sur.vmx, right-click, and select Open with > Notepad (or your preferred text editor). Scroll to the lesser of the configuration file and add the following lines:

          smc.version = "0"
cpuid.0.eax = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:1011"
cpuid.0.ebx = "0111:0101:0110:1110:0110:0101:0100:0111"
cpuid.0.ecx = "0110:1100:0110:0101:0111:0100:0110:1110"
cpuid.0.edx = "0100:1001:0110:0101:0110:1110:0110:1001"
cpuid.one.eax = "0000:0000:0000:0001:0000:0110:0111:0001"
cpuid.1.ebx = "0000:0010:0000:0001:0000:1000:0000:0000"
cpuid.one.ecx = "1000:0010:1001:k:0010:0010:0000:0011"
cpuid.1.edx = "0000:0111:1000:1011:1111:1011:1111:1111"
smbios.reflectHost = "Truthful"
hw.model = "MacBookPro14,3"
lath-id = "Mac-551B86E5744E2388"

Save, then Exit.

You can now open VMware, select your macOS Big Sur virtual machine, and burn down information technology up!

6. Configure and Install the macOS Big Sur Virtual Machine

After launching the macOS Big Sur virtual machine, you lot'll have to configure the storage drive before installation.

macos big sur vmware disk configuration
  1. Next, select Disk Utility. You create a clean bulldoze for macOS Big Sur to install to.
  2. In the Deejay Utility, select VMware Virtual SATA Difficult Drive Media from the Internal drive column.
  3. Afterwards selecting the drive, head to the Erase option found at the pinnacle of the utility.
  4. Requite your drive a name, set up the Format to APFS, and the Scheme to GUID Partition Map.
  5. Select Erase.
  6. One time complete, y'all can exit the Disk Utility back to the Large Sur recovery screen. From hither, you should select Install macOS Big Sur.
  7. Select the bulldoze yous created in the Disk Utility, followed past Keep.

The installation process takes a while, but it is faster than VirtualBox. In one case macOS Large Sur loads, you can configure the operating organisation as you meet fit.

seven. Install VMware Tools to Your macOS Big Sur Virtual Machine

Y'all now need to install VMware Tools, which is a set of utilities and extensions that improve mouse handling, video functioning, and other useful things.

With the macOS virtual automobile running, head to Player > Manage > Install VMware Tools.

The installation disc will appear on the macOS desktop. When the choice appears, select Install VMware Tools, then allow it admission to the removable book. Follow the guided installer, which will crave a restart on completion.

Troubleshooting

A couple of things tin go wrong during the macOS virtual automobile installation in VMware Histrion Workstation.

  1. If you cannot see "Apple tree Mac Bone 10" during the virtual machine creation wizard, and then yous demand to revisit the patch process. Ensure every process associated with VMware Player is off.
  2. If you receive the bulletin "Mac Os Ten is not supported with binary translation" when starting the virtual machine, there is a stiff chance you lot need to actuate virtualization in your BIOS/UEFI configuration.
  3. If y'all receive the message "VMware Player unrecoverable fault: (vcpu-0)" when starting the virtual machine, y'all need to head back to the macOS Large Sur.vmx configuration file to ensure y'all added the extra line and saved the edit.
  4. If you're running AMD hardware and get stuck at the Apple logo, showtime power off the virtual machine. Now, caput to Settings > Options > Full general. Alter the Guest operating system to Microsoft Windows and the Version to Windows 10 x64. Printing OK, and so endeavor to power upwards the virtual machine again. In one case the Apple logo passes, power downward the virtual machine, then set the Guest operating arrangement selection back to Apple Mac OS 10, selecting the right version.

macOS Virtual Machines for AMD Hardware

Apple uses Intel hardware to power desktops and laptops. Configuring a macOS virtual machine using Intel hardware is easier because the hardware specifications are very like.

With AMD, the contrary is true. Because Apple does non develop macOS on AMD hardware, creating a macOS virtual motorcar on an AMD system is trickier. Nonetheless, y'all tin check out the post-obit video tutorial to larn how to install macOS Big Sur on a VMware virtual machine using AMD hardware.

macOS Large Sur Virtual Machine Installation Complete

You have two options to choose from for your macOS Big Sur virtual motorcar. Both options are great if yous want to requite macOS a try earlier making the switch from Windows and enjoy some of the all-time Apple apps on offer.

How to Create a Virtual Motorcar Using Windows 10 Hyper-V

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About The Author

Gavin Phillips (1062 Articles Published)

Gavin is the Junior Editor for Technology Explained, a regular contributor to the Really Useful Podcast, and a frequent production reviewer. He has a degree in Contemporary Writing pillaged from the hills of Devon, and more a decade of professional writing experience. He enjoys copious amounts of tea, lath games, and football game.

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