A previous attempt got macOS Catalina partially running on a Steam Deck. Credit: Lampa183
A Hackintosh enthusiast has managed to get a version of macOS Sequoia running on Valve’s Steam Deck handheld gaming device in an exercise they admit is “pointless.”
The modder notes that they, with help from others, “figured out a way to make [macOS versions] newer than Catalina boot” on the Steam Deck handheld gaming device, creating what might be called a “Deckintosh.” The Steam Deck normally runs its own SteamOS 3, a Linux distribution that supports Windows games and apps using a Proton compatibility layer.
This is not the first time a version of macOS has been ported to the handheld gaming device. Using SteamOS VirtualBox, a Reddit user was able to get macOS Catalina booted but not fully running about two years ago.
The current modification lacks GPU acceleration, and doesn’t take full advantage of the Steam Deck screen real estate, but runs as a proof of concept. An updated tweet subsequently showed an image of macOS fully running on the Steam Deck.
The big stumbling block of supporting the Steam Deck’s GPU acceleration could be overcome in due course, allowing the operating system to run at a usable speed. There is the possibility of using NootRX — an unsupported AMD RDNA2 dedicated GPU kext — to allow RDNA2 support, which is already included in macOS, according to Tom’s Hardware.
If the modding efforts are successful and getting macOS to run with GPU support on the Steam Deck, it would provide a very price-friendly way to explore Apple’s premier operating system without having to invest in a Mac first. Beyond a proof of concept, however, Apple would likely attempt to stop widespread distribution.
