Navigating the realm of storage compatibility for Hackintosh setups can be rather perplexing, especially due to the differing reports regarding PCIe and NVMe drives. Historical accounts often reference a time when native support was absent, and matters such as block size and the need for additional kexts or .efi drivers were of concern. This landscape shifted significantly with the introduction of macOS High Sierra, which provided native support for NVMe and PCIe storage solutions. However, specific models remain incompatible and may even introduce system instability unless they are disabled or blocked at an ACPI level.
A notable compatibility issue is with Samsung NVMe SSDs., Users often report that these drives can slow down macOS performance, deliver suboptimal TRIM support, and sometimes contribute to system instability. This problematic behavior is mostly attributed to the Phoenix controller utilized by Samsung, which is not as compatible with macOS as alternative controllers such as Phison—found in the Sabrent Rocket series—or Western Digital’s proprietary controllers like the one in WD SN750. The impact of this incompatibility can often be observed during system boot, where systems equipped with Samsung drives experience extended boot times and higher drive temperatures due to ineffective software TRIM (though hardware TRIM should ideally still be functional, albeit with no preference).
Additionally, certain older Intel and Kingston NVMe drives may exhibit similar incompatibility issues with Hackintosh systems. It’s also worth mentioning that all of Apple’s PCIe drives utilize 4K sector formatting, making drives that correspond with this sector size the optimal choice for Hackintosh compatibility and stability.
A special consideration for laptop users: Intel SSDs have a history of poor compatibility with Hackintosh laptops, often leading to various issues. It is recommended to opt for alternatives if possible to ensure a smoother Hackintosh experience.
| Brand | Model | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Samsung | PM981, PM981A, PM991, PM9A1, 983ZET | MZVLQ and MZVLB prefixes, cannot install! In general, it’s not recommended to use any Samsung SSDs; many can be installed but might result in slow system entrance and sometimes instability |
| SK Hynix | BC711 (e.g., HFM512GD3JX013N), PC711 (e.g., SKHynix_HFS512GDE9X084N), PC601, P31* | Most with HFS and HFM prefixes cannot be installed, newer models from SK Hynix might have issues; older models are mostly usable, P31 can be installed but might run into problems |
| Micron | S2200, 2200S | All with MTFDHBA prefix are a disaster! If used as a WINDOWS drive, they must be blocked by code; otherwise, Hackintosh won’t boot |
| Lexar | nm620 m.2 2280 pcie | Completely unusable, presence of this SSD also prevents system boot, must use SSDT to block it |
| INTEL | Optane | Not functional with it inside! Must remove it |
| Plextor | M9P Plus PX-512M9PGN +, PLEXTOR PX-1TM10PGN | Many Plextor models have issues, not recommended |
| Asgard | AN3+, AN2 | Installation possible, but might experience slow or laggy performance |
| GIGABYTE | GIGABYTE 512 GB M.2 PCIe SSD | GP-GSM2NE8512GNTD, installation might be possible but with issues |
| ADATA | Swordfish 2 TB M.2-2280 | Installation might be possible but with issues |
| Netac | NVME SSD 480 | Reported as not installable, not tested by the author |
| ADATA | S7 2TB | Cannot be installed |
| ZHITAI | Control chip by InnoGrit | Installable with InnoGrit controller, but extremely slow speeds, less than 200mb/s write, not recommended at all, barely usable system. Most with LSI controller don’t have issues |
| J.ZAO | J.ZAO 5 SERIES 512GB SSD | Control chip by InnoGrit, installable but slow, system crashes upon data write, essentially unusable!! |
| Kingtec | TIGO SSD 512GB NVME | Cannot be installed, neither recovery nor install work |
| Dahua | C900 PLUS 1TB | Some batches might use InnoGrit IG5216 controller, PCIE 4, unclear if all are InnoGrit controllers, can install but very slow, only 20MB, slower than USB 2.0 drives, essentially unusable, check controller before purchase. InnoGrit controller not suitable |
If observed carefully, most of the problematic ones are NVME SSDs. It’s crucial to update to the latest firmware before installing Hackintosh on NVME SSDs with compatibility issues. Currently, almost every SATA SSD is fine. However, it should be noted that SATA must be in AHCI mode; RAID ON and RST modes are not supported. If your BIOS doesn’t support AHCI (as is the case with some HP products), installation won’t be possible.