Lenovo Thinkpad T450 & T450s Hackintosh Guide for Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur & Monterey with OpenCore

This repo contains the installation guide and EFI files required to get a perfectly functional Monterey, Big Sur, Catalina and Mojave hackintosh on your T450 or T450s since they share the same hardware. Everything is stable and functional as described in this Readme.

A few worthy mentions about this repo:

• This guide is not for models with Haswell 4th gen CPU
• The patched ACPI files were first created by EchoEspirit. I tweaked a couple of things and fixed some errors that were happening on T450 + added Intel WiFi drivers from Openintelwireless
• I will try my best to keep the repo updated with the latest kexts and OpenCore version
• This EFI works with macOS Monterey, Big Sur, Catalina and Mojave -For macOS Monterey this EFI will not have full support since it's still in Beta so don't expect flawless functionality
• This EFI is Configured with Big Sur in mind. If you are using it on Monterey, Catalina or Mojave read the the whole guide to know where to make the necessary changes
• With every EFI update you retrieve from here please remember to go through the post install guide

Introduction

EFI folder and Guide for Thinkpad T450 and T450s Hackintosh Monterey.

• Tested CPUs: i5-5200U/5300u & i7-5600u
• Integrated Graphics: HD Graphics 5500
• Sound Card: ALC292
• Wireless Cards Tested: DW1820A 00JT494/Broadcom BCM94360CSAX/Intel 7265/7260

Bios

• Security -> Security Chip: Disabled;
• Memory Protection -> Execution Prevention: Enabled;
• Virtualization -> Intel Virtualization Technology: Enabled;
• Virtualization -> Vt-directed IO: Disabled;
• Internal Device Access -> Bottom Cover Tamper Detection: must be Disabled;
• Anti-Theft -> Computrace -> Current Setting: Disabled;
• Secure Boot -> Secure Boot: Disabled;
• UEFI/Legacy Boot: UEFI Only;
• Fingerprint Sensor: Disabled (Causes issues with wake from sleep);
• CSM Support: Yes.

Note: If you can't see any boot entries with CMS support set to Yes, change it to NO. After this you will get a garbled screen, to fix this put the laptop to sleep by closing the lid till the light starts blinking and wake it up

What works

• Sleep / Wake
• Wifi and Bluetooth (Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265 or 7260 cards with Airportitlwm.kext) (Note: the intel kexts for wifi and bluetooth come with some issues, see post install notes for more info, new Airportitlwm Monterey kext & fixes)
• AirPort Extreme (Broadcom BCM94360CSAX & NGFF A/E Adapter) Recommended Upgrade to get native WiFi & Bluetooth
• Handoff, Continuity, AirDrop
• iMessage, FaceTime, App Store, iTunes Store (see post install guide for more info)
• Ethernet
• Onboard audio (see post install guide for more info)
• USB 2.0 / USB 3.0
• Dual Batteries
• Touchpad
• Trackpoint
• miniDP
• SD Card Reader (Enable Sinetek-rtsx.kext in Config.plist because it is unstable to be left on by default)
• HiDPI (Use one-key-hidpi)
• Sidecar (see post install guide for more info)

What doesn't work

• VGA

Note: If you need to edit Config.plist, don't use OpenCore configurator or Clover configurator, use PlistEdit pro, PropperTree, or Xcode.

Installation Guide (Online Installer Reccomended)

macOS Monterey Offline Installer (Only availabile for macOS as of now)

macOS Guide

1. Download gibMacOS
2. Right click gibMacOS.command and click open (a terminal window will launch)
3. Type "c" to change the catalog and then type "4" to view the list of all developer betas.
4. Select an option on the list (macOS 12.0 will likely be number 1 on the list
5. Type in the corresponding number (gibmacOS will start to download macOS 12.0)
6. It will download Monterey (11.78 GB) and it will place the contents in gibMacOS folder under macOS Downloads/developer/071-51840 - 12.0 macOS 12 Beta
7. Open the InstallAssistant.pkg that will extract the installer to your Applications folder
8. Open disk utility and format your usb as macOS Extended Journaled with a GUID partiton scheme.
9. Open a terminal window and run this command: sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ 12\ Beta.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume

Note: Change MyVolume to the name of your usb partiton

10. Open terminal and run "diskutil list" then find your flash drive along with its EFI partition identifier
11. Run "sudo diskutil mount identifier" (replace "identifier with your EFI identifier number)
12. Download the latest EFI created here
13. Copy the EFI folder and paste it in your USB partiton

Note: Make sure to apply the correct bios settings before continuing (provided above)

14. Restart your laptop and hit F12
15. Select your flash drive as temporary boot option
16. Now in the OpenCore menu select Install macOS 12 Beta Great! Now install and set up macOS Monterey as usual. When you are done be sure to read the post install guide.

macOS Big Sur Online Installer (Recomended)

This is a simple and quick summary of the online install USB creation

Windows Guide:

1. Download rufus
2. Select the desired flash drive you would like to put the installer on under the device option
3. Select non-bootable as the boot selection (REQUIRED)
4. Select FAT-32 or Large FAT-32 as the partition scheme
5. Open up the usb partition in file explorer and delete the files created by rufus
6. Create a folder on that partiton named com.apple.recovery.boot
7. Install python (Make sure you select add python x.x to path)
8. Download and extract the OpenCore Package
9. Select the macrecovery folder in the opencorepkg folder at /Utilities/macrecovery/
10. Click on home > copy path at the top of file explorer
11. Fire up command prompt and type cd and hit spacebar and paste the path of the macrecovery folder.
12. Run the command ./macrecovery.py -b Mac-E43C1C25D4880AD6 -m 00000000000000000
13. This will put some files in the macrecovery folder but we only need BaseSystem.dmg and BaseSystem.chunklist
14. Paste both of those files in the com.apple.recovery.boot folder in your flash drive partiton
15. Download the latest EFI created here
16. Copy the EFI folder and paste it in your USB partiton

Note: Make sure to apply the correct bios settings before continuing (provided above)

17. Restart your laptop and hit F12
18. Select your flash drive as temporary boot option
19. Now in the OpenCore menu select the name of your USB partiton Great! Now install and set up macOS Big Sur as usual. When you are done be sure to read the post install guide.

macOS Guide:

1. Launch Disk Utility
2. Select View > Show all devices at the top left
3. Select your flash drive and format it as MS-DOS (FAT) or FAT-32
4. Open up your usb partiton and create a folder named com.apple.recovery.boot
5. Download and extract the OpenCore Package
6. Select the macrecovery folder in the opencorepkg folder at /Utilities/macrecovery/
7. Right click and click "New terminal at folder"
8. Run the command ./macrecovery.py -b Mac-E43C1C25D4880AD6 -m 00000000000000000 in the terminal window
9. This will put some files in the macrecovery folder but we only need BaseSystem.dmg and BaseSystem.chunklist
10. Paste both of those files in the com.apple.recovery.boot folder in your flash drive partiton
11. Download the latest EFI created here
12. Copy the EFI folder and paste it in your USB partiton

Note: Make sure to apply the correct bios settings before continuing (provided above)

13. Restart your laptop and hit F12
14. Select your flash drive as temporary boot option
15. Now in the OpenCore menu select the name of your USB partiton Great! Now install and set up macOS Big Sur as usual. When you are done be sure to read the post install guide.

Linux Guide:

Follow this guide to set up the online macOS Big Sur Installer in Linux. I haven't gotten time to write a detailed guide.

The Dortania Installation Guide is more detailed and you easily refer to it for more details. I haven't gotten time to write a detailed guide.

Note:

1. If you are installing Catalina or Mojave it is important that you disable Airportitlwm.kext in Kernel/Add/20 of Config.plist and enable itlwm.kext instead. Read Post Install #4.

2. For those having a black screen or frozen installer when booting the install USB, create the USB using macOS and not Linux or Windows. Details on that here

Post Install

Once you have verifed that your machine boots properly without any issues as described in the "What Works section", proceed to do the following

1. Disable Verbose mode (the black screen with logs on boot up)

In Config.plist, navigate to NVRAM -> Add -> 7C436110-AB2A-4BBB-A880-FE41995C9F82 -> boot-args and delete the -v argument

2. Disable AppleDebug, ApplePanic & ShowPicker

In the Config.plist, naviaget to Misc -> Debug and change both AppleDebug and ApplePanic to False (NO)

You can also disable the boot picker screen so that you boot straight to th Apple logo by setting ShowPicker under Misc -> Boot to False (NO)

Note: you can still see the boot picker with ShowPicker set to no/false by spamming Esc before the apple logo is displayed during boot.

3. Enable WiFi with the Intel card on Monterey, Catalina and Mojave

If you are on Catalina or Mojave, you can enable WiFi on the Intel card by navigating (in config.plist) to Kernel -> Add -> 20 and set Enabled to False/NO (Disabling Airportitlwm.kext) and in 21 set Enabled to True/YES (Enabling itlwm.kext). After enabling these and rebooting install Heliport App (included in Utilities).

Or you can use Airportitlwm.kext for Catalina from Intel WiFi Kexts folder and get native wifi on Catalina in the expense of loosing trackpad after wake from sleep.

For those on Monterey & Big Sur you can comfortably use the Airportitlwm.kext included as the trackpad issues after sleep do not happen on Big Sur.

Note:

1. Airportitlwm.kext gives you native WiFi menu and enables location services, but often causes issues with the trackpad & trackpoint after waking from sleep (it doesn't work) on Catalina and Mojave (not Big Sur). A quick fix is to put the laptop to sleep again by closing the lid until the red sleep light starts to blink then waking the laptop again. Also it only happens when you put the laptop to sleep for a very long time (more than 2 or 3 hours). So for those who don't put their laptop to sleep for a very long time and just turn it off after use, this kext is ok to use.

2. The Airportitlwm.kext included in this EFI is for Big Sur. For those in Monterey take the kext in Monterey folder inside Intel WiFi kexts and replace the one in EFI -> Kexts. For those in Catalina or Mojave you should use the one in Intel WiFi Kexts Folder of this repo (Recommended) and replace the one in EFI -> Kexts. Note: the Airportitlwm kext for macOS Monterey is very new and may have issues. Please report those issues here.

3. Airportitlwm causes the bluetooth to be unstable and because so you may experience stutters or interruptions while using bluetooth headphones. To fix this you can turn off wifi and connect via ethernet or you can get 8x series cards to fix this or buy the recomended cards (DW1820A 00JT494 or Broadcom BCM94360CSAX)

4. Enable Caps lock indicator and additional Thinkpad features you used to get on Windows

Using YogaSMC you can gain this functionality back. Install the YogaSMC App-Release from here. Install it then open it to set it up.

5. Enabling bluetooth toggle to be able to turn off bluetooth

You can enable IntelBluetoothFirmware.kext & IntelBluetoothInjector.kext to be able to turn off bluetooth by enabling those kexts in config.plist This is not done by default because it increases boot times For those on macOS Monterey do not enable these kexts because the system will not boot

6. Add Device Properties for Serial number, MLB, ROM, Sytem-UUID and optionally SystemProductName.

Follow this guide to set up serial number and the accompanying info to get iServices

If you want to get wired sidecar working, in Config.plist change the string in Platforminfo > Generic> SystemProductName to MacBook9,1 (note: this causes the battery to drain faster)

7. Fix USB mouse side buttons.

If you are using a usb mouse with side buttons, you can spoof apple usb mouse by change the pid and vid in AnyAppleUSBMouse.kext/Info.plist and enable it in Config.plist.

8. Fixing static noise

When you connect headphones/earbuds via the headphone jack you will hear static noise. To fix this install alc_fix_new located in Utilities folder of this repo.