Apple’s Full Transition to Apple Silicon: A Defining Schism for Intel Mac Enthusiasts

Apple’s announcement at WWDC 2025 confirming that macOS 26 Tahoe will be the final version supporting Intel-based Macs marks a decisive milestone in the company’s hardware evolution. The declaration, made during the WWDC Platforms State of the Union, signals not just the conclusion of macOS support for legacy Intel hardware, but also a fundamental change in the viability of OpenCore Legacy Patcher (OCLP) and Hackintosh practices, both long established in the macOS enthusiast community.

End of the Road: OpenCore and Hackintosh

According to AppleInsider and 9to5Mac, the technical and community ramifications of this transition are significant. OpenCore, which has enabled macOS updates on unsupported Intel Macs, will no longer be able to patch future versions. Apple will remove all Intel-specific code—including the x86_64 kernel and related binaries—from upcoming macOS releases, starting