Macintosh clone

Macintosh clone refers to a computer not produced by Apple that has been made capable to run some version of the Macintosh operating system.

History
Because Macintosh ROMs were designed by Apple Computer to be difficult to reverse engineer without legal infringement, the earliest Mac clones were based around repurposed Apple logic boards.

During Apple's short-lived Mac OS 7 licensing program, authorized Mac clone makers were able to either purchase 100% compatible motherboards or build their own hardware using licensed Mac reference designs. However, with the return of Steve Jobs to Apple in December 1996, the program was quickly shut down with the release of Mac OS 8.

Since Apple's transition to Intel processors, many PC computers are technologically similar enough to Macintosh computers to be able to boot some versions of Mac OS X using a varying combination of community-developed patches and hacks. Such a PC running macOS is more commonly referred to as a "Hackintosh" and the most popular community effort developing and sharing the requisite software patches is known as OSx86.