There are three major steps to install OS X High Sierra in VirtualBox in a Windows 10 host:
Install MacOS High Sierra 10.13 On VMware; Install MacOS High Sierra 10.13 On VirtualBox; Install MacOS Sierra 10.12 On VMware Step By Step; Fix macOS High Sierra Problem on VMware. In this article, we’ve covered the problems from the comment section and will solve them here so if you had any of these problems, of course, you can find the. Install VirtualBox You can download VirtualBox latest version from the link which I have given on the requirements, and install that on your computer. After that, the installation process is complete so follow the steps on pictorial for installation. Create a New Virtual Machine for macOS High Sierra.
I used a Mac in the first two steps and completed the last two steps on the target Windows machine.
Downloading High Sierra
At the time of this writing, High Sierra was the most recent version of Mac OS X that could be installed in a VirtualBox virtual machine. However, High Sierra is no longer available for download from the Apple App Store.
High Sierra can still be downloaded from third-party websites. I downloaded a copy through this macOS High Sierra Patcher Tool for Unsupported Macs. Once the tool is downloaded, open it and use its built-in downloading feature. In the menu bar, select Tools > Download macOS High Sierra…
After a few minutes, you should have a copy of the High Sierra installer.
Preparing an ISO
Once you have a copy of the High Sierra installer, an iso file must be prepared to install it in the virtual machine. The only way I could get an iso that worked on VirtualBox was by using the script suggested in this superuser.com answer:
Note that this is the original script, and it was written assuming that the High Sierra installer was downloaded from the App Store into the Applications directory. Before running the script, make sure the installer variable points to the right location of your High Sierra installer.
Setting up the Virtual Machine
Switch to the Windows 10 machine in which you want to set up the virtual machine. Copy over the iso created in the previous step and make sure both VirtualBox and its extension pack are installed. If not, both can be downloaded from this page. With both pieces of software installed, create the virtual machine the following steps:
- Open VirtualBox
- Click New to create a new virtual machine.
- Enter the name for the new virtual machine; e.g., High Sierra, and click Next.
- Select the amount of RAM for your virtual machine, making sure you leave enough for Windows, and click Next.
- Choose Create a virtual hard disk now and click Create.
- Leave the default setting VDI (Virtual Disk Image) and click Next.
- Leave the default setting Dynamically allocated and click Next.
- Choose the size of the virtual hard disk and click Create.
Macos High Sierra Virtualbox
At this point, the virtual machine has been created, but it requires extra configuration to install High Sierra from the iso file you created earlier.
- Select the High Sierra virtual machine you just created and click Settings (the button with the cog icon).
- On the side menu, click System.
- On the Motherboard tab of the right panel, uncheck the Floppy option from the Boot Order list.
- Switch to the Processor tab, set the number of Processor(s) to 2 or more and check the Enable PAE/NX option.
- On the side menu, click Storage.
- Under storage devices, click Empty.
- Under Attributes, click the optical disk icon.
- Select the High Sierra iso, and check the Use host I/O cache option.
- On the side menu, click Display.
- Set Video Memory to 128 MB.
- Click OK to save.
For the last configuration steps, close VirtualBox, open the Windows command line prompt, and run the following commands:
Finally, open VirtualBox again, select your High Sierra virtual machine, and click Start. This will boot your virtual machine with the High Sierra iso set up earlier. Simply follow the steps to install the operating system.
References
The macOS High Sierra is the fourteenth installment of macOS. As the name reflects, it is a more refined version of macOS Sierra. Much like what happened when OS X Leopard became OS X Snow Leopard, where latter was a refinement of the former. The major changes are under the hood.
The macOS Sierra was very well received when it released. The macOS Sierra improved the integration between Macs and other Apple devices (iPhone(s), and Apple Watches). The macOS High Sierra is built on top of the functionality already in place, and further improves it.
One of the major changes includes external GPU support, in turn, providing VR headsets compatibility. A new Apple File System (APFS) is now in place, replacing the previous HFS+ file system. The video watching experience is also upgraded. While it’ll play 4K resolution whenever available, it’s also upgrading to the newer industry standard, HEVC video. High-Efficiency Video Codec (HEVC or H.265) compresses videos up to 40% more than the previous standard (H.264). While videos are more compressed, they stream much better and occupy less storage. Together, providing a smooth playback experience.
Other new features include a faster and much more secure Safari. It now prevents ad-tracking and auto-playing videos. A new, refined Photos app is in place as well. It features a better sorting tool, more editing tools, facial recognition, and all of this complemented with a new layout. It also features a new Mail app, with subtle changes to the previous one and consumes less storage. There are other numerous features spread across all of the apps making it a nice upgrade. The best part is, it is available as a free upgrade.
Now, if you are a windows user and want to try out this new macOS release, there is no direct way of doing so. Hacintosh is a system running macOS on non-Apple devices but it has quite a learning curve. It is now even more troublesome as EFI firmware checks will now be deployed weekly with the release of macOS High Sierra. However, if you want to install and try it on a virtual machine, right inside your current Windows OS, you are in luck.
To do so, we need VirtualBox. VirtualBox lets you install just about any OS inside your current OS in a controlled environment.
Install macOS High Sierra in Virtual Box / Windows 10
To install macOS High Sierra in Virtual Box, you first need Virtual Box to be installed. If not, install that first. The Virtual Box installation is pretty basic. You just have to press Next a couple of times and you are good to go.
You need to make sure your system meets the below system requirements.
Minimum System Requirements
- A Dual-Core processor.
- 2 GB RAM.
- 80 GB Disk Space.
- 256 MB Graphics Memory.
If your system meets the above requirements, proceed further.
Install Virtual Box
- Head over to the download page and download the setup.
- Now, open the setup and click Next on the welcome screen.
- Next, select the components to install and installation directory. Click on Next.
- Next, when asked for a network interface warning, click on Next.
- Now finally click on Install and you are ready.
Virtualbox High Sierra Install
Now that Virtual Box is installed, we can proceed further.
Install macOS High Sierra
- First, download the macOS High Sierra 10.12 Virtual Box image from the links given below. The file is around 5.4 GB so make sure you are not on a metered connection.
Download Link 1 - When done, extract it and keep the content somewhere easily accessible.
- Next, we need to create a new Virtual Machine.
- Open Virtual Box.
- Click on New.
- Give it a name. Select Type as MAC OS X and version as macOS 10.13 High Sierra.
- Next, allocate the desired amount of RAM to the virtual machine. 2 GB is the minimum, or higher depending on your system.
- On the Hard Disk window, select the use an existing virtual hard disk file option. Select the extracted disk file.
- When created, open the System tab, uncheck the Floppy option under Boot Order.
- In the Display tab, increase the Video Memory to 128 MB.
- Now, see your Virtual Machine’s name under the General tab in Name field. Copy that and replace “VM_NAME” with the name you just copied in the code below.
- Paste the code on notepad and run all the commands on CMD with Administrative Privileges one by one.
CODE:
cd “C:Program FilesOracleVirtualBox”
VBoxManage.exe modifyvm “VM_NAME” –cpuidset 00000001 000106e5 00100800 0098e3fd bfebfbff
VBoxManage setextradata “VM_NAME” “VBoxInternal/Devices/efi/0/Config/DmiSystemProduct” “iMac11,3”
VBoxManage setextradata “VM_NAME” “VBoxInternal/Devices/efi/0/Config/DmiSystemVersion” “1.0”
VBoxManage setextradata “VM_NAME” “VBoxInternal/Devices/efi/0/Config/DmiBoardProduct” “Iloveapple”
VBoxManage setextradata “VM_NAME” “VM_NAME”/Devices/smc/0/Config/DeviceKey” “ourhardworkbythesewordsguardedpleasedontsteal(c)AppleComputerInc”
VBoxManage setextradata “VM_NAME” “VBoxInternal/Devices/smc/0/Config/GetKeyFromRealSMC” 1
Now, your Virtual Machine is ready. To begin, open the Virtual Box and run your newly created Virtual Machine. If all went fine, your Virtual Machine should start. On start, you’ll see some codes executing and it’ll take somewhere around 5-10 minutes.
When done, you’ll see the Welcome Screen of macOS High Sierra.
Now, just follow the standard on-screen instructions and choose your keyboard layout.
Select your region, whether or not you want to sign in with an Apple ID, etc.
The setup is very basic and will be done in a couple of minutes.
When done, you’ll have your new installation of macOS High Sierra ready.
You are now ready to try out the new macOS High Sierra 10.13 on your Windows OS. The process is fairly simple and you should be able to do it without any problem. The performance will entirely depend on your system configuration and amount of resources you allocated to the Virtual Machine. You can test the OS on top of your Windows OS just like you run any other app on it. This way, you don’t need to fiddle around with the hardware.
Article Contents
- Install macOS High Sierra in Virtual Box / Windows 10