Hello I want to share my success with the Minisforum MS-A2 with installing macOS Tahoe.
Specs:
| Component |
Details |
| Model |
Minisforum MS-A2 |
| Processor |
AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX |
| Memory |
64GB DDR5 5600 MT/s in Dual-Channel |
| SSD |
Kingston NVME 1TB |
| Graphics |
Radeon E9173 2GB (Lexa Core) |
| Ethernet_1 |
Realtek RTL8125 2.5G |
| Ethernet_2 |
Intel I226-V 2.5G |
| Ethernet_3 |
Intel X710 SFP+ 10G |
| Ethernet_4 |
Intel X710 SFP+ 10G |
| WIFI |
Intel AX200 WIFI 6 |
| Bluetooth |
AX200 Bluetooth 5.3 |
The MS-A2 is a Mini PC that comes out of the box with:
- The Mini PC itself with the Ryzen 9 9955HX or 7945HX soldered on it.
- 4 Ethernet controllers (See table above)
- Mediatek MT7922 WIFI card (Needs to be replaced with an Intel one that is compatible with macOS)
- A secondary fan to cool the 2x NVME gen 5 slots that it has.
- Power Supply (240W) 19.5V
- RAM and Storage (Optional, as the MS-A2 can be bought in a Barebones configuration)
What you need to provide to run macOS Tahoe on this Mini PC:
- DDR5 SODIMMS (There are 2 slots) (If you have a barebones config)
- Storage (There is 2 slots available to add NVMEs) (If you have a barebones config)
- A low profile and single slot DGPU (A basic Radeon 610M integrated GPU is available in the motherboard but it has to be disabled in order to run macOS as macOS doesn't have any support for RDNA2 iGPUs)
- The ideal Discrete GPUs to run the latest version of macOS are Radeon cards from (Polaris to Some RDNA2 cards), but on this Mini PC we have the limitation that the only GPUs that will fit inside are Low Profile and Single Slot GPUs so this will limit the GPU that we can use in this Mini PC (Below will mention what DGPU can be used)
- An Intel Wifi card to replace the unsupported Mediatek MT7922
Discrete GPUs that will fit this Mini PC and will work in macOS (without any root patches like OCLP)
As only Low profile and Single slot cards will fit I've made this list of possible GPUs to get
- AMD Radeon Pro WX2100 (This is the best choice as its cheap and easily available online, It will need a spoof as it has the Lexa Core)
- AMD Radeon Pro WX3100 (It will need a spoof as it has the Lexa Core)
- AMD Radeon Pro WX4100, WX3200 (Will work without any extra work)
- AMD Radeon RX 550 (Some models with the Lexa core will need a spoof)
- AMD Radeon RX 560 (Visiontek has a model that will fit)
- AMD Radeon E9173 (This is the gpu that I'm using. Lexa core, it will need a spoof)
What is working in macOS:
- Full access to the 16 Cores and 32 threads of the CPU.
- CPU Power Management
- Sleep / Wake
- All 4 Ethernet Controlers and Wifi (Using Heliport app).
- Native Bluetooth.
- NVME power management
- GPU Acceleration (Using Spoffed Radeon E9173)
- USB Ports mapped and working correctly.
- HDMI and USB C Audio
What is not working in macOS:
- Integrated Radeon 610M (No support at all for it).
- Hibernation.
- Onboard Audio (As macOS Tahoe removed the AppleHDA kext it will need a root patch to work again) (Alternatively you can use VoodooHDA to get this working but with worse audio quality)
Benchmarks:
Conclusion:
I think this Mini PC is a really good product if you are interested in having a versatile and expandable Mini PC as it comes with a really powerful 16 Cores and 32 Threads Zen 5 CPU that gives it really good performance in single core apps. (and multicore too) and the hardware that can be made compatible with macOS with the use of the respective Kexts, and thanks to the socketed Wifi card, you can install an compatible Intel WIFI card. But you will need to provide your own compatible GPU. Overall I've had a good experience with the process.
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