Thinkpad X1 Carbon 4th 2016 running macOS (OpenCore bootloader)

First OpenCore build for X1C4 ever

Introduction

General knowledge & credits

• Why OpenCore

• To install macOS follow the guides provided by Dortania

• Lots of SSDT patches from OC-little

• Acidanthera that make this possible

My Hardware

• Model: Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 4-2016
• Processor: Intel Core i5-6300U (2C, 2.6 / 3.4GHz, 4MB)vPro
• Graphics: Integrated Intel HD Graphics 520
• Memory: 8GB Soldered
• Display: 14" HD (1080P) IPS
• Sound Card: Conexant CX20753/4
• Storage: 256GB SSD M.2 NVME
• WLAN + Bluetooth: DW1560
• Camera: 720p
• Keyboard: Backlit
• Fingerprint Reader: Yes
• Battery: 3-cell (23Wh) + 3-cell (26Wh)

What if I don't have this exact model?

This EFI will suit any X1C4 regardless of CPU model¹ / RAM amount / Display resolution² / Storage drive (SATA or NVMe³).

NVRAM -> Add -> 7C436110-AB2A-4BBB-A880-FE41995C9F82 -> UIScale = 2

Recommended changes

USB ports map

Use one of the following methods if needed:

• USBMap from CorpNewt

• USBPorts from Hackintool

• Native USB fix without injector kext

CPU Power Management

If you want to take a step forward and create a custom CPU power profile, follow the steps below:

• Use CPUFriendFriend to generate a .plist file with PM data; (settings for i7-6600u):

Low Frequency Mode (LFM) = 800MHz #(TDP-down frequency for i7-6600u)
Energy Performance Preference (EPP) = 80 #(Balance power)

• via ResourceConverter.sh inside CPUFriend, select the .plist to generate either CPUFriendDataProvider.kext or SSDT-DATA.dsl;

• Load CPUFriend.kext and CPUFriendDataProvider.kext inside EFI/OC/config.plist or

• Alternatively combine SSDT-DATA.dsl data with SSDT-PLUG and load it with CPUFriend.kext inside EFI/OC/config.plist.

That's how power consumption looks like on my machine at idle state:

True Macbook experience 

Generate your own SMBIOS

run the script with MacbookPro13,1
add results to PlatformInfo > Generic > MLB, SystemSerialNumber and SystemUUID

Enable HiDPI with RDM Utility

install RDM Utility
open it, click on "resolution", then "edit"
for 2560x1440 screens I suggest using 1440x810 resolution
to accomplish that, use the settings below

Other tweaks

Karabiner-Elements for remap F keyboard functions

https://irvue.tumblr.com for changing wallpaper automatically from Unplash

Monitor temperatures and power consumption with HWMonitor

This app is relatively old and no longer supported, but it gets the job done and has a nice simple look.

Bios settings

• Config > USB > UEFI BIOS Support > Enable
• Config > Power > Intel SpeedStep Technology > Enable
• Config > Power > CPU Power Management > Enable
• Config > CPU > Hyper-Threading Technology > Enable
• Security > Security Chip > Disable
• Security > Memory Protection>Execution Prevention>Enable
• Security > Virtualization > Intel Virtualization Technology > Enable
• Security > Virtualization > Intel VT-d Feature > Enable
• Security > Anti-Theft > Computrace > Current Setting > Disable
• Security > Secure Boot > Disable
• Security > Intel SGX > Disable
• Security > Device Guard > Disable
• Startup > UEFI/Legacy Boot > UEFI Only
• Startup > CSM Support > No
• Startup > Boot Mode > Quick

What's working ✔️

Startup time from OC Picker to Desktop is 25s

• CPU Power Management ~1W on IDLE

• Intel HD 520 Graphics incuding graphics acceleration

• All USB ports with custom kext or SSDT

• Internal camera working fine on FaceTime, Skype, Webex and others

• Sleep / Wake / Shutdown / Reboot with lid sernsor

• Intel Gigabit Ethernet

• [Wifi, Bluetooth, Airdrop, Handoff, Continuity, Sidecar wireless]

• iMessage, FaceTime, App Store, iTunes Store Generate your own SMBIOS

• DRM support iTunes Movies, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime, Netflix and others

• Speakers and headphones jack fairly good volume

• Batteries very stable and precise capacity tracking

• Trackpad, Trackpoint and physical buttons two fingers swipe and three fingers gestures

• SIP and FileVault 2 can be enabled

• miniDP and HDMI with digital audio passthrough

• SD Card Reader slow r/w speed but works

What's not working ⚠️

• Fingerprint Reader

• WWAN not tested

Update tracker 🔄

Item	Version
MacOS	10.15.6
OpenCore	0.5.9
Lilu	1.4.5
VirtualSMC	1.1.4
WhateverGreen	1.4.0
AppleALC	1.5.0
VoodooPS2Controller	2.1.4
VoodooInput	1.0.5
IntelMausi	1.0.3

Thanks to

The hackintosh community from GitHub, InsanelyMac and r/hackintosh.

Footnotes

1. custom CPU Power Management guide ↩

2. 1440p display models should change UIScale to 2 for better resolution while booting ↩

3. Some NVMe drives may not work OOTB with MacOS, NVMeFix could resolve some issues. ↩