${\textsf{\color{red}As of June 2024, the project is abandoned after repurposing this laptop for other use.}}$

${\textsf{\color{red}Last working status: 0.9.8 configuration via OpenCore 1.0.0 for macOS 13.6.7 Ventura.}}$

This repository contains personal work and files, developed and maintained for a successful use with Clover EFI bootloader originally and OpenCore bootloader subsequently, on this specific Lenovo model. There are no ready, pre-packaged EFI solutions provided; instead, the needed configuration and ACPI files are published for those interested in studying the code, while creating their own bootloader configurations.

• Sandy Bridge = All Core ix-3xxx (HD Graphics 3000)
• Ivy Bridge = All Core ix-3xxx (HD Graphics 4000)
• Haswell = All Core ix-4xxx (HD Graphics 4600)
• Broadwell = All Core ix-5xxx (Iris Pro Graphics 6200)
• Skylake = All Core ix-6xxx (HD Graphics 5xx)
• Kaby Lake = All Core ix-7xxx (UHD/Iris Plus Graphics 6xx)
• Coffee Lake = All Core ix-8xxx (UHD/Iris Plus Graphics 6xx)
• Whiskey Lake = All Core ix-8xxx (UHD Graphics 6xx)

Specifications: see Lenovo website

Platform: see Lenovo IdeaPad S145 14iWL Platform.pdf

Downloads: see Lenovo website

CPU: Intel Core i5-8265U @ 1.60 GHz up to 3.90 GHz / 4 Cores / 8 Threads

GPU: Intel UHD Graphics 620 @ 300 MHz up to 1.10 GHz

Specifications: see Intel website

V4 Scores: https://browser.geekbench.com/v4/cpu/search?q=Core+i5-8265U

V5 Scores: https://browser.geekbench.com/v5/cpu/search?q=Core+i5-8265U

Mac Model: MacBookPro15,2
CPU: Intel Core i5-8259U @ 2.30 GHz
GPU: Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655
Everymac: https://everymac.com/ultimate-mac-lookup/?search_keywords=MacBookPro15,2
Board ID: Mac-827FB448E656EC26
BIOS Revision: MBP152.88Z.F000.B00.2001180025
BIOS Revision: MBP152.88Z.F000.B00.2004232118
BIOS Revision: MBP152.88Z.F000.B00.2103102019
BIOS Revision: MBP152.88Z.F000.B00.2105212330
BIOS Revision: MBP152.88Z.F000.B00.2110032010
BIOS Revision: MBP152.88Z.F000.B00.2202152135

Memory: 16GB in 1 x 16GB SO-DIMM (1.2V)
RAM: Kingston HyperX Impact DDR4 @ 2666 MHz CL15 (Model HX426S15IB2/16)
WLAN: Intel Wireless-AC 9260 Adapter (NGFF) [8086:2526]
BTLE: Intel BTLE 5.1 Integrated Device [8087:0025]
NVMe: Intel NVMe 660p Series (M.2) 512GB (Model SSDPEKNW512G8L) [8086:f1a8]
SSD: Intel SSD 535 Series 240GB (Model SSDSC2BW240H6)

N.B. The original 8GB RAM module was SKhynix DDR4 @ 2666 MHz PC4-21300 (Model HMA81GS6CJR8N-VK)

For the essential but required BIOS settings, as well as previous firmware releases, see BIOS folder.

The migration from Clover to OpenCore bootloader was possible by converting common properties using the OpenCore Install Guide and then fine-tuning by comparing some parameters that worked with the Coffee Lake and Whiskey Lake Guide for laptops.

When the Timeout key is set and OpenCore Picker displays the available boot drives:

• Press Space Bar to access the hidden Auxiliary tools e.g. UEFI Shell, NVRAM Cleanup, Verify MSR Lock.
• Press Tab to move selection to the newly available Reboot and Shutdown icons (since OpenCore 0.6.8).

Alternatively, if ShowPicker is disabled or Timeout set to 0, keep pressing Escape or Zero or Option keys to access Picker just before OpenCore kicks-in and starts booting.

• No CPU ID faking required, power management is native; MSR 0xE2 remains locked; ⚠️
• All external USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports work as expected; using generated USBPorts.kext;
• Intel graphics acceleration works as platform ID 0x3EA50009 with WhateverGreen;
• HDMI connection works only with hot-plugging and after using special IGPU port patching;
• Analogue audio output from speakers works as layout ID 0x14 with AppleALC;
• Digital audio output is detected and can be selected when HDMI connection is active;
• The replaced Intel Wireless-AC module works with OpenIntelWireless;
• The BTLE module embedded in Intel Wireless-AC works with IntelBluetoothFirmware;
• The Integrated 4-in-1 Card Reader is not compatible; cannot be disabled in BIOS;
• Power Management is present and active as X86PlatformPlugin is attached to PR00 in IORegistry;
• Sleep/Wake both work without issues; see "Power" section in Hackintool;
• Both NVMe and SSD SATA interfaces work with no effort nor kext needed.

For the complete list of all detected PCI hardware components and their respective addresses via lspci -nn command (in Ubuntu, loaded via USB) see here. This list was created with all devices enabled in BIOS and is used as a device "map" so that PCI IDs can be detected before tweaking the hardware (and BIOS) to run macOS.

The AAPL,ig-platform-id property set to 0x3EA50009 together with needed device-id set to 0x3EA50000 are used for WhateverGreen to successfully enable acceleration on this graphics device [8086:3ea0]. This ID represents the following properties and connectors:

⚠️ Important Note: This Intel UHD Graphics 620 controller defaults to 32MB video memory and there exists no BIOS setting to change it; patching is thus needed for DVMT (Dynamic Video Memory Technology) pre-allocation to set over 32MB of video memory in order to avoid several graphics issues and/or kernel panics. According to the Dortania Coffee Lake and Whiskey Lake Guide for laptops, the following device properties must be set for WhateverGreen:

🚫 Warning: Other users' configurations or guides found on-line, proposed the use of alternative set of values for this GPU which proved rather unstable with this specific laptop setup:

The above active and working USB ports are listed in Hackintool when all unused or non-referenced USB ports are removed. In any other situation, ports such as HS02, HS05, HS06, HS08, HS09, USR1, USR2, SS03 and SS04 may be listed. All ports above are defined in USBPorts.kext according to their electrical connector.

The factory-installed Realtek RTL8821CE wireless card (NGFF) was originally replaced with the Broadcom BCM4350 wireless card [14e4:43a3] what worked well in macOS Catalina with AirportBrcmFixup including its BCM2045A0 Bluetooth device [0a5c:6414] that is supported by BrcmPatchRAM. For reference, this card also known as DW1820A is produced by Foxconn under the code T77H649.00 and uses a BCM94350ZAE chipset, carrying a Lenovo FRU reference 00JT494 [17aa:075a].

However, according to this OSXLatitude thread "Big Sur dropped support for Broadcom BCM4331 and BCM43324 which results in AirPortBrcm4360.kext being no more". A workaround is offered, but eventually this NGFF card was only causing headaches and was replaced with this Intel Wireless-AC 9260 adapter card.

The original 802.11ac PCIe wireless card [10ec:c821] comes from Realtek (model RTL8821CE with integrated Bluetooth controller) but is not compatible with macOS, as there is no driver support.

It was finally replaced with an Intel Wireless-AC 9260 adapter [8086:2526] that also includes an integrated Bluetooth 5.1 adapter [8087:0025] working well with the OpenIntelWireless driver, as the Broadcom BCM4350 purchased caused only headaches especially on Big Sur, despite being supported by AirportBrcmFixup.

With the injection of SSDT-PLUG.aml via OpenCore, we can verify that Power Management is present and active as X86PlatformPlugin is attached to the first CPU core PR00 per the Dortania Guide.

MacOS 12.x Monterey has brought an important change in OpenCore configuration for BTLE, namely the required removal of IntelBluetoothInjector.kext and its replacement by BlueToolFixup.kext found inside BrcmPatchRAM package. The main IntelBluetoothFirmware.kext remains active and must still be loaded, as done previously.

⚠️ From version 2.2.0 of IntelBluetoothFirmware onwards, there is a new kext IntelBTPatcher.kext included that the developers recommend loading as it fixes a bug in Apple's Monterey re-written Bluetooth stack. For more details read here.

There is also a distinct version of AirportItlwm.kext compiled for Monterey only that has to be installed, replacing the Big Sur version of the kext without any OpenCore configuration changes, however.

An analysis of all the novelties that Big Sur brings are detailed over at Dortania.

Once macOS is successfully installed on the NVMe drive, we can use VMware Fusion 12 to install Windows 10 on the SATA drive, thus avoiding the need for dual-boot that does not seem to work too well, all the time. Detailed instructions on how to use the physical SATA drive with VMware Fusion 12 can be found here.