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GUIDE How to Dual Boot macOS Sequoia with Preinstalled Windows 11 [Intel/AMD]

How to Dual Boot macOS Sequoia with Preinstalled Windows 11 on PC [Intel/AMD]

This guide describes how to Dual boot macOS Sequoia with Preinstalled Windows 11 on a PC using Clover and OpenCore. By following this guide, you'll be able to Dual boot macOS Sequoia and Windows 11 on your PC or Laptop. The guide supports Intel and AMD Desktops and Laptops.

Please note that fixing issues (such as Graphics, internet, etc.) is out of the scope of this guide and therefore will not be covered in this guide.

What is Preinstalled Windows?

Before starting with this guide, let's clear up some facts right here, to avoid confusion. Here, preinstalled does not mean that the target system on which you want to Dual Boot with macOS Sequoia and Windows 11, came with Windows 11 factory installed. Although, newer machines might have Windows 11 preinstalled, but not necessarily. It simply means the target system on which you want to Dual Boot with macOS Sequoia is already running Windows 11.

What is Multiboot?

Multiboot refers to the installation of two Operating Systems on a computer. The Operating System can be the same or two different Operating Systems. Moreover, the operating system can be installed either on a single drive or two separate drives for easier management, like updating and keeping it intact with each other.

Multi Boot is necessary to work with two Operating Systems, Windows and Mac, and get the benefits of both OS, enhancing a user's productivity by utilizing both OS on the same computer. Multi Boot can be referred to as Dual Boot sometimes. Multi Boot can be configured either on a single drive, on two separate drives, or even three depending on the Operating System you want to install.

Before starting with this guide, get to know something about Dual Boot. Dual Boot in a single drive requests installing macOS first then installing Windows 10. If you’ve already installed Windows 10 and you’ve some data then you’ll need to make a full backup because installing macOS requires full disk format and all data will be erased. Also, Dual Boot on a separate disk is the best way to dual boot two Operating Systems. Also when you make a dual boot, all the Operating Systems must be running in the same boot mode. If you choose to install macOS Sierra as a UEFI Boot Mode, then you’ll need to install Windows 10 as a UEFI. If you install macOS Sierra as a Legacy Boot Mode, then install Windows 10 as Legacy because if you install macOS Sierra as UEFI and Windows 10 as Legacy, then Windows will not be bootable. It simply won’t work.

Can I Multi-Boot macOS Sequoia on different drives?

Multi-boot on a separate disk is the best way to dual-boot two Operating Systems. With individual disks designated for each OS, the OS and its bootloader are intact using this way. Therefore, less chance of conflicts and interference between the two Operating Systems.

Can I use macOS Sequoia and Windows 11 at the same time without the need to reboot the system?

Dual Booting on the same machine gives you the advantage of switching between both Operating Systems when required, without having the need to use a different machine to run Windows 11 or macOS Sequoia or vice-versa. If you have a need where you require both Operating Systems at the same time, you'll have to either use two different machines or set up a Virtual Machine using VMware ESXi, Proxmox, QEMU/KVM, Unraid, or TrueNAS. Provided that, you'll have to set up two monitors to get the display. In case, you don't want the monitors to be hooked up always, you can set up VNC and operate the Virtual Machine remotely. You can find the guides to the Virtualization linked below:

Requirements

Following are the requirements for Dual Booting macOS Sequoia and Windows 11 on PC. Please ensure you meet the requirements before proceeding with this guide.


Hardware
  • macOS Compatible Hardware for installing macOS Sequoia. See WiFi Compatibility for more information.
Storage
  • At least 500GB SSD. HDDs are highly discouraged due to their poor performance as a boot drive.
  • At least 16GB USB Flash Drive. USB 3.0/3.1/Type-C is preferred. Avoid Generic/Chinese USBs at all costs.
Operating System
  • Windows 11 must be installed before installing macOS Sequoia.
Tools
  • Rufus
  • OCAT


STEP 1: Back up your System

Before you proceed with the installation, we strongly recommend performing a full backup of your existing installation using Mini Tool Shadow Maker, or any other reliable backup/restore tool. In case the installation fails or you encounter any issues with the installation, you can always restore the system to its previous state using the backup you created.

STEP 2: Download macOS Sequoia

The next step is to download macOS Sequoia. Please note that as downloading a full installer is not supported on Windows, you'll need to use a recovery image. This is just a basic recovery image, which will allow you to boot into the macOS Sequoia installer and the complete installer will be downloaded at the time of the installation. If you have access to a Mac, you can easily create a full offline installer. See for more information. To download the recovery image, follow the steps below:

1. Install the latest Python from the Microsoft Store.
2. Download OpenCore Pkg.
3. Extract the downloaded file to your Desktop.
4. Move into the OpenCore-0.X.X-RELEASE/Utilities directory.
5. Right-click on macreceovery folder and select Copy as path.

Screenshot 2022-07-15 104158-min.png




6. Open Command Prompt with Administrator Privileges.

Screenshot 2022-07-15 104112-min.png




Screenshot 2022-07-15 104244-min.png




7. Type cd and then paste the path you copied earlier in step 5 and then press enter key. The command would be the following:

Bash:
cd "C:\Users\Your User Name\Desktop\OpenCore-0.X.X-RELEASE\Utiities\macrecovery"

Screenshot 2022-07-15 104630-min.png


NOTES:
  • Replace the X with the actual OpenCore version.
  • Replace Your User Name with your actual username.

8. Execute the command given below:
Bash:
macrecovery.py -b Mac-E43C1C25D4880AD6 -m 00000000000000000 -os latest download

Screenshot 2022-07-15 104834-min(1).png



9. Once the download is completed, you'll see something like below:

Screenshot 2022-07-15 105224-min.png



You can find BaseSystem.dmg and BaseSystem.chunklist in the OpenCore-0.X.X-RELEASE/Utilities/macrecovery directory.

Screenshot 2022-07-15 105246-min.png



STEP 3: Create macOS Sequoia Bootable USB

Once you have the Recovery image, you can create the macOS Sequoia Bootable USB. To create the macOS Sequoia bootable USB, follow the steps below:

1. Insert your USB Flash Drive (less than 64GB) into your Windows Computer.
2. Download Rufus.
3. Open Rufus and under Device select your target USB Flash Drive
4. Under Boot selection select Non Bootable.
5. Under the Volume label type EFI.
6. Under File System select Large FAT32 (Default) and click on START.

Screenshot 2022-07-16 090447-min.png



7. When prompted, click on OK.

Screenshot 2022-07-16 094256-min.png



Once erased, you'll see the READY status in Rufus.

Screenshot 2022-07-16 094323.png



8. When the USB is ready, click on CLOSE to close Rufus.
9. Now open your USB Flash Drive in Explorer
10. Delete autorun.ico and autorun.inf file from the USB Flash Drive
11. Create a folder named com.apple.recovery.boot in the root directory of the USB Flash Drive
12. Copy BaseSystem.dmg and BaseSystem.chunklist downloaded above into the com.apple.recovery.boot directory.

STEP 4: Create OpenCore EFI

The next step is to prepare OpenCore EFI for booting the installer. Depending on your system, create the OpenCore EFI using the guide linked below. See Chapter 3.

Once you're done with the EFI, you'll need to adjust some parameters that are required for booting macOS Sequoia.

NOTES:
  • The bootloader must be the latest. If you're using Clover, (v5158) or later and if you're using OpenCore (v1.0.0) and later is recommended. You can find the pre-built version of OpenCore in the attachment.
  • Kexts must be the latest. The essential kexts are Lilu, VirtualSMC, WhateverGreen, and AppleALC. If you're using some other kext and an update is available, you should update that too. If you have used Xcode and know how to build kexts from source, build from the latest commit. Users who are new to Xcode can find the pre-built version of the essential kexts in the attachment. This is mandatory for the installation, ensuring the installer boots successfully and does not run into any problems.
  • For AMD Systems, you also need to update the Kernel Patches.
  • As Apple has dropped the support for older Mac Models (up to Skylake), you'll need to update the SMBIOS data to 2018 and later. See Setting Up SMBIOS for more information.

STEP 5: Install OpenCore to Bootable USB

Once your EFI is ready, the next step is to install OpenCore EFI to Bootable USB. See Chapter

STEP 6: Create Partition for macOS

As macOS will be installed on the same drive on which Windows 11 is installed, you'll need to create a partition for installing macOS Sequoia. To create the partition, follow the steps below:

1. Right-click on This PC and select Manage.
2. Select Disk Management under the Storage menu.
3. Right-click on Local Disk (C:) and click on Shrink Volume.
4. When prompted, enter the amount of space to shrink (in MB) and click on Shrink. The minimum disk space requirement is 50GB. The space you define will be used for installing macOS Sequoia.

Once the free space is created, an Unallocated partition will appear in the Disk Management. You need to format the volume.

5. Right-click on the Unallocated partition and select New Simple Volume.
6. Continue with the wizard until the Format Partition.
7. To easily identify the disk later, type Macintosh HD in the Volume label field. The rest of the parameters will remain unchanged i.e. default values.
8. Review the summary and click on Finish.
9. A new partition will be created with the chosen options.
10. Close Disk Management

STEP 7: Setup BIOS

Before installing macOS, you'll need to set up the BIOS/UEFI first. To set up the BIOS/UEFI, follow the guide linked below:

NOTES:
  • Enable Intel PTT and AMDfTPM to enable TPM
  • If settings such as SATA Mode and Boot Mode are not up to the mark, and Windows 11 was installed with those settings, your PC may not boot back to Windows 11 after changing the BIOS settings for macOS.

STEP 8: Boot macOS Sequoia Installer

After preparing your installation USB, and EFI and setting up your BIOS/UEFI, you're ready to install it on your target PC.

1. Plug your Bootable USB and restart your PC.
2. Boot to Boot Menu.
3. Select your USB Flash Drive with the UEFI Prefix and press enter to boot.
4. When at the OC Boot picker, select EFI Recovery.dmg and press enter to boot. The installer will load in a while. If you have an existing version of macOS, the drive may appear in the OpenCore Boot picker.

STEP 9: Installing macOS Sonoma

1. When at the installation screen, select your preferred language and continue.
2. Select Disk Utility and click on Continue.
3. When at Disk Utility, Click on View, and then select Show all Devices.
4. Now select Macintosh HD partition which you created earlier in STEP #X and click on the Erase button.
5. Select APFS from the Format menu and click on Erase.
6. After easing the disk, click on Done and close Disk Utility. You can click on Show Details to verify if the USB has been erased with APFS format.

NOTE: Do not erase the whole target disk.

7. Select Install macOS 15 beta and click on Continue and then continue with the options.
8. Now select Macintosh HD and click on Continue.

Now, macOS Sequoia will begin installing to your selected disk.

NOTES:
  • Steps #4- #5 will format the target disk. Proceed with caution.
  • This will take a couple of minutes and will restart at "Less than a minute is remaining". Upon completion, the system will automatically restart. Your Mac will restart to complete the installation.

Here it ends the first phase of the installation.

9. When your PC restarts, it will automatically boot from macOS Installer to continue the next phase of the installation. If for any reason, the installer does not auto boot, select macOS Installer in the boot picker and then boot. The installation will continue and upon completion, your PC will automatically restart.

10. Once again, your PC will restart. Upon restarting, it will automatically boot from the macOS Installer to continue the installation. If for any reason, the installer does not auto boot, select macOS Installer in the boot picker and then boot. The installation will continue and upon completion, your PC will automatically restart.

Once again, your PC will restart, and when your PC restarts, it will automatically boot from Macintosh HD to continue the last phase of the installation. You'll see something as shown below.

STEP 10: Finishing macOS Setup

After finishing the macOS installation, it's time to set up the macOS for the first usage with the newly installed macOS.

When you're at the welcome screen, continue to set up with the basics options such as Keyboard setup, Network, Computer Account, and Privacy settings by following onscreen instructions.

Now the macOS Sequoia installation is complete!

CHAPTER 3: Configure Dual Boot


STEP 1: Install Bootloader for macOS

Although the macOS is installed, the next time you boot the system, it will only boot to Windows. That's because the bootloader for macOS is not installed yet and as this is a non-Apple computer,

1. Mount the EFI Partition of your Bootable USB if you have used a full macOS installer.
2. Open the mounted EFI Partition and only copy the OC folder to your Desktop.
3. Once copied, unmount the EFI Partition of your macOS Bootable USB. You can also eject the partition to unmount it.
4. Mount the EFI Partition of your system drive on which Windows is installed.
5. Copy the OC folder from the Desktop.
6. Navigate to the root of the mounted ESP. Here, you'll find two existing directories. BOOT and Microsoft, respectively.
7. Paste the copied OC folder right here, to the root directory.
8. Once copied, unmount the EFI Partition.





Enjoy macOS Sequoia and Windows 11 on your PC :)
 
Last edited:

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