Apple Pulls Public Mac OS 10.4.8 Source? [Updated] - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple Pulls Public Mac OS 10.4.8 Source? [Updated]

by

Apple appears to have pulled the publicly accessible Mac OS 10.4.8 Source Code (Darwin, the open-source foundation of OS X, and XNU, Darwin's open-source kernel), leaving only developers with ADC log-ins with access to the code (public link, ADC link)

Earlier this week, the OSx86 project released a version of the 10.4.8 kernel that was hailed to be 100% legal according to the APSL and run on any x86 machine.
Prior to this release, Apple's code would only run on Apple's hardware due to various dependencies (such as EFI).

While the released code from OSx86 can run under single-user mode on any x86 machine, it will not boot up into Apple's familiar OS X Aqua interface without Apple's TPM keys which are illegal to distribute (but are reportedly floating around the internet).

The circumstances are reminiscent of when Apple previously stopped releasing the Intel version of the Mac OS X kernel, which some had concluded was due to piracy concerns. Apple finally released the source at WWDC along with an apology for the delay, but did not give an explanation.

Update (moved to page 2): Certain aspects of the story, i.e. the points regarding the history and what exactly happened with the Darwin/XNU source, have been called into doubt.

Kernel coder Semthex made the above claims on his blog, but MacRumors forum member shawnce has called the claims into doubt in this story's thread.

The end-fact that Apple's source does not appear to be publicly accessible does not appear to be in dispute, but rather questions have arisen as to whether it was ever publicly accessible (publicly accessible as defined by not requiring registration with Apple. The source is still free).

Popular Stories

Dynamic Island iPhone 18 Pro Feature

11 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 18 Pro

Monday May 11, 2026 9:01 am PDT by
We're only four months out from the launch of Apple's premium next-generation smartphone lineup, and while we're not expecting a sea change in terms of functionality, there are still several enhancements rumored to be coming to the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth noting is that Apple is reportedly planning a major change to its iPhone release cycle this year, adopting a...
iOS 26

iOS 26.5 Features: Everything New in iOS 26.5

Monday May 11, 2026 5:09 pm PDT by
Apple released iOS 26.5 after a few months of beta testing, and while it doesn't have the Siri features we were hoping for since those are being held until iOS 27, there are a handful of useful changes worth knowing about. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. End-to-End Encryption for RCS Support for end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for RCS messages between iPhone and...
General Apps Reddit Feature

Reddit Starts Blocking Mobile Website, Pushing Users to App Instead

Monday May 11, 2026 6:10 am PDT by
Social network Reddit recently began blocking mobile visitors to its website while pushing them to download the official Reddit app, and it's fair to say that the move is not going down well with users. If you visit reddit.com on your iPhone today, you may see a new popup that can't be dismissed, asking you to "get the app to keep using Reddit." A Reddit spokesperson told Ars Technica...