macOS on MSI Gaming GE72VR 7RF(Apache Pro)-272NE

HARDWARE

• CPU:
  • 
  • Intel® Core™ Core i7-7700HQ 2.8 - 3.8 Ghz w/ Turbo Boost
• Graphics adapter:
  • Intel HD Graphics 630 2048 MB
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile - 3072 MB GDDR5, Core: 1404 MHz, Boost 1670 MHz, Memory: 8000 MHz, NVIDIA Optimus
• Memory:
  • Crucial  32768 MB  , 2x16 GB, DDR4-2400 SO DIMM 260-pin
• Display:
  • 17.3" FHD (1920x1080) 120HZ, IPS-Level
• Mainboard:
  • MSI MS-179B Intel HM175 (Skylake PCH-H) 100 Series/C230 Chipset Family
• Storage:
  • Samsung 960 EVO 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD, WD Blue 1TB 2.5" SATA SSD, HL-DT-ST GUD0N SATA Int. DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM
• Soundcard:
  • Nahimic Sound, Intel Skylake PCH-H High Definition Audio Controller, Realtek ALC898
• Connections:
  • USB 3.0 x2, USB 2.0 x1, USB Type-C 3.1 Gen2 x1, HDMI (supports 4K@60hz), mDP 1.2 x1 (HDTV/Matrix Display supports 4K output with a resolution up to 3840 x 2160), 1 Kensington Lock, Audio Connections: 1x microphone in, 1x headphone out (S/PDIF), Realtek RTS5129  Card Reader: SD/SDXC/SDHC Card Reader
• Networking:
  • Qualcomm Atheros Killer E2500 Gigabit Ethernet Controller (10/100/1000/2500/5000MBit/s), Broadcom / Bcm94352z (a/b/g/n = Wi-Fi 4/ac = Wi-Fi 5), Bluetooth v4.0
• Size:
  • Height x width x depth (in mm): 32 x 419 x 287 ( = 1.26 x 16.5 x 11.3 in)
• Battery:
  • 10.86V, 51 Wh Lithium-Ion, 6-Cell
• AC Power Adaptor:
  • 180W
• Camera:
  • BisonCam, NB Pro FHD type (30fps@1080p)
• Speakers:
  • Dynaudio Tech 2W Speakers x 4 + woofer
• Keyboard:
  • SteelSeries Full-color backlight with Anti-Ghost key+ silver lining
• Touchpad:
  • ETPS/2 Elantech with 2 buttons

UPGRADES

💪 Bits 'n Pieces I've purchased and swapped into the laptop.

Crucial 32GB Memory

Crucial  32768 MB  , 2x16 GB, DDR4-2400 SO DIMM 260-pin

Samsung 960 EVO 1TB PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMExpressSSD M.2 2280 Solid State Drive

Main boot drive for this machine and EFI for rEFInd, Clover, Microsoft and OpenCore

WD Blue 1TB SSD

macOS, Linux and Microsoft data / home folders run off this drive, as well as EFI for Linux

Wifi Card

Broadcom DW1560 BCM94352Z 06XRYC 802.11ac NGFF M2 867Mbps BCM94352 BT4.0 WiFiCard

REFERENCE

• tonymacx86
• Dortania's OpenCore Install Guide

CREDITS

• Apple for macOS
• Acidanthera for awesome kexts

ALERT

Do NOT directly use any files provided, you may need to change something ...

INSTALLATION

This step extracts the Installer contents, then installs bootloader to the USB stick.

1. Insert the USB drive
2. Open /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility
3. Highlight the USB drive in left column
4. Click on the Partition tab
5. Click Current and choose 1 Partition
6. Click Options...
7. Choose GUID Partition Table
8. Under Name: type USB (You can rename it later)
9. Under Format: choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
10. Click Apply then Partition
11. Open /Applications/Utilities/Terminal
12. Type the following, enter password and hit enter.
    - This command completely erases the USB, then creates native installer media from the Install macOS Application:
    sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sequoia\ Beta.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/USB /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sequoia\ Beta.app --nointeraction
13. Copy relevant contents to USB's EFI partition (diskXs1 ) as the target volume.

OTHERS

Time Sync

• Since macOS take BIOS time as UTC time, and Windows take it as local time, we need to make Windows take BIOS time as UTC time.
• Reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation /v RealTimeIsUniversal /t REG_DWORD /d 1

BIOS

Pressing delete key after Power-On Self-Test (POST), enters Aptio Setup Utility a variant for accessing MSI (Micro Star) BIOS, at standard setup screen holding ALT + RIGHT-CTRL + SHIFT together and then pressing F2 toggles between standard and hidden BIOS settings.

MSI BIOS and EC firmware versions : E179BIMS.309 and 179BEMS1.105

After first BIOS / EC flash reboot, select hidden BIOS settings then Save & Exit tab and select Restore Defaults, answer yes to load optimized defaults & save configuration and reset.

After second reboot enter BIOS in the same way, go to Security tab, select Secure Boot and set Attempt Secure Boot to disabled, then Save & Exit tab, select Save Changes and Reset, after another reboot you're ready to change / verify settings in Advanced and Boot tabs.

Check settings, some are already correct!
SATA Mode Selection	AHCI
Intel(R) Speed Shift Technology	Enabled
CFG Lock	Disabled
DVMT Pre-Allocated	64M
DVMT Total Gfx Mem	MAX
Enable Hibernation	Disabled
CSM Support	Disabled
Above 4G Decoding	Enabled
XHCI Hand-off	Enabled
Fast Boot	Disabled

[Advanced] tab
│ SATA Mode Selection
├─ Power & Performance
│  └─ CPU - Power Management Control
│     ├─ Intel(R) Speed Shift Technology
│     └─ CPU Lock Configuration
│        └─ CFG Lock
├─ System Agent (SA) Configuration
│  └─ Graphics Configuration
│        └─ DVMT Pre-Allocated
│        └─ DVMT Total Gfx Mem
├─ ACPI Settings
│  └─ Enable Hibernation
└─ CSM Configuration
│  └─ CSM Support
├─ PCI Subsystem Settings
│  └─ Above 4G Decoding
└─ USB Configuration
   └─ XHCI Hand-off
[Boot] tab
│ Fast Boot

USB

💻 USB Ports (RP05 loads natively PXSX Type-C USB3.1 Gen2 | Front left)

• HS03 USB3 <-- Type-A USB2.0 | SS19 | Front left
• HS04 USB3 <-- Type-A USB2.0 | SS20 | Front left
• HS08 USB2 <-- Type-A USB2.0 | Rear right
• HS10 Internal <-- USB2.0 - BCM20702A0 (Bluetooth)
• HS11 Internal <-- USB2.0 - BisonCam, NB Pro
• HS12 Internal <-- USB2.0 - USB2.0-CRW (Card reader)
• SS19 USB3 <-- Type-A USB3.0 | HS03 | Rear left
• SS20 USB3 <-- Type-A USB3.0 | HS04 | Front left

Useful Info

• Vanilla Laptop Guide

🔅 Keyboard Usage Notes

• The brightness control is mapped to function + up/down and similar to where they'd appear on a Mac keyboard, using the scroll lock and pause break button.
• Function + F12 puts the laptop to sleep.