Appeals Court Sides with Apple in Dispute over Psystar's Unauthorized Mac Clones

It has taken nearly two years, but CNET reports that an appeals court has ruled in favor of Apple in its lawsuit against Psystar, a company that began selling unauthorized Mac clones back in 2008.

Circuit Judge Mary Schroeder ruled yesterday that Psystar's Mac clones violated copyrights Apple holds, and its ban on sales will be upheld. According to Judge Schroeder, Psystar specifically violated copyrights Apple holds in Mac OS X, and said that the U.S. District Court's ruling in favor of Apple was just.

Apple was awarded a permanent injunction against Psystar in December 2009, but Psystar appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit a month later.

i sued psystar shirt
Psystar's 2009 last-ditch effort to raise funds for its legal fight against Apple

Psystar was unusually defiant in its stance against Apple given the threat it faced from the substantially larger company, and extended its legal efforts well beyond what most small companies would typically be willing to engage in. Those efforts lead Apple to suggest that Psystar could have been part of a conspiracy with the backing of a larger entity attempting to break open Apple's stranglehold on Mac OS X systems, but no concrete evidence of such a connection has ever been exposed.

Popular Stories

streaming black friday 2025

Black Friday Streaming Deals Include Big Savings on Disney+, Hulu, Apple TV, and More

Monday November 24, 2025 8:03 am PST by
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone to Debut These Three Breakthrough Features

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:09 am PST by
Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected to launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models in fall 2026, and it's shaping up to include three standout features that could set it apart from the competition. The book-style foldable will reportedly feature an industry-first 24-megapixel under-display camera built into the inner display, according to a recent JP Morgan equity research report. That...
General Black Friday Deals 25 Red

Apple Black Friday Deals Available Now on AirPods, iPads, Accessories, and More

Friday November 21, 2025 8:48 am PST by
We're only a few days away from Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
General Apps Messages Redux

Singapore Orders Changes to iMessage by December

Tuesday November 25, 2025 6:39 am PST by
Singapore has ordered Apple to block or filter messages on iMessage that impersonate government agencies, requiring the company to implement new anti-spoofing protections by December as part of efforts to curb rising online scams, the Straits Times reports. Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that it had issued an Implementation Directive to Apple under the Online Criminal Harms...
maxresdefault

The MacRumors Show: iPhone 18 Pro Looks Like a Huge Upgrade

Friday November 21, 2025 9:10 am PST by
On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we talk through all of the new features and improvements expected to come to next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max models. Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos Apple's next-generation iPhones are less than ten months away and we already have a good idea about what to expect based on corroborated leaks, rumors,...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Adds These New Features to Your iPhone

Thursday November 20, 2025 10:50 am PST by
iOS 26.2 is currently in beta testing. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics for Apple Music, and more. In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date. Keep reading...
iPhone Pocket Short

iPhone Pocket is Now Completely Sold Out Worldwide

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:16 am PST by
Apple recently teamed up with Japanese fashion brand ISSEY MIYAKE to create the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition knitted accessory designed to carry an iPhone. However, it is now completely sold out in all countries where it was released. iPhone Pocket became available to order on Apple's online store starting Friday, November 14, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, ...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

iOS 27 Will Reportedly Have Two Key Upgrades

Sunday November 23, 2025 8:48 am PST by
iOS 27 will reportedly have two major elements: quality improvements and new AI features. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that iOS 27 will be similar to Mac OS X Snow Leopard, in the sense that Apple is focused on improving "quality and underlying performance" over adding new features. Gurman said there is one exception to this rule, though, as he expects...
apple news banner

Apple News Loses CNN

Monday November 24, 2025 7:56 am PST by
American multinational news company CNN has abruptly pulled its content from Apple News, Semafor reports. CNN quietly removed its stories from Apple News over the weekend and there is no longer a feed from the network to subscribe to in the app. This effectively ends its distribution agreement with Apple while the two sides negotiate new terms. Discussions are apparently ongoing and CNN's...

Top Rated Comments

KnightWRX Avatar
185 months ago
Psystar lost, but they did help point the way for hackintoshes:

Actually, wasn't Psystar just ripping off the hackintosh community's work for their own purposes ? I think you got the roles reversed here. It's the hackintoshes that paved the way for Psystar.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
adztaylor Avatar
185 months ago
Always wondered where that money came from and how they could afford being so defiant. Who knows, perhaps some internet bubble money went into this.

I always wondered this too. There's noway they got there by selling those t-shirts.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
D.T. Avatar
185 months ago
Oh please lol, if I wanted to read nonsense like that I could go to one of those schizophrenic websites like Above Top Secret

Only somebody in on it would say something like that...










:D
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kid A Avatar
185 months ago
Worst. T-shirt. EVER.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmaier Avatar
185 months ago
The only surprise here is that it took this long to get upheld. Seriously, Psystar should have given up after the first cease and desist letter, their business plan never made any sense.

And yet I spent a lot of time reading arguments from folks telling me I was wrong when I explained why Psytar would lose.

Psystar lost, but they did help point the way for mackintoshes:

Nice revisionist history.

Actually, wasn't Psystar just ripping off the hackintosh community's work for their own purposes ? I think you got the roles reversed here. It's the hackintoshes that paved the way for Psystar.

Exactly.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AAPLaday Avatar
185 months ago
Good news. I dont have a problem with people making hackintoshes themselves but a company shouldn't be selling clones for profit
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)