X270-Monterey-OpenCore

An OpenCore 0.7.6 EFI that works on macOS Monterey (and previous) on the 7th Gen i7 CPUs for ThinkPad X270.

Introduction

While Monterey is brand spanking new, that also presents problems for those looking to upgrade.
If you're new to hackintosh and/or prefer a 100% stable system, I would not recommend upgrading just yet, but rather staying on something like Big Sur and waiting until OpenCore is as stable (and kexts updated) on Monterey.
There are a lot of good repos for this, including michaeldigiacomi's X270 or my fork of it, which includes a working touchpad.

If you're planning to try this EFI, please see the notes

Tested OS

• macOS Monterey (12.1)

Hardware

• ThinkPad X270
• i7-7500U
• HD 620 iGPU
• 1TB SSD
• 16GB DDR4 RAM
• Intel AC 8260 (Standard WiFi/BT)
• Standard 1080p IPS screen

BIOS

• Ver.
• OpenCore ver. 0.7.6

Settings

Security

• Security Chip Disabled
• Memory Protection -> Execution Prevention Enabled
• Virtualization -> Intel Virtualization Technology Enabled
• Virtualization -> Intel VT-d Feature Enabled
• Anti-Theft -> Computrace -> Current Setting Disabled
• Secure Boot -> Secure Boot Disabled
• Intel SGX -> Intel SGX Control Disabled
• Device Guard Disabled

Startup

• UEFI/Legacy Boot UEFI Only
• CSM Support No

Working

• WiFi (Airportitlwm)
• Bluetooth*
• Ethernet
• AppleID Services (FaceTime, iMessage, App Store)*
• Integrated Camera
• HD 620 Graphics
• CPU Power Management
• Battery Management
• Sleep & Resume (Not lid)
• USB Ports
• Audio (+ jack)
• Keyboard (including FN)
• Touchpad - Including gestures, trackpoint & physical buttons
• Shutdown & Restart
• Sleep*
• DRM Support*
• FileVault
• Xcode
• Content Caching
• NightShift

* see notes

Not tested

• HDMI
• SD Reader
• Fingerprint reader
• Sidecar (WiFi: I would recommend replacing WNIC before even trying - even if it works performance is too poor on Intel)
• AirDrop (WiFi: Might work if you remove Bluetooth functionality, otherwise incompatible WNIC)
• Dock

Not working

• Physical Touchpad buttons
• Sleep/Wake (lid)
• Apple Watch unlock (WNIC incompatible)

Future/Todo

• Fix trackpad & physical buttons
• Improve fan control
• Improve battery
• Tests
• AirDrop and Sidecar
• Dock
• Lid sleep
• Cleanup

Notes

• This is a WIP directory, it's not pretty
• Touchpad is wonky in Monterey, all gestures work, but they don't work great and might have some small sensitivity issues. This is more so annoying due to the physical buttons not working.
• AppleID: To use AppleID services (FaceTime, App store, iMessage etc.) remember to find a new SMBIOS
• WiFi: is underperforming, this is pretty standard for all Intel WiFi cards using itlwm, solution is unfortunately to step away from Intel card
• WiFi: If you find WiFi to be unstable, replace Airportitlwm with itlwm + HeliPort
• WiFi: The best solution to Apple Watch, AirDrop, etc. issues is simply to replace it with something like BCM94360NG or BCM94360CS2
• AirDrop/Sidecar: Should work fine on Ethernet, AirDrop needs a slight workaround though. Sidecar also works via USB.
• Bluetooth: Injector is disabled by default due to Monterey, but works fine. If enabled can result in a slow boot speed (looks like bootloop - but isn't, I also don't know why you'd do this)
• DRM: Support on Safari isn't guaranteed, some websites such as Netflix will only accept from other browsers
• Sleep: Disable Power Nap and wake for network access
• Batteries: While both batteries "work", but there are two scenarios that unfold. First is it'll go to 5% then the other battery takes over, but will not go to sleep. Second is at 50% it's the other battery.
• A lot of resources are used from michaeldigiacomi's X270 and updated to OpenCore 0.7.6, not everything is perfect even if most of the things work
• Consult with Lenovo's platform specifications before testing

Other

• corpnewt - Extremely useful tools
• OpenCore

Thank you

• michaeldigiacomi's X270 (Big Sur EFI - i5 series)
• taida2203's fork (Big Sur EFI - i7 compatibility)