Mac Mini Hacks
Around these parts, seeing a classic laptop or desktop computer get revived with the Raspberry Pi is fairly common. While we’re not ones to turn down a well-executed Pi infusion, we know they can be controversial at times. There’s an impression that such projects are low-effort, and that the combination of old and new tech gains little in the way of usability due to the usability quirks of the Pi itself.
But we think even the most critical in the audience will agree that this build by [Tylinol], which sees the internals of a circa 1993 PowerBook 165c get replaced with that of a 2014 Mac Mini, is something else entirely. For one thing, there’s no question that packing a modern (relatively) desktop computer motherboard into a laptop’s body takes a lot more planning and effort than hot gluing the comparatively tiny Pi into the same space. Plus as an added bonus, anyone who counts themselves among the Cult of Mac will be happy to see the vintage machine retain its Cupertino pedigree.
So how do you get a Mac Mini inside of a PowerBook? Very carefully. As explained by [Tylinol], the inside of the PowerBook’s case was coated in graphite and conductive enough to be a problem. So after the original hardware was removed, a layer of tape was added to insulate it; though we imagine a suitably thick spray-on coating could be used as well if you don’t have that kind of patience.
Once the case was gutted and insulated, [Tylinol] added new stand-offs to mount the Mac Mini motherboard and hard drive. For anyone wondering, the 2014 model was used because the shape of the board almost perfectly fits around the trackball PCB. A board from a newer Mac could be used, but it would likely mean using an external mouse.
Nov 04, 2009 As for the mac mini, it’s is an awesome machine as a media center. It’s small, powerful and quiet, and works perfectly with Windows Media Center. Awesome, thanks for the great hacks. Dec 05, 2018 Launched in 2005 as the first sub-$500 Mac — a key in attracting 'switchers' from Windows PCs — the Mac mini (now $799 and up from the Apple Store) was most recently redesigned in.
Which would have been a problem for [Tylinol], because one of the main goals of this build was to get the original input working. That meant adapting the Apple Desktop Bus (ADB) devices to USB, which turns out to be something of a Dark Art. But with the help of some contemporary information about the long-forgotten protocol and a Teensy 3.5, both devices are now picked up as standard USB HID.
May 04, 2019 I'm running my Plex server on a 2011 stock Mac Mini with 4GB RAM and a 2.3 Ghz i5, and it is doing its job perfectly, and serving multiple 1080p streams without skipping a beat. Any modern Mac Mini will serve you, unless of course you'll be doing transcoding. Mac - Tips, Tricks and Hacks for Doing Everything Better Lifehacker. Mac - Tips, Tricks and Hacks for Doing Everything Better Lifehacker. Now Is the Time to Buy a Refurbished Mac Mini.
Mac Mini Hackintosh
But of course, that’s just scratching the surface. [Tylinol] also had to figure out how to swap the original display out for a modern panel, and then get the whole thing running on internal battery power. Even if you’re not particularly interested in retro Apple hardware, this is really a phenomenal build that deserves a thorough read-through.
Mac Mini Hackintosh 2019
For those of you who don’t mind getting a Pi in a PowerBook, we recently saw a recreation of Lord Nikon’s laptop from Hackers that went that route.