Youtuber turned a Nintendo Wii into a Mac mini
The macmini It has a highly rated performance by users of Manzana and has been especially praised since the release of its version with the M1 chip. That’s not to say it’s immune to criticism, with Apple accused of leaving it “forgotten” and no new hardware releases.
Although many also object that Apple models still do not update their design, which is basically from 2010. To solve this, a youtuber took action on the matter and decided turn a Nintendo Wii in this device from Apple. And the result is remarkable.
The project was carried out by Luke Mian, who had to solve several problems before reaching a successful conclusion. The story wasn’t as simple as taking the innards of a Mac mini and placing them in the body of a Nintendo Wii. The “modder” had to make several adjustments to the device, especially in the cooling and power parts.
How could this creation be achieved?
The first logical step in turning an Apple computer into a Nintendo Wii was to take it apart and choose the components to use. A few months ago, quinn nelson of Snazzy Labs managed to create a Mac mini that was 80% smaller than the original; for this he had to remove the fan and the 150-watt power supply.
miani he chose to follow a similar path, albeit with clear differences. While he did prove that the Mac mini could run without active cooling, he found in his tests that the devices quickly overheated on demand, affecting their performance.
To fix this, he included a 12 volt fan which was very similar in size to the fan the Wii originally used.
What challenges Miani had when turning a Nintendo Wii into a Mac mini
In section Energy, it was impossible to fit the original Apple power supply into the Nintendo Wii case. While the latter did not have enough power to be an option. The solution was to create something unexpected: a microsoft surface charger soldered to console connector. From there, the power was sent to the motherboard after going through a boost converter.
Refering to Case, also underwent several changes. Not only is it inside, so there’s plenty of room for your Mac mini components, but its ports are easily accessible. To do this, Miani adapted the upper part of the chassis, which originally contained the ports to connect the controllers. Game Cube. Thus, the USB, Thunderbolt and HDMI ports were hidden under a flap at the top of the device.
The last challenge that had to be solved was the quality of wireless connections. Mac mini has three sensors Wifi Y Bluetooth, two of which are integrated into the motherboard. The rest is attached to a metal plate and is impossible to remove without cutting.
To avoid this task, the moderator decided to use a Nintendo Wii connection sensor, which turned out to have the same connector as the Apple computer. The difference between using it and not using it was big, both when connecting a wireless mouse and when browsing the web.
Turning a Mac mini into a Nintendo Wii is definitely not a task for everyone. Not only because it requires a lot of time and work, but because it has more of an aesthetic purpose than an actual functional one. Regardless, the end result is remarkable and proves that there are no limits to ingenuity.
In case you want to see the complete video on YouTube of Luke Mian explaining the entire process of creating this special device, can be entered at this link.
