Retro Hackintosh Made From Retro Parts

Apple as a company, has staked most of its future around being a “walled garden” where it controls everything from the hardware up through the user experience. In some ways this is good for users; the hardware is generally high quality and vetted by the company creating the software, making for a very uniform experience. This won’t stop some people from trying to get Apple’s operating systems and other software running on unapproved hardware though. These “Hackintosh” computers were much more common in the Intel era but this replica goes even further back to the Macintosh era.

Originally [Kevin] had ordered an authentic Macintosh with the intent of getting it working again, but a broken floppy disk drive and lack of replacement parts turned this project into a different beast. He used the Mac instead as a model for a new 3D-printed case, spending a ton of time sanding, filling, and finishing it to get it to look nearly indistinguishable from the original. The hardware going in this replica is an old Linux-based thin client machine running the Mini vMac operating system, with a modified floppy drive the computer uses to boot. A hidden SD card slot helps interface with modern computers. The display is a modern LCD, though a sheet of acrylic glued to the front panel replicates a bit of the CRT curve.

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While in the end, the build uses an emulator to get the Mac operating system running, the video is worth a watch if not simply for the incredible amount of work [Kevin] put into replicating the overall aesthetic of the original compact macs. The only thing missing is a decade or two of plastic yellowing to give it the full retro feel of computers from this era. If you prefer a more modern take on retro electronics, have a look at this Macintosh which uses an iPad for the screen instead.

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Thanks to [hypercube33] and [Joe] for the tip!

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• Source: https://hackaday.com/2024/03/25/retro-hackintosh-made-from-retro-parts/