By untying an M1 Mac mini and sticking everything in an old iMac, a YouTube content creator he calls the world’s first Apple Silicon iMac has put together – with great reservations.
Miani notes that the Mac mini motherboard is so small that it can fit without any changes to the iMac chassis. The vast majority of work on the project was to use an HDMI display adapter from the Mac mini motherboard to the custom Apple iMac screen connector.
Essentially, the Mac mini runs unchanged inside the chassis of the iMac and uses it as a screen using the adapter circuits. However, this has several limitations.
The Mac mini is held in the iMac with one screw
First, the 2011 iMac has a very low resolution by today’s standards. The pre-Retina 27-inch 2560 by 1440 screen is not an ideal way to use macOS. Second, the “computer” part of this setup is the Mac mini in the iMac chassis. With the current build, all the gates – and the on / off button – in the chassis and exterior are inaccessible without removing the screen.
Eventually, the Bluetooth and Wifi radios were optimized by a three-antenna array used in the Mac mini, but one of the antennas was built into the Mac mini chassis. He overcame this limitation by connecting the extra antenna to the iMac’s antenna tube.
Although the project was mostly successful, Miani says the essay is not recommended, although it is simple. However, he says it’s worth putting the iMac in a show for the Mac mini if you have one lying around here.