Tiny Macintosh replica: Pico-Mac-Nano brings the classic to 62 millimeters

It is just 62 millimeters high, but its functionality corresponds to that of the big original: a British hobbyist has developed a functional Macintosh replica that is a scale miniature version of the original Apple Macintosh from 1984 and can be operated with USB mouse and keyboard. In a blog post he gives instructions on how everyone can recreate this Pico Mac Nano using a Raspberry Pi Pico.

The project is based on it the open source project “Pico-Mac” by Matt Evans. While the original project provides a Macintosh emulator for the Raspberry Pi Pico with VGA output, Nick Gillard goes one step further and integrated a tiny LCD display directly into a detailed housing.

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The heart is the Pico Zero

The heart of the system is a Waveshare Pico Zero, a compact variant of the Raspberry Pi Pico. The emulator runs with Macintosh System 3 and supports USB input devices via a special OTG splinter cable, which also provides electricity and peripheral connection.

The biggest challenge was the display: a 2-inch tft panel with 480 × 640 pixels had to represent the original Macintosh resolution of 512×342 pixels. Since a rotation of the frame buffer would have been too computative, Gillard quickly adapted the Rome file of the emulator and reduced the horizontal resolution to 480 pixels. This even had advantages: the housing could be even more compact and the LCD flex cable did not have to be bent unfavorably.

Picasso packaging for collectors

The housing was created in 3D printing. The hobbyist was also inspired by the original during the screw connection. In the replica, a micro SD card reader also found space to expand the memory. The RGB LED of the Pico Slimmer through the ventilation slots and indicate the different system states.

If you don’t want to tinker yourself, you can buy a collector’s version he built from Gillard that even comes in the modeled “Picasso” box, which he had printed in India. Without the box, the fully assembled version costs the equivalent of around 66 euros. For the future, the hobbyist would like to install an internal battery module and implement the Mac’s insertion.

Just a feasibility study

Even if it is quite obvious, Gillard points out that it is fun and a feasibility study. The display is much too tiny anyway. However, the overclocked chips could also lead to stability problems, he warns.