{"id":17433,"date":"2022-02-28T17:13:53","date_gmt":"2022-02-28T17:13:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/02\/28\/apples-m1-mac-mini-can-be-made-portable-or-smaller-with-some-tinkering\/"},"modified":"2022-02-28T17:13:53","modified_gmt":"2022-02-28T17:13:53","slug":"apples-m1-mac-mini-can-be-made-portable-or-smaller-with-some-tinkering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/02\/28\/apples-m1-mac-mini-can-be-made-portable-or-smaller-with-some-tinkering\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple’s M1 Mac mini can be made portable or smaller with some tinkering"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A pair of homebrew projects using the M1 Mac mini<\/a> have highlighted the extremely compact nature of the computer, with one also attempting to demonstrate how much smaller Apple could push Macs in the future. <\/p>\n

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The Mac mini is widely accepted as a very small computer that offers considerable performance for its size. While tinkerers typically use boards like the Raspberry Pi<\/a> to create highly-portable computing devices, some are turning to the M1 Mac mini for the same concept. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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With work, some projects have made the desk-bound Mac mini into a portable working device, as well as aiming to shrink an already compact system into an even smaller body. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Shrinking the Mac mini<\/h2>\n

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The Mac mini has always used a compact mainboard and components. With the introduction of the M1 Mac mini, Apple has shrunk down the internals more, but without altering the size of the external aluminum enclosure. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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To answer the question of how small you can actually go with the M1 Mac mini’s internals, Quinn Nelson<\/a> of Snazzy Labs<\/em> is doing so with a 3D printer. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In posts<\/a> to Twitter, the YouTuber shows the Mac mini’s internal board, complete with heatsink, connectors, and some wiring. Another image shows a collection of prototype prints<\/a> in various colors and materials, each with the same grille effect of the Mac Pro. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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One Saturday post<\/a> hints at the reduction, with Nelson asking “In which color would you want to see, eh, idk, an M1 Mac mini that’s just 28% the size of the original?” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Quinn has yet to demonstrate the final results of the project, but it will almost certainly be premiered in an upcoming video. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Portable Mac mini<\/h2>\n

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Posted to YouTube on Wednesday by Scott Yu-Jan<\/a>, the video “Making a Portable Mac mini” describes how the YouTuber tried to solve the problem of making the Mac mini portable. After complaining about hating notebooks due to cooling issues, he designs and 3D-prints an enclosure for the Mac mini. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The idea stems from noticing the iPad mini<\/a> is roughly as tall as the Mac mini is wide, which makes it a potentially decent-sized screen. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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