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Mini classic Macintosh created with Raspberry Pi, runs System 6 (video)
Apple may please fans of diminutive hardware with the Mac Mini, but John Leake of the RetroMacCast has created something that can satisfy fans of miniature and classic hardware: a tiny replica of the original Macintosh. The aptly-dubbed Mini Mac sits at 1/3 the size of the original, is crafted from a PVC board and crams a Raspberry Pi inside. In order for the board to fit however, Leake had to solder wires instead of relying on connectors, trim the SD card and snip part of the USB cable. When it comes to visuals, the box packs a 3.5-inch display, which receives 512 x 384 output from the Pi. As for connectivity, the package supports a wireless keyboards and mice via Bluetooth, plus it exposes two USB ports, an HDMI slot and an ethernet jack. Not only does this slice of the 1980s have the looks to match the era, but it also features some of the old-fashioned functionality. Sure, floppies won't fit into its faux drive slot, but it runs System 6 via the open source Mini vMac emulator. Head past the break to catch a video of the model or visit the source for build shots.
Classic Mac OS emulator for jailbroken iPhones
Since the App Store launched, there hasn't been much that has really tempted me to jailbreak my iPhone. I don't think Mini vMac for iPhone actually will either, but just that fact that it exists at all is a trip for the nostalgic Macheads out there. Mini vMac is an open source Mac Plus emulator that has now been ported to the iPhone (a regular OS X version exists as well). It emulates a 4MB Mac Plus; as the video above shows, it allows you to scroll to show the full display and even load Mac OS disk images and run classic Mac software. It's safe to say that this will never make to the App Store because it violates Apple's rules against emulators.Mini vMac for iPhone requires a jailbroken iPhone, and can be loaded by adding the namedfork.net repository to the Cydia installer as described on the main page. You'll also have to round up a Mac Plus ROM image and disk images of any applications you want to run.[via Gizmodo]
