The uses for Apple's Mac mini continue with a mod to run on batteries inside a quite sleek vertical chassis that incorporates a display, touch controls, and an integrated Switch controller set.
Especially since its radical redesign back in 2024, the tiny Mac mini has been put to countless different uses, from server farms to portable Macs. Now Chris Cheng of Shring Solutions has taken to YouTube to show off his turning it into a cyberdeck.
Using an M4 Mac mini, he's given it a 7-inch, 120Hz touchscreen plus a backlit keyboard with a trackpad. The whole device runs entirely on batteries and is claimed to give around six hours of non-stop video playback.
"For expansion, I put Nintendo Switch Joycon rails right into the sides," continues Cheng. "This handles your mouse control, custom system shortcuts, and native handheld gaming."
Describing it as being roughly the size of his palm, Cheng says that his device is 17.6cm (6.93 inches) tall and 17.2cm (6.7 inches) wide. The more significant dimension, though, is the depth which is a whole 5.7cm (2.24 inches), which makes this harder to hold for extended periods.
It has to be that way, though, because Cheng decided to keep the actual M4 Mac mini internals untouched, inside a custom 3d-printed case. The Mac mini slots in like a Game Boy cartridge.
Plus this design means the frame has "a fantastic upgrade path for future hardware as long as Apple sticks to this exact form factor." While this was done with an M4 Mac, the dimensions are the same for the new Mac mini too.
"But why stop at Mac?" asks Cheng. "Since the cyberdeck body just expects an enclosure with matching physical dimensions, this open cartridge system opens up an incredible path for future hardware mods [such as] Raspberry Pi 5."
The video goes into a lot of detail over designing and assembling the chassis, including specifics about components such as the keyboard. It was not, though, an entirely smooth process and Cheng details multiple electrical problems he had to overcome.
The Mac mini internals are unaltered, with a new 3d enclosure printed - image credit: Chris Cheng.
Consequently, it's not a mod that is simple for anyone to achieve, and Cheng does not appear to be selling a kit to do it with. But as yet another example of the practically absurd number of uses the Mac mini can be put to.
That is potentially still the case with the new M6 and M5 Pro Mac mini, as Cheng notes that they appear to retain precisely the same exterior design. But the new models are significantly more costly, presumably meaning that fewer people are going to risk experimenting with modding.
