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This Mac is completely useless, and you should absolutely buy it

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The world's smallest Mac laughs in Pascal at your so-called "ultra-portable" laptop.

The Pico-mac-nano mini vintage Macintosh PC next to the larger Macintoshi Mono, on a purple gradient background.
(Image credit: 1-Bit Rainbow)

Look, I'm never against some good nostalgia bait. As a '90s kid, I love to see transparent tech like MSI's Cyborg lineup, and I'm in a constant state of decision paralysis on whether or not I want to go down the Oblivion: Remastered rabbit hole.

Which is to say, 1-Bit Rainbow's mini vintage Macintosh speaks to me on a visceral level. The Pico-mac-nano is a tiny, fully functional vintage Mac powered by a Pico Zero Raspberry Pi, running the MicroMac 128K emulator to mimic the Macintosh operating system.

1-Bit Rainbow is mostly known as an online storefront for parts to maintain and repair vintage Apple products, but there are a few hidden gems on the site, like the old Apple Pro wired USB mouse and the Apple External Microphone for the old-school PowerBook laptops.

Pico-mac-nano: Specs

(Image credit: 1-Bit Rainbow)
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Price:

£56, starting

CPU:

Pico Zero

RAM:

512MB

Storage:

MicroSD

Display:

2-inch, 640x480p, LCD

Battery:

CR2 3-Volt

In a blog post, 1-Bit Rainbow's Nick Gillard details the build process of the Pico-mac-nano, including the micro-mini PC's USB-C keyboard and mouse support using a special splitter cable also sold on the 1-Bit store.

1-Bit Rainbow also offers a Collector's Edition of the Pico-mac-nano that comes in a miniaturized, vintage Macintosh shipping box for the complete unboxing experience.

The Pico-mac-nano is an open-source project, so you can make your own from scratch if you'd prefer and have access to a 3D printer.

Feed your old school Mac nostalgia

(Image credit: 1-Bit Rainbow)
Apple 2024 Mac Mini Desktop Computer with M4 Pro chip with Apple Care+ (3 years)
Apple 2024 Mac Mini Desktop Computer with M4 Pro chip with Apple Care+ (3 years): was $1,498 now $1,393 at Amazon

The Apple Mac Mini desktop PC powered by an M4 Pro processor comes with three years of Apple Care+ and boasts 24GB of unified memory and 512GB of storage.

It's arguably the smallest and most powerful mini PC on the market and stays cool under pressure because of the efficiency of the M4 Pro processor and how the Mac Mini is designed to quickly rid itself of heat generated from computing processes.

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The Pico-mac-nano and the Pico-mac that inspired it are more proof-of-concept than full consumer devices. The miniature Pico-mac-nano doesn't have full audio support and may not run all early Macintosh software.

Unfortunately, since the new Mac Mini and Magic Mouse still have key features in the worst places, the Pico-mac-nano is far more usable than the Mac Mini M4, though it is far less powerful than Apple's latest mini PC.

If you're an old-school Mac enthusiast, you can buy one, made to order. It's a fun, quirky addition to a vintage computing collection. But if you want the full vintage Mac experience, you're better off getting a pre-owned Macintosh from a classic tech dealer or taking your chances on eBay.

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Madeline Ricchiuto
Madeline Ricchiuto
Staff Writer

A former lab gremlin for Tom's Guide, Laptop Mag, Tom's Hardware, and TechRadar; Madeline has escaped the labs to join Laptop Mag as a Staff Writer. With over a decade of experience writing about tech and gaming, she may actually know a thing or two. Sometimes. When she isn't writing about the latest laptops and AI software, Madeline likes to throw herself into the ocean as a PADI scuba diving instructor and underwater photography enthusiast.

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