Ingenious hack powers M1 Mac mini with Ethernet cable

AppleInsider

A hardware hacker has modified a Mac mini so that it doesn't necessarily need an AC power connection, and instead can run on the Power over Ethernet protocol.

Mac mini hacked with Power over Ethernet

Ivan Kuleshov on Twitter teased the project on Twitter over the weekend. He has delved into more details since.

The project is not a simple one for most. To start, he de-soldered the native Ethernet connector from the motherboard, and modified it.

Demo of Mac mini with PoE and power redundancy.

The project has gotten a serious response, 7 times higher than I expected.
I think it's better to put everything on the site, I'm working on the article, and after that, I'll do the video.
I promised more details, and I'll drop pic.twitter.com/JSxB71TvF2

-- Ivan Kuleshov (@Merocle)

July 31, 2023

He used donor components as to not have to spin up a custom solution. Kuleshov took a donor magjack component from a previous project that had the necessary power delivery magnets, and used that to draw power.

All told, he implemented the Power over Ethernet (PoE) standard in the Mac mini, but it's not clear yet which variant. Regular AC power hasn't been disabled, and PoE here is used as a back up power source.

Given the relatively low power of the PoE spec, the USB connectors probably don't provide power to downstream devices.

Mac mini PoE hack in progress

The M1 Mac mini is an obvious candidate for a project like this. Idle, the Mac mini draws about 6W. Under full load, it will pull less than 40W.

Apple's M2 Mac mini takes a bit more power. The newer non-Pro version pulls 7W idle, and 50W under load.

The Intel-based Mac mini it replaced draws about 125W under load.

Kuleshov is planning on further detailing the project soon. He also has other projects, like a series of rack-mounted Mac mini motherboards, a larger cylinder Mac Pro rack-mount project, and more with the Raspberry Pi.

Read on AppleInsider

rob53

Not a good article to write. You’re condoning the major alteration of an Apple product for no good reason. Just because someone can do this doesn’t meant it’s something that anyone else should do. 

mikethemartian

rob53 said:

Not a good article to write. You’re condoning the major alteration of an Apple product for no good reason. Just because someone can do this doesn’t meant it’s something that anyone else should do. 

Why? Is it a sacred object?

chris-net

Poe can go to 99w so shouldn’t be an issue for an m2

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_over_Ethernet

Mike Wuerthele

chris-net said:

Poe can go to 99w so shouldn’t be an issue for an m2

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_over_Ethernet

As implemented, the guy told me that it handles PoE+ up to 30W, but could handle PoE++ at 65W if upgraded.

Mike Wuerthele

rob53 said:

Not a good article to write. You’re condoning the major alteration of an Apple product for no good reason. Just because someone can do this doesn’t meant it’s something that anyone else should do. 

So, I guess you don't want to hear about me gutting G3 desktops in 2001, separating the motherboards with riser pins, and putting 15 jumper-overclocked CPUs in a custom enclosure with custom power supplies to make an Xgrid cluster, then.

It's a fantastic article to write. What other folks can do with a little ingenuity never ceases to amaze.

migidid

Makes sense as half of the case is empty as the new boards are tiny and the case is same size as the old ones! Should be enough space for lots of custom projects

dewme

What an excellent proof of concept. I like it because I'm a big proponent of PoE and it declutters a Mac mini setup by one cable, which is always a win. This further highlights the benefits of Apple Silicon due to its excellent performance-per-watt quality. I'd like to see PoE options incorporated into Apple TV, HomePod, and HomePod mini as well, just to name a few current Apple products that would benefit from having a PoE option. Going beyond current Apple products, this approach would lend itself to a slew of Apple branded HomeKit products, especially security cameras, if Apple decides to dip its toe into that water.

Yeah, I know the future is all about wireless and I'm generally impressed by the current generation of many wireless products. But for connected products that require a wired connection for power it's icing on the cake to have PoE versions available to make the required hard connection do a little more work. All of my security cameras are PoE and they have proved to be rock solid in terms of performance and availability. 

The ultimate PoE product would be a PoE powered iMac. PoE minis are very intriguing for headless servers and such, but if you have to drag a monitor along the benefits start to decline. But an all-in-one that has a single cable going to it and doesn't require a local mains outlet, that would be interesting for some specialized use cases. One gating factor is how PoE connections are treated from the standpoint of residential and commercial wiring regulations. I don't know how PoE cable runs are treated to be perfectly honest, but I know that there are many restrictions on how mains wiring is run, what it can be run through or adjacent to, requirements for burial, etc. 

Will Apple ever offer PoE versions of the products I mentioned? I seriously doubt it because they probably don't want to incur the additional costs related to new and different product variations. I'm a PoE fan, but I think relatively few people are already sold on or aware of the benefits of PoE. It's a bit of a niche for most residential customers, but where it fits, and in some commercial and industrial systems, it's a wonderful thing.

elijahg

rob53 said:

Not a good article to write. You’re condoning the major alteration of an Apple product for no good reason. Just because someone can do this doesn’t meant it’s something that anyone else should do. 

What a dumb thing to say. It's his Mac Mini, who are you to say he shouldn't modify it? Pretty smart hack.

appleinsideruser

Yes @dewme, ;Unify PoE WiFi access points are very neat and make extending wifi around challenging houses easy and neat. PoE rocks, if only there weren’t so many flavours…

saarek

I’m not sure what point is. No one else is likely to open up a Mac Mini and remove/add parts using a soldering iron.

Good for him that he has the know how in terms of achieving it, but pointless apart from a look at me video.

forgot username

Nice.  Next up: can you power a Mac Mini from a USB-C cable?

FileMakerFeller

I find it interesting that networking over power cables has pretty much died but power over networking cables is taking off.

appleinsideruser

forgot username said:

Nice.  Next up: can you power a Mac Mini from a USB-C cable?

Nice. One day I must Duck Duck Go how devices negotiate which gives and which receives power...

eriamjh

rob53 said:

Not a good article to write. You’re condoning the major alteration of an Apple product for no good reason. Just because someone can do this doesn’t meant it’s something that anyone else should do. 

We don’t need crybabies trying to protect people from their own incompetence.   Who are you to decide what is published?  Did you fuck up something because you got in over your head and now you want to protect them from making their own choices?

We don’t need gatekeepers stopping information because it can be used poorly by those unskilled.   Please go back to helicoptering your kids or sitting in on their job interviews like an overbearing parent who won’t let them grow up.  At least those are the ones you’re in charge of, not the rest of the world.

chasm

saarek said:

I’m not sure what point is. No one else is likely to open up a Mac Mini and remove/add parts using a soldering iron.

Try reading the whole article.

The point is power redundancy.

You’re right that a tiny percentage of people would want to try this, but it’s NOT pointless to the people who a) want to see how its done out of sheer curiousity,, b) want to expand their knowledge of hardware hacking, or c) do want to learn how to do this specific thing or something similar.

If such things are of zero interest to you, that’s fine. Skip the article and move on to one that interests you. Not everyone is you, though, so don’t yuck other people’s yum.

appleinsideruser

chasm said:
..., so don’t yuck other people’s yum.

I love that phrase! So appropriate! 😊