iOS developer turns vintage iMac G4 into an M1 Mac
An Apple enthusiast and iOS developer has shared a project that turned a vintage iMac G4 into a modern-day Mac equipped with an M1 chip.
Credit: Pendleton115
Colby Sheets on Tuesday shared a short clip to Twitter showing off the converted iMac G4. In the clip, the device is running macOS Big Sur and is equipped with an M1 chipset pulled from a Mac mini.
"In celebration of Steve Job's life and his inspiration to many, I wanted to show a passion project I've been working on that I think Steve would be proud of," Sheets wrote.
Although details on the specific process that Sheets used to convert the Mac into a modern machine are scarce, the iOS developer said the project has been a "dream computer of mine since I was young and I'm very proud to bring it back to life 2 decades later."
In later replies, Sheets said the project was pieced together from different materials and combined with an M1 Mac.
The developer also shouted out vintage Mac collector Pendleton115. Sheets said Pendleton115's YouTube videos and walkthroughs "helped me a lot throughout this mod especially on troubleshooting some wiring issues."
"I promise to explain more about the mod soon, probably will post a video about the process and the steps soon," Sheets said.
AppleInsider has reached out to Sheets for more information about the project.
Read on AppleInsider
Credit: Pendleton115
Colby Sheets on Tuesday shared a short clip to Twitter showing off the converted iMac G4. In the clip, the device is running macOS Big Sur and is equipped with an M1 chipset pulled from a Mac mini.
In celebration of Steve Job's life and his inspiration to many, I wanted to show a passion project I've been working on that I think Steve would be proud of. Something that wasn't possible 20 years ago but is now.
Hello, iMac G4 with an M1 chip. pic.twitter.com/q6zUpyFrwu-- Colby Sheets (@ColbySheets)
"In celebration of Steve Job's life and his inspiration to many, I wanted to show a passion project I've been working on that I think Steve would be proud of," Sheets wrote.
Although details on the specific process that Sheets used to convert the Mac into a modern machine are scarce, the iOS developer said the project has been a "dream computer of mine since I was young and I'm very proud to bring it back to life 2 decades later."
In later replies, Sheets said the project was pieced together from different materials and combined with an M1 Mac.
The developer also shouted out vintage Mac collector Pendleton115. Sheets said Pendleton115's YouTube videos and walkthroughs "helped me a lot throughout this mod especially on troubleshooting some wiring issues."
"I promise to explain more about the mod soon, probably will post a video about the process and the steps soon," Sheets said.
AppleInsider has reached out to Sheets for more information about the project.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
I don't remember if my lampshade iMac's display still works. It's only a 15" TFT Active Matrix LCD display, 1024x768 display, so I'd have to figure out how to re-mount the display into the iMac display frame.
I can see the box its in but no easy way to get to it to check which version I have. It's probably the first version since I also got the first iMac the first day it was offered but it's been gone for awhile. I can't keep everything I've purchased (even though family and friends say I do).
Well, I went ahead and grabbed it. Thought I had gutted it but only got rid of HDD and CD, the motherboard is still inside. Checked the serial number and I have the 800 MHz PowerPC 7445 (G4) version. All the cables coming out of the display arm are labeled. One cable says TMDS Cable (display signal?) while another says Inverter Cable (power?). I might actually try and see if I can get it to work. Of course I believe the display died so might simply take the housing apart and see whether I could add a new display.
After reading one of the referenced links, I'm assuming I would need a legitimate monitor and connection that supports HDCP so videos will play properly.
Both of those have all the ports on sub boards so could be cabled down in to the space used for the old G4 motherboard to fudge together a USB-c "hub" and Power supply to make all the old ports work or convert them to newer versions.
Problem is still monitor support, sure could treat it as an external but I think both those boards would still want an internal connected to the socket which seems to carry the webcam as well on both.
Yes I've been looking at my Old 17inch G4 iMac for a while now as a retro-redux. Just need a contact at a repair shop to get me a machine someone has been careless with.
Was initially thinking just turning it in to USBc hub and screen but projects gets big and bolder each time.
It's a PATA drive, but it's a completely standard desktop drive, you could easily replace it with a SATA drive if you wanted. Might as well put in a Blu-ray drive if you're going to do that.
Loved that package! It went to my girl friend at the time after replacing the 80GB HDD with a 500GB HDD and fresh install of Tiger.
Replaced it with a 24" iMac. Obviously better machine, but a boring package by comparison.