Who would have believed it ? The Wii finds a whole new use at the end of 2023. Forget Wii Sports and others, since it is as Mac Mini that the Nintendo console can now be useful to you.
Marketed since December 2006, the Nintendo Wii will soon celebrate its 17th anniversary. On the verge of its twentieth anniversary, the Big N console, which marked an entire generation, has now fallen into oblivion. But that was before a YouTuber decided to equip himself with his best tools (and a lot of talent) to give him a second wind.
On the other hand, it is not as a game console that the Wii will offer you its services, but rather as an Apple desktop computer.
When the Wii becomes a Mac Mini
This American videographer is called Luke Miani and he definitely doesn’t lack talent and imagination. Last year, he had fun imagining a somewhat wacky concept: transforming a Nintendo Wii into a Mac M1 Mini. To do this, he armed himself with his best tools to reverse engineer the two devices. A first task which, fortunately, did not turn out to be of great magnitude. But the operation was not a smooth ride…
As you can see in the video below, the Youtuber was first forced to cut the shell of his Nintendo Wii in order to be able to insert the components of the Mac Mini. Although the dimensions of the two devices are quite close, it is clear that the two cases still have differences in size.
Secondly, our friend, an expert in electronic operations, was faced with a new obstacle: energy consumption. If the voltage of the Nintendo Wii was enough to run the Mac Mini, the latter nevertheless needed more juice to be able to function optimally. Luke Miani then grabbed a Microsoft Surface charger to adapt the voltage of the Wii’s power port.
A charming result? Oh that Wii!
After many adventures (the Mac Mini fan being too large to fit into Big N’s console), the videographer finally achieved the desired result. And the least we can say is that the final product is stunning! The YouTuber even has the luxury of launching a few games of Mario Kart Wii in 4K thanks to the best Wii/GameCube emulator: the famous Dolphin.
Obviously, we can only strongly encourage you to watch Luke Miani’s video in full to understand how this meticulous operation takes place.
In any case, here is further proof that with a good dose of know-how, any object can be given a second life. Will the Wii U one day be entitled to the same treatment? Nothing is less certain, alas…
€699
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- The performance of the M2 chip, excellent
- Energy control of thunder (very reduced heating, limited consumption)
- Complete connectivity
High-level performance, contained energy consumption, restricted heating, non-existent noise pollution and extreme compactness… it’s hard not to love this new Mac mini M2. The device also stands out with its aggressive pricing: an almost disturbing characteristic for Apple. With a starting price of 699 euros, the new miniature desktop computer from the Cupertino giant is both one of the best and one of the most affordable on the market today.
The only criticisms we have to make concern its design. The latter hasn’t moved for years. It therefore retains its unassailable sobriety, but also the disadvantage of connectors only grouped at the back (and therefore not always easy to access). Compared to Intel versions and older models, the Mac mini M2 also suffers from non-existent expandability, since the RAM and SSD are soldered to its motherboard – and therefore impossible to replace. Gone are the days when Apple advocated easy access to components and easy hardware upgrades by the user themselves.
High-level performance, contained energy consumption, restricted heating, non-existent noise pollution and extreme compactness… it’s hard not to love this new Mac mini M2. The device also stands out with its aggressive pricing: an almost disturbing characteristic for Apple. With a starting price of 699 euros, the new miniature desktop computer from the Cupertino giant is both one of the best and one of the most affordable on the market today.
The only criticisms we have to make concern its design. The latter hasn’t moved for years. It therefore retains its unassailable sobriety, but also the disadvantage of connectors only grouped at the back (and therefore not always easy to access). Compared to Intel versions and older models, the Mac mini M2 also suffers from non-existent expandability, since the RAM and SSD are soldered to its motherboard – and therefore impossible to replace. Gone are the days when Apple advocated easy access to components and easy hardware upgrades by the user themselves.
Source : Luke Miani on YouTube
Apple Mac mini M2
All-in-one computer
release date: first quarter 2023
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