YouTubers are often known to experiment with Apple products that no one can even think about. A while back, we saw a YouTuber make original Macintosh Keyword work with his iPhone X and another one pairing a folding glass to his iPhone to visualize a foldable iPhone. A YouTuber has now managed to build a small, calculator-like mini PC that can run macOS Big Sur.
YouTuber Iketsj has published a video documenting his journey of building a “handheld macOS.” Initially, through the video, Iketsj shows the components he has used for building the handheld PC.
He’s used a LattePanda Alpha SBC (single-board computer) that has an Intel Core M series processor and 8GB of RAM. In addition to this, he has used an external WLAN chip since the SBC doesn’t have a WiFi chip and a 240GB SATA SSD from Western Digital with macOS Big Sur flashed onto it.
To build the final product, he has used a custom calculator-like 3D printed case. The custom case he’s used has a QWERTY keyboard. In addition to the QWERTY keyboard, the custom 3D printed case has buttons like right-click, left-click, play/pause, power, save, and arrow keys for controlling the cursor.
Pressing the power button actually boots up the custom PC that runs macOS Big Sur, however, as Iketsj notes, there are some problems in interfacing the battery onto the system.
But what’s the use case of this type of product? “Maybe you’ll say that the handheld macOS is not practical, yada yada yada. Well, sure, you’re right. I just want to make one for myself,” Sanglay notes on camera. He says that the parts required for the project ended up costing more than the M1 Mac mini, but “where’s the fun in that?” he says.
Would you be interested in a calculator like PC that runs macOS? Will it fit into your work system or any other use case? Let us know in the comments section below!
