Maybe a crazy idea - but how feasible is it, to transplant the internals of an M1 mini (recently bought) inside my 2014 retina iMac to get the best of both worlds? ie M1‘s blistering fast performance and iMac’s gorgeous display? An external 5K display doesn’t quite appeal to me just as much as this Frankenstein M1 iMac, if it is doable at all. Any thoughts?
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Mac Mini M1 running inside an old retina iMac?
- Thread starter spydr
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I think this may be as close as possible to an answer.
forums.macrumors.com
For those that want to use an Imac 5k as an external display (Hacking Rquired)
Found this on YouTube:
forums.macrumors.com
The 5k iMac has enough internal space to house both a display driver board and m1 Mac mini internals. So it’s doable in theory at least.
I thought about this too as a YouTube idea. The novelty would be great but the costs vs benefits just don’t make sense.
Costs: Rewiring, Cutting, Mounting, Risk of damaging components
Benefits: Putting the Mini “inside the display” rather than just mounting it on the back.
It would also be difficult to retain the iMac aesthetic (I mean perfectly retain, one cable for power in the original socket, no ugly plates added to the case) since the ports would be different, there’s no way to extend the Thunderbolt 3 ports (but possible if you buy the OWC TB4 Hub and fabricate a faceplate for it that you integrate into the iMac case), electrical work...
Possible but it comes down to having the original iMac aesthetic untarnished vs retaining all functionality.
PS. Just remembered another challenge - driving the 5K panel. The driver board is dual DisplayPort but the M1 supports a display over HDMI and USB C. Not sure if the 5K panel could be driven off a frankensteined combination like this. Also a TB3 version of the 5K driver board doesn’t exist AFAIK
PPS. Another downside - MonitorControl needs to be updated for M1 so controlling brightness with the keyboard wouldn’t work at least at first
github.com
Costs: Rewiring, Cutting, Mounting, Risk of damaging components
Benefits: Putting the Mini “inside the display” rather than just mounting it on the back.
It would also be difficult to retain the iMac aesthetic (I mean perfectly retain, one cable for power in the original socket, no ugly plates added to the case) since the ports would be different, there’s no way to extend the Thunderbolt 3 ports (but possible if you buy the OWC TB4 Hub and fabricate a faceplate for it that you integrate into the iMac case), electrical work...
Possible but it comes down to having the original iMac aesthetic untarnished vs retaining all functionality.
PS. Just remembered another challenge - driving the 5K panel. The driver board is dual DisplayPort but the M1 supports a display over HDMI and USB C. Not sure if the 5K panel could be driven off a frankensteined combination like this. Also a TB3 version of the 5K driver board doesn’t exist AFAIK
PPS. Another downside - MonitorControl needs to be updated for M1 so controlling brightness with the keyboard wouldn’t work at least at first
MonitorControl not working on Apple Silicon (M1) Macs · Issue #323 · MonitorControl/MonitorControl
Checklist I have searched for existing issues I have looked through the wiki I have updated MonitorControl to the latest version Describe the bug Installing MonitorControl on a MacBook Air with App...
github.com
Its possible - you leave the Mac Mini entirely inside (no ports modded to be exposed on a side) unless you want one of the thunderbolt cables going back in the case (for the display).
You’d just need a lot of work to get it in + extension cables + figuring out the 5K display + an OWC thunderbolt hub.
Mac mini entirely inside the case, power button soldered on, everything connected inside, and all of the other IO + thunderbolt hub modded to be exposed on the side of the iMac case.
Someting like would need to be done from a purist perspective:
Powermac IO Example
Wrong:
Right (as you can see it doesn’t look perfect)
Since I have the iMac sitting idly, cost is not a factor. I was willing to compromise the rear aesthetics somewhat as well - but didn't expect driving the display of the 7 yr old machine would be this much of a challenge. Well, it is going on Craigslist, I suppose.Possible but it comes down to having the original iMac aesthetic untarnished vs retaining all functionality.
PS. Just remembered another challenge - driving the 5K panel. The driver board is dual DisplayPort but the M1 supports a display over HDMI and USB C. Not sure if the 5K panel could be driven off a frankensteined combination like this. Also a TB3 version of the 5K driver board doesn’t exist AFAIK
PPS. Another downside - MonitorControl needs to be updated for M1 so controlling brightness with the keyboard wouldn’t work at least at first
MonitorControl not working on Apple Silicon (M1) Macs · Issue #323 · MonitorControl/MonitorControl
Checklist I have searched for existing issues I have looked through the wiki I have updated MonitorControl to the latest version Describe the bug Installing MonitorControl on a MacBook Air with App...
Don't think Airplay would make sense - as I am not looking for it to be an additional monitor.
Headless mode of Luna display theoretically would fit the need - but don't want to pay 90 bucks to try it out. Can't find video reviews of anyone running an iMac 5K to know whether the solution can drive 14.7 million pixels of the iMac and without lag.
Headless mode of Luna display theoretically would fit the need - but don't want to pay 90 bucks to try it out. Can't find video reviews of anyone running an iMac 5K to know whether the solution can drive 14.7 million pixels of the iMac and without lag.
In fact there is no Retina resolution support in Luna. So kinda pointless.
Computer-to-Mac — Retina - Knowledge Base
Luna Display now supports 4K and 5K on secondary iMacs when using a USB-C Luna unit. The maximum resolution is dependent on your computer model and will be set
In fact there is no Retina resolution support in Luna. So kinda pointless.
Computer-to-Mac — Retina - Knowledge Base
Luna Display now supports 4K and 5K on secondary iMacs when using a USB-C Luna unit. The maximum resolution is dependent on your computer model and will be sethelp.astropad.com
Then it's hopeless. Apple has never wanted its 5k iMac to be a monitor.
Even the LCD driver board for a 5k LCD panel is forbiddingly expensive.
They can be had for well under $200 shipped - it's really not that crazy expensive