The Apple ][ line of computers was wildly successful and put Apple on the map. But when most people think of vintage Apple computers, they think of a Macintosh — despite its development being, arguably, a poor business decision. Its iconic 1984-inspired launch commercial caught everyone’s attention and the GUI was very exciting at the time. But while old Macs are very collectible today, they aren’t particularly useful. So, after he grew bored with its original functionality, MechaNickW converted his vintage Apple Macintosh SE into a modern Raspberry Pi-based workstation.
I normally frown upon the modification of a working vintage classic like this, but the Macintosh SE is one of the least desirable models among today’s collectors and, well, MechaNickW can do whatever he likes with his own property. His goal was to get this old PC (yes, Macs are PCs — fight me.) out of the display cabinet and into use. There is something noble in that, so I’m willing to let the desecration slide.
Fortunately for MechaNickW, the Macintosh SE has a large enclosure to accommodate the CRT (Cathode-Ray Tube) and Raspberry Pi single-board computers are very small. So, space wasn’t an issue. That’s especially true because MechaNickW removed that CRT and replaced it with an 8” IPS LCD (1024×768) screen from Pimoroni. It would have been neat to retain the original CRT, but that is monochrome and has a low resolution (532×342), which would have made it very impractical for a modern operating system.
The only original component MechaNickW kept was the speaker, which connects to the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B through a simple TRRS adapter. The new LCD mounts in place with a custom bezel arrangement MecaNickW designed in TinkerCAD. Those parts are 3D-printable and/or laser-cuttable.
The final touch is quite clever: a set of buttons on a faux floppy disk that sticks out of the original slot. Those buttons control the display and handle functions like setting the brightness. That’s a neat choice that adds some flair.
Now MechaNickW has a completely usable modern computer and all of that vintage Apple charm in one convenient package.