This Wild DIY Project Turns the Mac Mini Into a Handheld Gaming Console
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If you’re an M4 Mac mini owner like I am, you’re likely perfectly satisfied with what it does — sitting on your desk and helping you perform your daily tasks in a fast and efficient way. However, some Mac mini owners look at the small wonder and think “why can’t this be portable?” (Yes, I know we already have portable Macs, thanks to the MacBook lineup, but stick with me here.)
The Mac mini has been used for many different purposes since its 2024 redesign, but this is the first time I’ve personally seen a Mac mini turned into a portable gaming machine with a Switch-compatible controller. Oh, and you can use it for work too!
Chris Cheng of Shring Solutions has posted an interesting YouTube video (first shared by AppleInsider) that shows off his M4 Mac mini, encased in a svelte 3D-printed vertical chassis that Cheng calls his “Mac nano.” The Mac mini slides into a frame that includes enough battery power for six hours of video playback. Cheng’s creation includes a sharp 120 Hz display, touch controls, and an integrated Switch controller.
The Switch controller isn’t limited to just playtime.
“For expansion, I put Nintendo Switch Joy-Con rails right into the sides,” says Cheng. “This handles your mouse control, custom system shortcuts, and native handheld gaming.”
Cheng says his creation measures 17.6 cm (6.93 inches) tall and 17.2 cm (6.7 inches) wide, or roughly the size of his palm. The contraption’s depth is 5.7 cm (2.24 inches). Between that and the likely weight of the device, I question how comfortable it is to hold for extended periods.
It’s definitely a bit bulky, as Cheng decided to keep the actual M4 Mac mini internals untouched, albeit mounted inside a custom 3D-printed case, which allows the Mac mini to slot into Cheng’s contraption — much like a Game Boy cartridge did back in the good old days. (He provides a link to the video showing off the “Mac nano” project.) Cheng says his design of the frame means it has “a fantastic upgrade path for future hardware as long as Apple sticks to this exact form factor.”
It should be noted that while Cheng used an M4 Mac, the new M6 and M5 Pro Mac minis appear to share the same dimensions as the M4 model.
Cheng says his creation’s “cartridge” system offers all sorts of possibilities and isn’t limited to the Mac.
“But why stop at Mac?” asks Cheng. “Since the cyberdeck body just expects an enclosure with matching physical dimensions, this open cartridge system opens up an incredible path for future hardware mods [such as] Raspberry Pi 5.”
Cheng’s 27-minute video offers a deep dive, providing details about his design and assembly of the chassis and the components used in addition to the Mac mini. As you might imagine, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for Cheng as he created his masterpiece, and he details the issues he had to overcome, including multiple electrical problems.
Rest assured, a project like this is not for the faint-hearted, and there is no easy-to-assemble kit for the project, nor does Cheng appear to have plans to sell such a kit. However, he does promise future access to a parts list and to a GitHub housing the code and schematics used in the project.
Projects like this are an excellent example of a Mac owner not simply asking himself “why,” but instead asking “why not?”
