Apple marketed its famous iMac G4 between January 2002 and August 2004. With a distinctive design and an aggressive advertising campaign, the G4 left a lasting impression on users, despite the high price and limited availability. Along with other Apple systems, it became a favorite source of inspiration for modding projects. Instructables user "GregO29" decided to create a scale replica with an Intel NUC inside and a lot of 3D printing.
An Iconic Design
Beyond its scandalous prices and some significant technical flaws, we cannot deny that Apple's line of "retro computers" demands attention. The iMac G3 with its translucent colors, the G4 with its "lamp" format, the iCube that even made a couple of appearances in Hollywood... discussions about their hardware and compatibility were endless, but they forced us to look. That still happens today when a "new old stock" unit appears, or one that was especially well cared for by its owner.
The Scale Model
With that in mind, it's no surprise that Instructables user "GregO29" drew inspiration from the iMac G4 to build a new computer. In the past we've seen miniatures of iMacs based on the Raspberry Pi, but it's clear that "GregO29" wants much more than a decoration piece. The exact scale is 54%, with enough space to install an Intel NUC inside. How does that work exactly? The larger circle of the G4 at 54% measures 5.9 inches (14.9 cm), while the NUC is a 4x4 inch square (10.1 x 10.1 cm)... or so he thought at first.
Design and Printing
GregO29 must have invested a lot of time in designing his prototype, and for that he used an old software called LightWave 3D, which dates back to the era of the Video Toaster on the Commodore Amiga, and other pioneers of three-dimensional animation. In total, the initial 3D printing took him 40 hours, and after finishing he discovered that a hole for the power button was missing. An alternative button, a slight modification, and that problem was solved.
I say "that problem" because the challenges continued. The 3D printer gave up, and there are also size differences between different generations of NUC, so GregO29 was forced to print new parts. However, the most complicated part was the "neck" of the iMac. Running the cables (a standard HDMI does not fit in the available space) and the weight of the screen required extra attention.
The Finished Product
Finishing the case is a long session of filling, sanding, and painting to remove the natural imperfections of 3D printing and reproduce the original aesthetic of the iMac G4. It wasn't an easy project for GregO29, but we can only celebrate the result. His "iMac G4 2020" has an 8-inch screen at a resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels, an Intel Core i3-7100U processor, 16 GB of RAM, and a 256 GB SSD. Something tells me that if Apple announced a similar model today, it would fly off the shelves...
Source: Instructables
