Honey, I shrunk the Mac: Enthusiast makes the Mac mini more mini

Enlarge / Mac Mini mod on top of the original Mac Mini. (credit: Snazzy Labs/YouTube)

At 7.7*7.7*1.4 inches, the Mac mini is a tiny desktop. When the form factor debuted in 2010, it was pretty impressive. But 12 years later, with mini PCs like the Intel NUC measuring 4.6*4.4*1.5 inches, the Mac mini doesn't feel all that mini anymore.

As it turns out, the PC is packing some extra baggage, and by getting rid of some of those parts-like an overly powerful internal power supply unit (PSU)-an enthusiast has been able to rebuild the system with a 28 percent reduction in volume while allegedly keeping the same performance as the original machine.

YouTube channel Snazzy Labs shared its miniature Mac mini mod in a video called "We made the Mac mini ACTUALLY mini!" on Tuesday. The idea stemmed from the M1-based Mac mini's reliance on a dated design built around more power-hungry Intel chips. Part of that design included a large fan. Snazzy Labs removed the blower fan, certain that a fanless Mac mini would work because of the M1's performance in the fanless Macbook Air laptop.

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