There is now a new version uploaded - with fixed audio and no longer mono. I apologise full-heartedly for this version and that it took this long to upload a better version. ua-cam.com/video/Jy1sHY1lNr8/v-deo.html
Thank-you. I watched this video before noticing your comment. You did an awesome job! Is there a modern screen which will fit into the old iMac screen holder, and avoid using the original monitor and PSU?
Oh god... i haven't noticed it until now... brilliant... apologies and i hope your right ear won't feel left out (pun intended) :). - there must be always something with the audio... sigh...
thanks :) and indeed i am using this imac now for every day :) - i am afraid there won’t be anything like this ever in the future … not sure if its a problem or not - after all i do like the superflat imacs they make now. but the G4 truly is one of a kind :)
The cost of development would be certainly lower than that of a genuinely new product, too. As this shows, they would only need to slightly modify a Mac Mini board and pick a modern-day panel. The rest of the design would be pretty mundane.
Thank you and i am glad you liked it :) and agree these are timeless indeed. I like it a lot and use it a lot. And it certainly has its charm over today's bulk standard looking laptops and desktops.
This is exactly what I was hoping someone would do! I absolutely love the G4 and seeing it brought back to life using the MacMini’s internals is so clever!
Awesome project! I did the same thing earlier this year and am still using it today as my main computer. If you think it’s cramped inside now, imagine having the dvd drive still in it!
Yeah, i know - that is why i gave up on even the thin internal drive. I wanted to have a better thermal figures for the board in there - not slapping a massive drive on the top :) Kudos to you for achieving such feet (i am sure it was even more fiddly to get it together) I also use the M1 G4 since its been built (i am writing the comment on it right now)
I like how even with the all the soldering, hot-patching, and adding some random USB-C hub, the internals still look cleaner than the original iMac G4. Pretty fantastic.
The G4 iMac was the most satisfying desktop computer I ever owned. It just looked and worked beautifully. The ergonomics of that screen was a dream. Apple went backwards on height adjustment after that and I found the G5 and intel iMacs just so much less satisfying to have.
This iMac is still the best looking iMac to date. I always loved this one but never got an iMac until the Aluminum body ones. This and the best GUI ( the Aqua Interface ) were the best.
Thank you for the amazing video! It's truly an eye-opener to witness the incredible transformation of the G4 iMac into the Mac M1. Back in the day, I had plans to get the G4 iMac, and your video brought back fond memories of my excitement and eagerness for that product.
Very impressive! I think this is the first iMac G4 conversion that uses the original screen! Unfortunately if I were to do this I’d need to upgrade the screen, as I’ve become spoiled by high DPI screens!
might be interesting to also switch out the display panel for something more up to date, also maybe put the Mac mini antennas where the old ones were in-between the plastic and the mounting dome on the inside. this video made me want to recreate it. awesome!
Yes, I’m planning this with an iMac G4 17”. I’m still looking into it, but there are panels with 2560x1600 instead of the original 1440x900, and better colours. The active area is about 1.5mm less than the original, and size overall also less. But I’m still pondering how to reuse the cables in the neck to send a HDMI signal together with 12V to a video controller behind the panel.
You might be able to trace where the Bluetooth receiver/transmitter is on the mother board, and wire in a little external antenna to it through a small strategically placed hole in the dome. I know my old Powermac G5 has a port to plug in a dedicated Bluetooth antenna of sorts, and I never so much as gave a second thought as to why it does, until just now.😅 Mainly cause I hardly considered the notion of using it, but now I think it might be worthwhile to find or make one, cause I have a massive classic iTunes library on thing, which could come in handy during the winter months, when I’m dually using it as a space heater. 😂
The G4 iMac was my first "real" Mac experience at home. Love that machine to bits, and I still have that machine in its original box somewhere back home :) Thanks for bringing back great memories! :)
It was a really elegant trashcan, like the super small size too, only didn't liked the octopus mess that could form behind it or how bad it was to upgrade it, like not the RAM or SSDs but the GPUs or the CPU... though it made little sense to upgrade those as you still need to buy proprietary GPUs for it, bit to chamge the CPU which was a standard one, you have to dismantle most of it to access it. Like it more than the cheese grader type Mac Pros, specially now that one cannot even use GPUs for as it is now all integraded... was hoping that they release a multy M2 variant, lile how the old Mac Pros could use 2 cpus. It would have been fine of the 'GPUs' expansion cards had the M2 Max chips and we could put like 4 of them in one of the cheese graders carriers... so much wasted potential only to kill that line of Macs...
Really sick build! Thank you for showing us the process this is probably my favorite Mac mini build so far! I'm sure you figured this out by now but the Mac mini has an antenna built into the bottom of the case so all you have to do is replace that antenna to have your keyboard and mouse hopefully working better.
In another conversion video I saw, in this case the person was putting a Mac mini inside of a Nintendo Wii, he said there were a few antenna coming off of the Mac mini, and the one that seemed to boost Bluetooth was actually integrated to the metal baseplate of the Mac Mini. So if that original metal baseplate wasn’t installed into this iMac, that’s probably why you’re having trouble with the Bluetooth devices. You can get around this by attaching a different antenna wire and running it along the outer edge of the inside of the Mac.
@@Zeguyfromgermany Ye u have to Dissasembly the Arm and put the cable unter it. U need Flat HDMI cable where u can seperate the connector, that can u plug without soldering. The Power cable is no problem also like FPV HDMI. Some displays can use with Thunderbolt this days maybe u take this is much more easier then.
WOW! That's a cool project and I'm really tempted to give it a try.. 🙂 Recently I've seen such an old G4 Mac mini at work - maybe I can get this thingy!👍
Astounding, a tinkerer not using an iFixit kit. Didn’t know there was such a thing. Secondly, that’s an impressive lump of cast aluminium that Apple designed and I agree that it’s acting like a shield for the BT. Maybe you could solder a rudimentary antenna wire and feed it out the base at the back 🤷🏼♂️ I doubt you’d need much length and it could easily be stuck down out the way of being accidentally disturbed picking the unit up or moving it. Just an idea.
could do indeed, my trouble was that the mac mini’s antenna system is a huge block and not just some wires and i did not want to mess that up (in case my conversion turns out to be a disaster :) then at least i could have my mac mini back… i might do something about it, but now i enjoy the “authentic” wired devices and internet )
That is an awsome mod. I love the Lamp but unless you rebuild it with something else, it is kinda useless. But who needs another Raspberry Pi ;) You really nailed this mod!
This is very cool. I have an M1 iMac, and in the closet an old Mac Pro tower. I am thinking of simply embedding the M1 inside the tower, and perhaps adding some 5 1/4 Hard drives.
I remember people doing this to Color Classics with G4 processors. I became sad when you said that the 17" had different color wires from the head:( That is ok as I use mine to run older software from a SSD. Nice work!
@@RetroPotato I think that build be so Sleeper if it not Chop I would love to get my hands on a iMac I want to go Ryzen from MiniForms so that PCB will have the same Port footprint
There is now a new version uploaded - with fixed audio and no longer mono. I apologise full-heartedly for this version and that it took this long to upload a better version.
ua-cam.com/video/Jy1sHY1lNr8/v-deo.html
Thank-you. I watched this video before noticing your comment. You did an awesome job!
Is there a modern screen which will fit into the old iMac screen holder, and avoid using the original monitor and PSU?
My left ear liked this video
Oh god... i haven't noticed it until now... brilliant... apologies and i hope your right ear won't feel left out (pun intended) :). -
there must be always something with the audio... sigh...
@BeamNG Crashes who asked
Just in case anyone is put off by the thought of listening with one ear - don’t be, the project is awesome and the detail in the video is great.
I'm glad I have a few mono speakers around the house for situations like these :)
Bro i just had one AirPod in during the entire video, I put the right one in now and I now see why🤣
Always a good idea to edit your videos using headphones.
You spoke straight to my soul
Thanks for the "stereo->mono" accessibility option in OS X
Yeah, my left ear enjoyed the narration very much
yeah made me jump every time with the left channel audio, felt like i was going to have a heart attack every jump scare
Before watching this video, do yourself a favor and turn on "mono audio" on your device 👌🤝
I regret watchin this on stereo i hear his voice on my left ear, just like the voices in my hea-
It doesn’t matter because my iPad is already mono
Thanks u saved my ears
yes! was just about to say this, great video but icouldnt sit through it becaus of the audio
😂😂😂😂
This guy turned a vintage G4 iMac into an M1 powered beast. It's like giving a grandpa a rocket booster and watching him zoom into the future
Awesome upgrade! This looks like something I would gladly use. They should make compact PCs again.
thanks :) and indeed i am using this imac now for every day :) - i am afraid there won’t be anything like this ever in the future … not sure if its a problem or not - after all i do like the superflat imacs they make now.
but the G4 truly is one of a kind :)
They do. They’re called Mac Minis.
Or if you want a screen they’re called MacBooks.
@@Kryojenix they also still have the iMac, though has not seen a refresh since it got the M1
I think Apple still does. They have an iMac now
Wow, this is probably one of the coolest sleeper computers I have ever seen
Apple should release a special edition version with M2 as a celebration of it being 20 years old!!
Absolutely!
The cost of development would be certainly lower than that of a genuinely new product, too. As this shows, they would only need to slightly modify a Mac Mini board and pick a modern-day panel. The rest of the design would be pretty mundane.
I would pay the cost for it for sure !! 😊
The Sunflower Mac with updated internals and screen.
It would be beautiful!
如果能再加上触摸屏和苹果的笔，那将是最棒的mac@@cjxgraphics
really fun project, i love apple's design language from this generation, it's timeless imho. really happy the YT algorithm suggested this!
Thank you and i am glad you liked it :) and agree these are timeless indeed. I like it a lot and use it a lot. And it certainly has its charm over today's bulk standard looking laptops and desktops.
This is exactly what I was hoping someone would do! I absolutely love the G4 and seeing it brought back to life using the MacMini’s internals is so clever!
Awesome project! I did the same thing earlier this year and am still using it today as my main computer. If you think it’s cramped inside now, imagine having the dvd drive still in it!
Yeah, i know - that is why i gave up on even the thin internal drive. I wanted to have a better thermal figures for the board in there - not slapping a massive drive on the top :) Kudos to you for achieving such feet (i am sure it was even more fiddly to get it together)
I also use the M1 G4 since its been built (i am writing the comment on it right now)
how did you keep the drive? did you upgrade the drive? or just use the old one?
I like how even with the all the soldering, hot-patching, and adding some random USB-C hub, the internals still look cleaner than the original iMac G4. Pretty fantastic.
The G4 iMac was the most satisfying desktop computer I ever owned. It just looked and worked beautifully. The ergonomics of that screen was a dream. Apple went backwards on height adjustment after that and I found the G5 and intel iMacs just so much less satisfying to have.
This iMac is still the best looking iMac to date. I always loved this one but never got an iMac until the Aluminum body ones.
This and the best GUI ( the Aqua Interface ) were the best.
Back in the day, you could add an Airport card to the G4 iMac, so it makes sense wifi frequencies are not being blocked by the case.
The card was installed under the dome (bottoms of computer) but the antenna runs up to the dome and I think into the display.
Congratulations on the studio, looks great!
And like always loved the video. Very informative and a nice upgrade in my opinion
thank you very much, i am glad you enjoyed it :)
The irony of this video and then the sound is WILD
Thank you for the amazing video! It's truly an eye-opener to witness the incredible transformation of the G4 iMac into the Mac M1. Back in the day, I had plans to get the G4 iMac, and your video brought back fond memories of my excitement and eagerness for that product.
Very impressive! I think this is the first iMac G4 conversion that uses the original screen!
Unfortunately if I were to do this I’d need to upgrade the screen, as I’ve become spoiled by high DPI screens!
I wish I had the skills to make something like this. Just know that if I win the lottery, I will be in touch!!
it's a very good design, ageless and classy. I hope they bring it back even for a special anniversary edition.
never was a Apple Fan, but even by todays Standarts the engenieering of the G4 IMac is amazing
i love this thing, i got one in highschool and just tinkering with it got me through a lot of depression, good video!!
My both ears loved this video! Great job!
might be interesting to also switch out the display panel for something more up to date, also maybe put the Mac mini antennas where the old ones were in-between the plastic and the mounting dome on the inside. this video made me want to recreate it. awesome!
Yes, I’m planning this with an iMac G4 17”. I’m still looking into it, but there are panels with 2560x1600 instead of the original 1440x900, and better colours. The active area is about 1.5mm less than the original, and size overall also less. But I’m still pondering how to reuse the cables in the neck to send a HDMI signal together with 12V to a video controller behind the panel.
@@Zeguyfromgermany awesome! I´d love to hear how it went.
You might be able to trace where the Bluetooth receiver/transmitter is on the mother board, and wire in a little external antenna to it through a small strategically placed hole in the dome. I know my old Powermac G5 has a port to plug in a dedicated Bluetooth antenna of sorts, and I never so much as gave a second thought as to why it does, until just now.😅 Mainly cause I hardly considered the notion of using it, but now I think it might be worthwhile to find or make one, cause I have a massive classic iTunes library on thing, which could come in handy during the winter months, when I’m dually using it as a space heater. 😂
The G4 iMac was my first "real" Mac experience at home. Love that machine to bits, and I still have that machine in its original box somewhere back home :) Thanks for bringing back great memories! :)
I forgot how much I loved the look of that mac. I hated working with them and supporting them and using them but I loved how they looked.
this was my first pc, what a great computer with loads of character!!
The G4 is my favorite iMac design ever. I’d love to do this to one but I definitely don’t have that much time or ambition 😂
bro great work reviving the old g4 really liked the details you put forward in the video
My left ear really enjoys your commentary 😊
finally! i've been waiting for this
hope you found it satisfactory :)
Good golly, the 18 years from the original Mac to iMac G4, and iMac G4 to now, makes me feel so old.
I'd love to see a "trash can" Mac upgraded to an M1. I'm probably one of the few people that thinks that was one of Apple's best designs to date.
It was a really elegant trashcan, like the super small size too, only didn't liked the octopus mess that could form behind it or how bad it was to upgrade it, like not the RAM or SSDs but the GPUs or the CPU... though it made little sense to upgrade those as you still need to buy proprietary GPUs for it, bit to chamge the CPU which was a standard one, you have to dismantle most of it to access it. Like it more than the cheese grader type Mac Pros, specially now that one cannot even use GPUs for as it is now all integraded... was hoping that they release a multy M2 variant, lile how the old Mac Pros could use 2 cpus. It would have been fine of the 'GPUs' expansion cards had the M2 Max chips and we could put like 4 of them in one of the cheese graders carriers... so much wasted potential only to kill that line of Macs...
I just watched a G4 Cube upgraded to M1 last week, quite similar to this but much simpler than this.
I recently ran into one of these iMacs sitting in a computer lab (non functional). This looks like a really fun project to get one working again.
Really sick build! Thank you for showing us the process this is probably my favorite Mac mini build so far! I'm sure you figured this out by now but the Mac mini has an antenna built into the bottom of the case so all you have to do is replace that antenna to have your keyboard and mouse hopefully working better.
I screwed with my headset for way too long before I realized the BG music was in both ears. Very nice video though!
Bravo! Such a timeless design.
how does that look timeless?
Timeless design? Shit looks straight out of the 90’s
@@flosa1995 Because many people find it beautiful decades after it was designed and released. I imagine it will be admired for a long time.
@kid_forever
Well, taste is subjective
@@flosa1995 his taste is Apple fanboy
My left ear with hearing loss enjoyed this video
I've got two of these still - what a clever retrofit!
Beautiful conversion. So nice to see this have a fresh life.
Magnificent work! I really like these projects where those retro devices are mixed with new tech. Congrats man, I’ve enjoyed a lot!
This is fantastic. I love projects like this. Thanks for making it!
In another conversion video I saw, in this case the person was putting a Mac mini inside of a Nintendo Wii, he said there were a few antenna coming off of the Mac mini, and the one that seemed to boost Bluetooth was actually integrated to the metal baseplate of the Mac Mini. So if that original metal baseplate wasn’t installed into this iMac, that’s probably why you’re having trouble with the Bluetooth devices. You can get around this by attaching a different antenna wire and running it along the outer edge of the inside of the Mac.
for bluetooth and wifi you can use a free port hole at the back to feed antenna wires and it should work well. awesome project!
i’ve always wanted to see how retrofitting different mac parts would work, awesome video
This retrofit would make Frankenstein happy.
Honestly i love the floating design of the imac g4
This video was already amazing by itself, but with the TARDIS there in the scenery it got even better
these imacs were THE best ever. was so cool.
great video, but I love my audio in stereo mode! Your voice was present only on my left ear ... even so, LOVED the video so much, I just subscribed!
my right ear felt lonely too
Insanely awesome! Big respect for doing this! I would love to have such a machine :)
I have done a similar mod, but i had use an Macbook. For The Display i buyed a modern with same size and a flat HDMI cable. Awesome the DVI mod :D
Did you run the HDMI cable through the neck? And the power for the panel as well? I’m planning the same thing with an 17” iMac G4.
@@Zeguyfromgermany Ye u have to Dissasembly the Arm and put the cable unter it. U need Flat HDMI cable where u can seperate the connector, that can u plug without soldering. The Power cable is no problem also like FPV HDMI. Some displays can use with Thunderbolt this days maybe u take this is much more easier then.
I love the idea of an M1 Mac in this form factor.
the sleeper of the mac world
my left ear really enjoyed this
I'd like to see someone mount a modern screen onto that base. Something like a 27 or even 32" OLED screen would be cool!
great job, greetings from the south of Chile!!!
I love mods like this. Excellent work.
my left ear loved the video.
i like the vibe of the music
my left ear loved this video
Oh, audio in one ear great
Brilliant stuff potato. I myself have the very same pre-modified iMac G4 20" but home modified with a IntelNUC 8 :D
WOW! That's a cool project and I'm really tempted to give it a try.. 🙂
Recently I've seen such an old G4 Mac mini at work - maybe I can get this thingy!👍
Jonathan Ivy is going to have a heart attack when he sees those tangled cables hahaha
Yeah :) its not the way they designed it thats for sure / lets hope(?) he doesn't watch this :D
My left ear enjoyed this video.
Globe speaker functionality would be a plus.
Time to upgrade the monitor next! With the arm and everything!
Astounding, a tinkerer not using an iFixit kit. Didn’t know there was such a thing. Secondly, that’s an impressive lump of cast aluminium that Apple designed and I agree that it’s acting like a shield for the BT. Maybe you could solder a rudimentary antenna wire and feed it out the base at the back 🤷🏼♂️ I doubt you’d need much length and it could easily be stuck down out the way of being accidentally disturbed picking the unit up or moving it. Just an idea.
Cool project. It is a true all in one.
That is a fantastic project i will love to get it done! just looking for a 20 inch g4 now!
My right ear enjoyed this video.
Did that in the 1990's with a Quadra 660AV in a PC Case. It was a Lance-in-Tosh.
Awesome project! Very involved though but a very cool result at the end.
Amazing. But you can bring out antennas with cables between two domes, as they do in laptops.
could do indeed, my trouble
was that the mac mini’s antenna system is a huge block and not just some wires and i did not want to mess that up (in case my conversion turns out to be a disaster :) then at least i could
have my mac mini back… i might do something about it, but now i enjoy the “authentic” wired devices and internet )
Great Mod Sir I done several Mac mini mods but not on this one
Love it, made me look after an iMac/ Mac mini M2 and make the mod myself. Thanks and congrats!!
My left ear enjoyed this
I would like to see a MacStudio attached with this this old screen
That is an awsome mod. I love the Lamp but unless you rebuild it with something else, it is kinda useless. But who needs another Raspberry Pi ;) You really nailed this mod!
Hey guys it wasn't *all* left-channel only - just the voiceover parts...
I loved my 15 inch G4, but I always wished the screen resolution had been just a bit higher.
my left ear really liked this video
My left ear enjoyed this video
Fantastic Video dispite left channel audio!
This is very cool. I have an M1 iMac, and in the closet an old Mac Pro tower. I am thinking of simply embedding the M1 inside the tower, and perhaps adding some 5 1/4 Hard drives.
I didn't know what the audio problems where until I put on headphones
I remember people doing this to Color Classics with G4 processors.
I became sad when you said that the 17" had different color wires from the head:(
That is ok as I use mine to run older software from a SSD.
Nice work!
Just design a pcb for the display cable and use a connector to connect it..
@Retro Potato @Element14 made a Custom PCB to fit in modern Ports and I think that they have the Gerber files to customize it to work for your build
Let us know where, and we could get PCBWay to make some boards :)
@@RetroPotato I think that build be so Sleeper if it not Chop I would love to get my hands on a iMac I want to go Ryzen from MiniForms so that PCB will have the same Port footprint
An SD card reader where the floppy disk inserts would have been perfect. Even if the SD card has to stick out to fit the reader
Wooow, thank you for this video, very interesting !
MacBook Display addition would have been nice :)
bro its brilliant! boosting such a beautiful machine sooo cool
maybe u need to sell “g4 2 m1 transforming kit” 😂
I love this!! Man I would love to pay someone to do this for me.. I have a Lamp Mac and would love a mac mini M1 into that!
This is such a cool project!!!
as a guy with broken left headphone i would say that music is good
Nice upgrade .. but wouldn’t it be easier to find a monitor of the same size with higher resolution and using a DP cable?