The 80s Apple Macintosh has been reimagined as a Mac mini rival

The Ayaneo Retro Mini PC is a desktop computer and gaming machine inspired by the golden age

Ayaneo Retro Mini PC
(Image credit: Ayaneo)

Chinese manufacturer Ayaeno is rapidly gaining a name for itself in the west, with its Steam Deck rivalling gaming handhelds. However, it's also branching out into other areas, having recently revealed a collection of different devices designed around classic consoles and computers we remember fondly.

One of those is the Macintosh – the monochrome all-in-one computer that put Apple on the map. Ayaneo has reimagined it as a Mac Mini-rivalling Retro Mini PC AM01 that doesn't actually have a screen, but looks similar to the 80s design favourite when stood on one end.

The internals are clearly a step-up from its 50-year-old inspiration. It runs on an AMD Ryzen 7 5700U processor, has DDR4 memory, and perhaps most significantly, runs on Windows 11. It's also a darn sight cheaper than the first Mac – which was $2,495 in 1984, a value of over $7,400 today considering inflation.

The Ayaneo Retro Mini PC starts at just $149 during its Indiegogo pre-order phase.

Ayaneo Retro Mini PC

(Image credit: Ayaneo)

To be fair, that's a decent price for what looks to be an excellent retro gaming PC / console. We'd struggle to build an equivalent Raspberry Pi alternative for that – let alone one with such great aesthetics.

Ayaneo also claims it'll start shipping the Retro Mini PC from next month, December, so while it might not arrive in time for Christmas, it should be in backers' hands soon after.

Ayaneo Retro Mini PC

(Image credit: Ayaneo)

Ayaneo also recently revealed that the other products in its Ayaneo Remake collection will include a version of the Ayaneo Slide handheld that looks like a Nintendo DS, plus another Retro Mini PC (the AM02) that looks more like a Nintendo NES console.

That even has a time read-out on the top so it can double as an alarm clock. You can also lift up the traditional-looking cartridge cover to see USB and audio ports.

You can find out more about the different products planned in its Remake range in a dedicated blog post on the Ayaneo website.

Rik Henderson
News Editor

Rik is T3’s news editor, which means he looks after the news team and the up-to-the-minute coverage of all the hottest gadgets and products you’ll definitely want to read about. And, with more than 35 years of experience in tech and entertainment journalism, including editing and writing for numerous websites, magazines, and newspapers, he’s always got an eye on the next big thing.

Rik also has extensive knowledge of AV, TV streaming and smart home kit, plus just about everything to do with games since the late 80s. Prior to T3, he spent 13 years at Pocket-lint heading up its news team, and was a TV producer and presenter on such shows as Channel 4's GamesMaster, plus Sky's Games World, Game Over, and Virtual World of Sport.