Apple By Lee Mathews Feb. 22, 2014 11:03 am
Apple’s Magic Mouse is an impressive piece of hardware for a number of reasons. Heck, even the plastic retail box it comes in is pretty awesome. Why? Well, because it makes a perfect housing for the Raspberry Pi.
It’s a pretty snug fit, but with a little bit of Dremel-ing Pascal Harris was able to make it work. The composite video output protrudes a bit, but not a distracting amount. With holes carved for power, Ethernet, USB, and audio, Harris got to work on software installation.
His choice? A dusty old version of Mac OS that he figured would run on the Raspberry Pi, of course. Harris went with Mac OS 7.5, though he notes that the clunky OS isn’t a great match for the Pi’s 700MHz Broadcom processor. Still, if you’re going to cook up an Apple Pi you might as well go all the way.
Harris took a look around the web prior to hacking his Magic Mouse case, and surprisingly he didn’t find any other examples. Plenty of people have gotten the Magic Mouse itself hooked up to the Pi, but apparently upcycling the packaging isn’t quite as common.
That’s surprising given how many hacks you’ll find on the web for other Apple packaging. There’s no shortage of tutorials on how to turn an iPod or iPhone’s retail box into a charging dock or stand, for example.
Then again, the Magic Mouse is a bit of a curious partner for a Raspberry Pi. It costs as much as three model A Pis, after all. But, hey, if you’re buying one anyway (or already bought one and happened to save the box), why not spend another $25, cram a Raspberry Pi in there, and build something fun?
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It’s a pretty snug fit, but with a little bit of Dremel-ing Pascal Harris was able to make it work. The composite video output protrudes a bit, but not a distracting amount. With holes carved for power, Ethernet, USB, and audio, Harris got to work on software installation.
His choice? A dusty old version of Mac OS that he figured would run on the Raspberry Pi, of course. Harris went with Mac OS 7.5, though he notes that the clunky OS isn’t a great match for the Pi’s 700MHz Broadcom processor. Still, if you’re going to cook up an Apple Pi you might as well go all the way.
Harris took a look around the web prior to hacking his Magic Mouse case, and surprisingly he didn’t find any other examples. Plenty of people have gotten the Magic Mouse itself hooked up to the Pi, but apparently upcycling the packaging isn’t quite as common.
That’s surprising given how many hacks you’ll find on the web for other Apple packaging. There’s no shortage of tutorials on how to turn an iPod or iPhone’s retail box into a charging dock or stand, for example.
Then again, the Magic Mouse is a bit of a curious partner for a Raspberry Pi. It costs as much as three model A Pis, after all. But, hey, if you’re buying one anyway (or already bought one and happened to save the box), why not spend another $25, cram a Raspberry Pi in there, and build something fun?
More...
