Mac to the Future

It’s an indisputable fact: you can’t beat vintage computers when it comes to style. The computer-in-a-keyboard form factors and unique designs of the early personal computer era beat the boring, standard-looking boxes we have today in every way, but when it comes to performance, it is not even close. Even a low-end PC from today runs laps around the best computers of yesteryear.

Obviously you can’t use a classic computer when you need to get real work done anymore, so it would seem we are stuck with the cookie-cutter boxes of today. But maybe not completely. If you are into mini PCs, there is a new option that was just reviewed by YouTuber ETA PRIME. The Retro Mini PC AM01S made by AYANEO is all modern on the inside, but on the outside it could almost be mistaken for a Macintosh Classic. Well, maybe if you were looking through binoculars from 100 yards away. But in any case, it is a very slick little machine.

Unlike the Motorola 68000 CPU of the machine that inspired its design, the Retro Mini PC comes equipped with a 12-core AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 CPU running at up to 5.1GHz. There is also a 16CU Radeon 890M iGPU, 64GB of RAM, and an M.2 SSD up to 8TB in size. An additional open M.2 slot is provided for expansion.

The interfaces are similarly modern; look as you might, there is no RS-232 serial port to be found. Instead, the computer provides dual HDMI outputs, a pair of 2.5 Gb Ethernet ports, 3 USB 3.2 ports, 1 USB 4 port, and a USB-C 3.2 port.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Retro Mini PC is that it has a built-in display, much like a Macintosh Classic. This little screen can flip up for use when the computer is lying flat, and it can serve as a full secondary monitor. Although due to its small size, it is better used for a special purpose, like monitoring performance, displaying the weather, or as a media controller.

The performance of the system lives up to expectations. Benchmarks were right around what one would expect from the onboard hardware. More importantly, that also panned out in real-world applications. Cyberpunk 2077 ran in 1080p mode at over 80FPS, while Forza Horizon 5 topped 100FPS. However, Marvel Rivals often struggled to reach 60FPS, showing the limits of the mini PC form factor.

For general purpose computing tasks, the machine drew as little as 10W of power. Gaming caused that to surge up to 72W, while the heaviest measurement recorded, under an extreme load, was 97W.

The Retro Mini PC may be more about style than anything else, but the performance won’t let you down. If you are in the market for a mini PC, it is worth considering.