Skip to main content

Apple’s 2002 iMac G4 comes back from the dead with M1 chip

Do you remember the 2002 iMac G4? We don’t blame you if you don’t — it’s been 20 years since Apple released that iconic all-in-one desktop.

However, nostalgia is a powerful force, and when you combine it with a “why not?” attitude, anything is possible, as proven by the modder who decided to bring the iMac G4 back from the dead and equip it with an Apple M1 chip.

A modded Apple iMac G4 featuring an M1 chip on a desk in front of a window.
Image source: Connor55 Image used with permission by copyright holder

The iMac G4 is ancient by now, but it hasn’t lost its charm. With its 15-inch screen surrounded by thick bezels that had bezels of their own, as well as a large, circular stand with an optical drive, it looks nothing like its younger siblings and doesn’t resemble the 24-inch iMac at all. Needless to say, the design is just one thing that has changed over the years — the hardware found within the iMac G4, once impressive, now belongs in a museum.

Recommended Videos

In its original form, the G4 had a resolution of 1,024 x 768 (remember those?) and a processor that ran at just 1GHz, called the PowerPC G4. It had a graphics card made by Nvidia no less, the GeForce4 MX, as well as a whopping 256MB of DDR SDRAM with a 333MHz frequency. That’s right — just three digits, not four. The 80GB hard drive running at 7,200 revolutions per minute (RPM) honestly seems outstanding given the rest of the hardware.

If the Apple ecosystem was its own universe, the iMac G4 and the modern-day Apple M1 silicon wouldn’t even exist within the same galaxy, but a brave modder decided to change that. Connor55 opened up the dome and changed out hardware until the iMac became a solid computer, although it still retains the small screen. He documented the lengthy journey, which was not without some difficulties, on the MacRumors forum.

He replaced the guts of the computer with a current-gen Mac Mini motherboard that comes with Apple’s M1 chip. It also has 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. The RAM and storage are a straightforward upgrade, but so is the processor itself, offering clock speeds of up to 3.2GHz and a combination of eight cores and eight threads. The M1 is a system-on-a-chip (SoC), meaning that the CPU, 8-core GPU, and RAM are all combined.

 A modder decided to bring the iMac G4 back from the dead and equip it with an Apple M1 chip.
Image source: Connor55 Image used with permission by copyright holder

Aside from upgrading the hardware itself, Connor’s project involved updating the ports on the iMac G4. The original was not lacking in that department, with three USB 2.0, two FireWire 400, and two VGA ports, but obviously, all of that tech is old and needed a refresh. The iMac G4 now has access to USB-C, USB-A, HDMI, a headphone jack, and an SD card slot, as well as an Ethernet jack.

If you’re wondering whether the modded iMac G4 is more than just a fun artifact from the past, the answer is yes: It’s entirely functional. Connor55 equipped the all-in-one with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth access and he reports that the iMac is able to reach internet speeds exceeding 100Mbps. However, the Bluetooth is “borderline useless,” but functional as long as it’s used right next to the dome. It’s always fun to see PC builders and modders give old hardware and software a second life, especially when the experiment is as successful as it was in this case.

Monica J. White
Monica is a computing writer at Digital Trends, focusing on PC hardware. Since joining the team in 2021, Monica has written…
MacBook Pro M4 teardown shows a repairability rut for Apple laptops
The MacBook Pro 16-inch on a table.

The updated slate of MacBook Pros, powered by the M4 series silicon, has once again established Apple’s performance dominance in the segment. However, a teardown courtesy of the folks over at iFixit has confirmed that not much has changed internally, which means the usual repairability snags are still here.

Starting with the new elements this time around, Apple engineers seem to have redesigned the logic board, increasing the heatsink size and shifting a few component locations. The ports are easy to replace on the new laptop, and the battery is repair-friendly as well.

Read more
Apple hid one of the best features of the M4 MacBook Pro
Someone using a MacBook Pro M4.

Apple's new M4 MacBook Pro is great. It earned a rare Editors' Choice badge in our M4 MacBook Pro review, and it's cemented itself as one of the best laptops you can buy. Even with so much going for it, Apple hid one of the most exciting developments it made with its new range of laptops -- the use of quantum dot technology.

Like the last few generations of MacBook Pro displays, the M4 range is using a mini-LED backlight. There's no tandem OLED like we saw on the iPad Pro earlier this year. However, according to Ross Young, CEO of Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC), Apple added a layer of quantum dots to the M4 MacBook Pro. This, according to the display expert, offers better color gamut and motion performance compared to the solution Apple previously used.

Read more
Apple defends the M4 Mac mini’s power button
The underside of the M4 Mac mini, showing its vent and power button.

Apple announced a new wave of product refreshes recently, and not only does the charging port for the Magic Mouse remain on the bottom of the device -- the M4 Mac mini's power button has been moved to the bottom, too. These design choices have riled up plenty of people, but it seems Apple stands by its new power button placement for the Mac mini.

In a video posted on Chinese social media platform Bilibili, Apple's Greg Joswiak not only defends the decision but praises it. He calls it a "kind of optimal spot for a power button," claiming that you just need to "kinda tuck your finger in there and hit the button."

Read more