Abandoned DIY Mac Palmtop Project

I annoyingly had to abandon this project which started as a prototype for a classic macOS palmtop.

I’d been after a palmtop with a usuable keyboard for a while (Something like the Poqet PC from the early 90s), but wasn’t having any luck.

This was my attempt at creating one. I decided on Classic MacOS to drive it, as it would be simple enough to view on a small screen, and has a lot of still-usable software. Files could be transferred by mounting a usb stick from the host Linux OS automatically into macOS.

MacOS was running in the Basilisk II emulator under Linux, running on a Raspberry Pi Zero, with a battery and mechanical keyboard. There was even a tiny trackball (see white orb on the left).

Unfortunately it was too big, and my London Kitchen doesn’t really have the things I need to properly cut and shape plastic, so the idea has been shelved, for now.

Below is the sole photo of the project before it got gutted and the parts used elsewhere.