Mac Mini hacked to run off ethernet power

Mar 03, 2024

An Apple silicon Mac Mini idles at about 10 watts, meaning that you could, in principle, run it off Power-over-Ethernet, which supplies up to 15.4 watts: just don't ask the thing to do much. Hacking PoE into Apple's smallest desktop, however, is not a trivial accomplishment.

The modding process required removing the Ethernet port from the M1 Mac mini and altering it

To get started, Ivan Kuleshov had to de-solder the Ethernet port on the M1 Mac mini and modify it so that the compact machine could support power delivery. To make this possible, Ivan states on Twitter that you will require a few components and a magjack connector. Next, he used an 'off-the-shelf module' as he mentions that the components can communicate with the PoE switch and convert the power supply to 12V.

Here's the thread on Twitter where Kuleshov explained (admitted?) what he had done:

Demo of Mac mini with PoE and power redundancy.The project has gotten a serious response, 7 times higher than I expected.I think it's better to put everything on the site, I'm working on the article, and after that, I'll do the video.I promised more details, and I'll drop… pic.twitter.com/JSxB71TvF2

New PoE standards supply a lot more power. It looks like there are splitters which draw off enough DC to keep low-power laptops, monitors and mini PCs on their toes. They won't help with the Mac Mini, though, which has an integral power supply and runs directly off the mains.

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