There’s no questioning the Wii’s popularity—over 100 million copies have been sold since its launch in 2006—but even after two Nintendo consoles, users continue to ingeniously extend the console’s capabilities. By converting your Wii into a Mac, this hack, however, focuses more on work than games.
Running Mac OS 9 on a Wii is more difficult than just inserting an installation CD into the console’s disc slot because Apple doesn’t prefer their operating systems to be used on non-Apple hardware. It’s difficult, but not impossible. We are aware that the Nintendo Wii’s PowerPC processor is sufficiently similar to the PowerPC chip used by Apple in its Power Macintosh G3 computers.
The Making of the Nincintosh MacinWii?) depends on a hacked Wii’s capacity to use the unofficial Homebrew Channel to run a Linux-based OS, which in turn enables Mac-on-Linux, which enables Mac OS to operate under Linux. After booting the Wii and activating the Homebrew Channel, a disk image of Mac OS 9.2 on an SD card is inserted. BootMii is then used to launch Linux and then Mac OS, albeit without the recognizable startup sound—one of several problems with running the OS on a gaming device.
Although Dandumont was unable to get Mac OS 9.2 to run smoothly on the Wii due to resolution issues, he was able to load Internet Explorer 5, iTunes, and even Doom, which is unplayable due to its inability to produce even one frame per minute. However, iTunes has crackling sound and crashes abruptly.
Dandumont questioned whether a more modern version of Apple’s desktop and laptop operating system would be more successful given that Mac OS 9 was released seven years before the Wii. Unfortunately, Mac OS X needs at least 64MB of RAM to operate, but the Wii can only provide 52MB, which leads to an OS crash when it first starts up. Although it’s impressive to watch the Wii pick up new skills.