This Nintendo Wii running Mac OS 9 might be the closest we ever get to a new Apple console

Mac mini inside a Nintendo Wii on a desk

(Image credit: Luke Miani)

The Nintendo Wii, one of the best-selling video game consoles of all time, is the latest device to receive the Hackintosh treatment by installing Mac OS 9.2.2 natively.

In a new video uploaded to Michael MJD, a tech history channel on YouTube, Mac OS 9.2.2 is installed natively on a Nintendo Wii from 2007.

In the video, Mac OS runs pretty well on the Wii after quite a bit of tinkering. Michael MJD is able to fix sound issues and graphical issues to showcase QuickTime 5 on the video game console - something we could only have dreamt of 15 years ago.

You probably shouldn't use a Nintendo Wii for work, though. There are substantial issues with the fonts on the system, which lead to the majority of text being blurry and indistinguishable.

To finish the video, MJD tests out Doom, the 1993 classic that runs on basically everything nowadays, including the iPhone. Although, it doesn't work that well here. Doom running via Mac OS 9.2.2 seems to run so poorly with a meager fps that MJD can't even load past the main menu.

It's not worth your time installing Mac Os on that dusty Wii in your closet, but it's cool that YouTubers are trying things like this to see how far we can take older technology like a 16-year-old games console.

Apple's own games console?

Many of us have wanted Apple to venture back into the gaming landscape with its attempt at a gaming console ever since the failure of the Apple Pippin in 1996. While running Mac OS on a Nintendo Wii is hardly what we envision, it does beg the question if we'll ever see macOS on a console akin to how a streamlined Windows works on the Xbox.

Could Apple delve into the gaming hardware space at WWDC on June 5? Admittedly, it's highly unlikely, but one can dream.

John-Anthony Disotto is the How To Editor of iMore, ensuring you can get the most from your Apple products and helping fix things when your technology isn’t behaving itself.

Living in Scotland, where he worked for Apple as a technician focused on iOS and iPhone repairs at the Genius Bar, John-Anthony has used the Apple ecosystem for over a decade and prides himself in his ability to complete his Apple Watch activity rings.

John-Anthony has previously worked in editorial for collectable TCG websites and graduated from The University of Strathclyde where he won the Scottish Student Journalism Award for Website of the Year as Editor-in-Chief of his university paper. He is also an avid film geek, having previously written film reviews and received the Edinburgh International Film Festival Student Critics award in 2019.

John-Anthony also loves to tinker with other non-Apple technology and enjoys playing around with game emulation and Linux on his Steam Deck.

In his spare time, John-Anthony can be found watching any sport under the sun from football to darts, taking the term “Lego house” far too literally as he runs out of space to display any more plastic bricks, or chilling on the couch with his French Bulldog, Kermit.