AYANEO AM01 is an evolution that visually takes us back 40 years, to launch the legendary Apple Macintosh computer. Aside from the design, it’s an AMD Ryzen-powered mini-PC that started its journey as a crowdfunding project on Indiegogo.

The Chinese manufacturer AYANEO is well known for its portable consoles and generally for handheld machines of all kinds. It also opts for a retro-inspired design from time to time, and now it’s the turn of a compact computer that recreates the visual form of the most classic Mac, the 1984 Macintosh.

AYANEO AM01: the great “Macintosh”

Like all mini-PCs, its size is minimal, in a square format 132mm x 61mm tall, or background depending on how you look at it. As you will see in the pictures, its color scheme is the same mac beige and a black cover that simulates a screen. It will have optional accessories like a keyboard or game controller.

Internally, it uses two AMD Ryzen processors, which you can choose from depending on the version. They are quite different, from modest Ryzen 3200U which (personally we would choose only for something like a home theater and little else) ka Ryzen 5 5700U which would allow us more options. Supported RAM ranges from 8 to 32 GB, while storage will range from 256 GB to 1 Tbyte in an M.2 PCIe 3.0 slot and room for a SATA SSD as an expansion. The image below shows the versions, configuration and prices, both current in the funding campaign and at final retail:

Let’s say the Ryzen 5000U models support up to 64GB of total memory and include Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2, while the Ryzen 3000U versions max out at 32GB, Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2. Apart from the base model, all versions come with Windows 11 Home pre-installed.

As regards connectivityis well served and has the following ports:

• 1 Gigabit Ethernet
• 1 USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type C
• 3 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type A
• 1 USB 2.0 type A
• 1 HDMI 2.0
• 1 DisplayPort 1.4 port
• 1 3.5 mm audio jack

The AYANEO AM01 is available on Indiegogo and, as expected, due to its attractiveness (at least visually), it passed the minimum required for production in a few hours. The Chinese manufacturer says it will ship worldwide from December. The cheapest just costs 150 dollarswith Ryzen 3200U, 8 GB RAM and 256 GB capacity.

We’d always recommend some configuration with the Ryzen 5 5700U at $271, but if the price calls for it, it’s really economical. There is also a version bare bones in case you want to install your own system (some Linux) and provide memory (DDR4) and storage yourself. It has a price 220 dollars.