Last May, we wrote about the Pico Mac Nano, a tiny, 2.5-inch (62 mm) replica of the original Macintosh. 1-bit rainbow had taken orders but has announced that it may have to stop selling the fully assembled device due to a cease-and-desist order from Apple.
Nick Gillard, the person behind the Pico Mac Nano and who runs the 1-bit rainbow company, stated in an email sent to customers that “Apple’s Trademark and Copyright Group has put a big question mark over the future of pre-assembled units.” Gillard is discussing the issue with Apple and says that order listings for the assembled units will likely be removed “imminently.” Until the ability to order is disabled, customers can still place an order on an assembled Pico Mac Nano without making a payment or providing payment details.
The two fully assembled offerings that Apple claims are in violation are the Fully Assembled Collector’s Edition for £79.50 and an assembled version without the box for £58. For customers who placed an order and paid, Gillard states that backorders are being filled and expects all orders to be shipped by September 6, which would be 90 days after the initial sale. Customers who want to cancel an order can send an email to info@1bitrainbow.com with the order number.
“In fairness to Apple, not only are they perfectly within their rights to issue a cease and desist… but they have been super-nice and polite about the project,” said Gillard in the email. Gillard also says that Apple did not pursue a copyright violation against the Pico Micro Mac project, which is the Mac 128K emulator software that runs on the Pico Mac Nano.
The case-and-desist only applies to the fully assembled Pico Mac Nano. 1-bit rainbow is still selling the individual parts of the device that the customer can use to assemble their own PIco Mac Nano. Read the complete story behind the Pico Mac Nano.
Author: Roman Loyola, Senior Editor, Macworld
Roman is a Macworld Senior Editor with over 30 years of experience covering the tech industry, focusing on the Mac and other products in the Apple ecosystem. He is also the host of the Macworld Podcast. His career started at MacUser, where he received Apple certification as a repair technician (when Apple did that kind of thing). He's also worked for MacAddict, MacLife, and TechTV.