You Can 3D Print This Gorgeous Replica NeXT Computer Case for Your Raspberry Pi

The NeXT computer, and it’s successor the NeXTcube, were unusual high-end workstations released in 1988 and 1990, respectively. While they weren’t exactly commercially successful, they stood out because of their unusual Unix-based NeXTSTEP operating system. The release of the NeXT computer generated a lot of buzz, and Steve Jobs was even a speaker at the launch event. But, the NeXT computer and NeXTcube’s most notable feature was it’s unusual design, and now you can replicate that on your Raspberry Pi thanks to Nina Makes.

The NeXT computer’s design is noteworthy because it had an interesting retro cube design at a time when workstations were turning into anonymous beige boxes. To reproduce it at a smaller scale for the Raspberry Pi, Nina spent a lot of time reverse engineering the dimensions from photo references. The result looks spot-on, and is almost indistinguishable from the original NeXT computer that Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau used at CERN to develop the world’s first web server.

While all of the parts, aside from some screws, cables, and connectors, are 3D-printable, actually building one will take a bit of work if you want it to look as good as Nina’s. As you can see in the video, she did a lot of post-print finishing with sandpaper, primer, and paint to disguise the fact that the parts were 3D-printed. But, if you’re patient, yours can look just as good, and you can have your very own mini-NeXT computer to host a web server on.