Fractal Design Raspberry Pi North case teased — but Fractal indicates it will remain a Computex curiosity

Among the new products Fractal Design brought to Computex 2024, the one I want most is a case the company says it has no plans to produce. One of the coolest things we’ve seen on the showroom floor this year is a mini version of the Fractal North case, built to house a Raspberry Pi.

We’ve highlighted the Fractal Design North several times, including the XL version, and as our choice for the best-looking PC case in 2024. Fractal showed off various new products at Computex 2024, including a chair, headset, and two new PC cases. But the company also had a Raspberry Pi ensconced in a case that looks almost exactly like its Fractal Design North.

The Fractal Design North “mini-me” presents the same sleek, modern looks as its big brother. It marries together wood, brass, and glass in a gorgeous design that really stands out. That’s probably why multiple photos and videos of the case have popped up on X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube, even though Fractal Design says it has no plans to produce the case (yet).

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Of course, this is hardly the first Raspberry Pi case we’ve seen that takes on the design aesthetics of a gaming computer or other PC. Sunfounder’s Pironman 5 Raspberry Pi 5 case, for example, brings the transparent front and side as well as RGB lighting gamers love their PCs to incorporate. 

It’s a trend I hope to see continue, offering more for the Raspberry Pi than cases that just look designed more for function than form. I want to see both, like Argon offers in its ONE V3 M.2 NVMe case. Fractal Design’s tiny little prototype would scratch that itch. The sample uses the same wood supply as the actual Fractal Design North and North XL case.

The case has the same sleek metal frame, a clear acrylic side plate, and a large mesh backplate. It’s really well done for a conversation piece, even if the wood slats on the front aren’t cut exactly the same. According to Hardware Canucks, the case accommodates two 40mm fans to keep your Raspberry Pi nice and cool. 

Fractal Design was using the case to house a Raspberry Pi MP3 player for its new headset offering. Fractal reps at Computex told multiple people from the media it has no current plans to produce the case for the Raspberry Pi. My thinking is, though, why go to the trouble to make something that looks as gorgeous as the real PC case it’s modeled after and not eventually bring it to the masses? Right?