Maker Josiah Keeler has designed a 3D-printable dock that turns a Nothing CMF Phone 2 Pro smartphone into a compact desktop cyberdeck inspired by the all-in-one video terminals of the 1970s and 1980s.
“Do you want to make your phone feel futuristic? Introducing the CMF Cyberdeck,” Keeler writes of the project. “Featuring a full tactile keyboard and seamlessly integrated phone rail, this case turns your phone into a portable workstation. I printed this on a Prusa Mini. The top part prints diagonal on the print bed. I had to split the bottom in half to make it fit. You could probably print this all in one piece if you’re brave enough.”
Slide-in, slide-out: this desktop dock turns a smartphone into a compact cyberdeck, complete with mechanical keyboard. (📹: Josiah Keeler)
Keeler’s designed brings to mind all-in-one terminals and microcomputers of the 1970s and 1980s: the phone is held in the upper part of the case, held at an angle for comfortable viewing, and replaces what would have originally been a monochrome cathode-ray tube (CRT) display; the mechanical keyboard is positioned underneath, providing a tactile typing experience considerably better than any on-screen keyboard.
Keeler, who only started learning 3D modeling three weeks before releasing the cyberdeck case, based the design on two existing projects: a 3D-printed case designed to accept the rival Xiaomi Poco 3 smartphone and a wireless keyboard plus a universal cover for the Nothing CMF Phone 2 Pro. To keep things simple, there’s no electrical connectivity in the dock: it simply serves to hold the phone, while the keyboard connects via Bluetooth.
The project is documented on Printables, where you can download the 3D-print files under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license.