Sometimes a creation comes along with the equivalent of madness and genius. While some of you may laugh at the idea of a portable Mac Mini, I think many photographers could actually benefit from owning one.
Finding creative solutions to niche problems has become a lot easier over the past few decades. Thanks to YouTube likes that share free technical knowledge and the growing accessibility of 3D printing, ideas can become a reality like never before. One producer who will agree with that is the Youtuber and the producer Scott Yu-Jan who set themselves the task of trying to make the Mac Mini portable.
The video begins with Yu-Ja explaining why he hates laptops and how he wants to find a better solution to work on his computer while traveling. Yu-Ja talks about his design process and the exciting moment when he realized he could pair a Mac Mini with the iPad Mini he already owned. From there, just 3D-print a beautiful shell to combine the two, and the results are quite impressive.
This creation is based on a cable connection between iPad and Mac Mini and an app called Double acting so they can talk to each other. The fact that the iPad is being used as a display also means that users can benefit from the device’s touchscreen capabilities. Yu-Jan also uses an Apple Pencil with his iPad, meaning he can control the computer with the pencil directly on the screen. Something that I think will appeal to many photographers who are used to incorporating a pen and tablet in their workflow.
While this particular creation still relies on mains power, it shouldn’t take long to make it truly portable with a battery pack of some kind. I know many photographers who already have solutions to powering their gear while off-site, so they may not even need to buy anything extra to make this setup work. This portable Mac Mini is bound to get ruffled, but I think this combination of devices is something some photographers could benefit from using. Especially if they already own a Mac Mini and an iPad.
What do you think of this portable Mac Mini? Think you’ll build one yourself? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
