VNC works anywhere on the local network and can be made available on the internet via either VPN or port forwarding (though I wouldn't suggest the latter). (At this point I also want to acknowledge that RDP exists, though being on Mac, I don't use it.) Virtual Network Computing is a standard network protocol for viewing and controlling a different computer's GUI. However the viability of each is heavily dependent on the use case. Ideally through an iPad.īut whether at home or on the road, on a laptop, an iPad, or even an iPhone, there are lots of options for sharing a computer's screen. But anything more than that, and we enter the realm of screen sharing. Watching some home videos? Plex does the job.

Just browsing files? Mounting a few SMB shares works fine (though Apple's SMB stack is atrocious - perhaps a rant for another time). How I access the Mini depends on what I'm doing. And it works great! I can jump on any device in the house, access the Mini, and have everything I need. This Mini’s sole purpose is to be my “Mac in the sky”. Over time I've even transformed my primary desktop (a Mac Pro) to a thin client of sorts, moving almost all of my data to a headless Mac Mini server with a Thunderbolt 3-attached RAID. Their 2010’s strategy of “ demoting the Mac to ‘just another device’”, not so much.)Įven as our household has expanded to include multiple desktops, laptops, and iOS devices, I have still held on to the 'home base' mentality of my desktop Mac. (Apple’s mid-2000’s digital hub strategy really resonated with me.

Though I do use laptops I'm very much in the desktop camp, partly because they feel like a true “home base”. And in recent years, I have been able to get closer to this dream. My long-held vision for an ideal thin client could be described as a “Mac in the sky” - with the hardware I’m holding in my hand being nothing more than a portal to the Mac on my desk.

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