Add a battery to Mini

[TruthAboveAllElse]

The design should be updated. It's a poor retrofit currently. But, adding a battery is an enthusiast type of thing, why don't you do it yourself?

 

[hg.wells]

I have a USB-C dock at home and work connected to all my monitors and peripherals. I only have to unplug one USB-C cable from my MacBook Pro and have the flexibility to take my MBP to a meeting or a coffee shop.

I feel I would be worse off with this Liberty Mac.

 

[phrehdd]

My “Mac Mini” is an iPad Pro M4, and the battery life is excellent.

Just give me full access to macOS Apple Silicon apps.

If you dont mind being at home with the iPad, get a Mini and add the iPad via Sidecar or better yet with something like Luna from Astropad.

 

[phrehdd]

Honestly, it probably helps that you were younger, too. I have a certain nostalgia for 90s and 2000s Apple (PPC era and early Intel) for that reason. Maybe I’ll extend it to 2010 so I can include the first iPad (which I preordered as soon as preorders became available). 80s were largely before my time, but I do still have some connection to that era, as well. Makes me wonder how much kids these days will have nostalgia over stuff of this era, so much of what they might have nostalgia for is hyper-ephemeral, stuff like apps, short-lived social media memes, and platforms like TikTok. Just reinforces the feeling I have that there’s a tremendous generational gap between me and people even just 5 years younger than me.

My first round with Mac was with the Mac Pro (Intel). Great time then.

 

[HowardEv]

The Liberty would replace your dock, not your MBP. Your MBP wouldn’t need to plug into the Liberty, but it could if you need to charge and maybe get faster response than AirPlay.

And once you have the Liberty doing the heavy work on its M4 Pro, you could replace your heavy MBP with a light cheap Air to take to meetings and coffee shop. (And if you needed the power of the M4 Pro at your meeting (or needed the open files you were working on), just unplug everything from the Liberty and take it with you).

 

[hg.wells]

The Liberty would replace your dock, not your MBP. Your MBP wouldn’t need to plug into the Liberty, but it could if you need to charge and maybe get faster response than AirPlay.

And once you have the Liberty doing the heavy work on its M4 Pro, you could replace your heavy MBP with a light cheap Air to take to meetings and coffee shop. (And if you needed the power of the M4 Pro at your meeting (or needed the open files you were working on), just unplug everything from the Liberty and take it with you).

Just not seeing the need for it at all, why manage another device when I can have it all in one. I used to have a 17 inch MacBook Pro, anything since has been a dream to carry around.

 

[HowardEv]

Just say you want to be able to dock your iPhone on a USB dock that then pairs to a BT keyboard, mouse and then runs macOS.

It’d be about the size of an iPhone, but would run MacOS and it wouldn’t also be my phone! My iPhone would be ultra light and not nearly as powerful as the Liberty. And the Liberty would have (an option) of lots of ports, so it would not need a dock, it would BE a dock.

 

[theluggage]

Right, the Liberty would have all those cables plugged in to it, not my laptop. But it’s OK because I wouldn’t need to touch the Liberty at all, it isn’t a screen or keyboard that gets touched and adjusted constantly.

Hang on, If you never need to move the computer to fiddle with the ports then you won't keep pulling out the power cord and one of your main arguments for having this battery goes away:

The thick power cord catches the edge of the desk and makes it risky to turn it to access ports on the back without accidentally pulling the cord out and crashing the computer.

OTOH If you're going to use it as a semi-mobile then you will be continually messing with the ports (although most of us manage to avoid continually pulling out the power connector...)

 

[Pakaku]

A MacBook only supports one external monitor. That matters for a recording studio. Running a studio off a laptop makes the session feel amateur even if you know the CPU is as fast as a desktop.

Some of those limitations are probably because of laptop battery limitations as well. A built-in Mac Mini "UPS" would be cool for that "insurance policy", and there could be OS integration that a UPS couldn't have, but it probably needs to be designed to accomodate for bigger purposes like the multiple monitors you're using and whatever else is plugged in. Plus it might also put expectations of batteries in the rest of the Mac lineup, which are probably more demanding than a Mini

 

[sublunar]

Why do I get the feeling that this thread could go on for hundreds for pages?

 

[HowardEv]

The Mac Mini in my studio gets moved very rarely, only when we need to change what’s plugged into it the back. That’s why people forget about the power cord possibly being stuck on something and pull it forward too hard, crashing it like it’s 1999. That is always disrupting and can be devastating, destroying you reputation as a studio.
The monitor and wireless keyboard in the studio are often moved slightly as different people sit at them, or we change our posture. Its nice that it doesn’t bother the Mini when we do that.
My iMac at home hardly ever moves and it is a pain to change the USB cables because it’s against a wall and they can’t be seen.
My MacBook Air is a laptop so is constantly being moved, on my lap or chest when I’m on the couch. It doesn’t matter if the power cable pulls out because it has a battery. Most of the time it isn’t plugged in to anything. When it was being used as home studio (before I got my iMac) connected to a monitor and interface and iLok and power through a dongle, it was a terrible experience. Not only did it get hot and loud despite me paying for fastest processor and 16GB, but it was hard to use it on the couch like that. I tried and succeeded, but it hampered me and made it no fun.

 

[YoitsTmac]

The Mac Mini in my studio gets moved very rarely, only when we need to change what’s plugged into it the back. That’s why people forget about the power cord possibly being stuck on something and pull it forward too hard, crashing it like it’s 1999. That is always disrupting and can be devastating, destroying you reputation as a studio.
The monitor and wireless keyboard in the studio are often moved slightly as different people sit at them, or we change our posture. Its nice that it doesn’t bother the Mini when we do that.
My iMac at home hardly ever moves and it is a pain to change the USB cables because it’s against a wall and they can’t be seen.
My MacBook Air is a laptop so is constantly being moved, on my lap or chest when I’m on the couch. It doesn’t matter if the power cable pulls out because it has a battery. Most of the time it isn’t plugged in to anything. When it was being used as home studio (before I got my iMac) connected to a monitor and interface and iLok and power through a dongle, it was a terrible experience. Not only did it get hot and loud despite me paying for fastest processor and 16GB, but it was hard to use it on the couch like that. I tried and succeeded, but it hampered me and made it no fun.

So your conundrum with the desktop Mac that makes you yearn for this feature is because you regularly modify your desktop system. This is also why you find a UPS an unacceptable solution.

Depending on the IO, this issue can likely be solved with a USB-C hub or a thunderbolt dock. I would bet a Caldigit TS3 or similar would solve all your issues.

Additionally, you’re issues with the MBA, presumably intel since you mentioned a fan, is largely fixed with AS. Also, CPU upgrades generally consume more power and therefore run warmer

 

[teh_hunterer]

When I used to commute between my home and office, I had a MacBook Air that I carried with me, every day, from home to office and back. I had a full-size keyboard, mouse and monitor setup at both home and office, and each day I unhooked my MacBook from my home setup, took it to the office, hooked it up to the office setup, then at the end of the day, I unhooked, went home, hooked up again. Repeat every day. I hardly ever used the Air's keyboard and screen.

So yes, if there had been a small, AppleTV size Mac that I could have carried with me every day, that would have worked for me, like 95% of the time. I wouldn't even need a battery, because there is power at both home and work. But even though I almost never used the Air's keyboard, screen, and battery, the few times I did need to work while on the go, they did come in handy.

To me, the iPad would be the perfect device for this. If Apple allowed it to run macOS in docked situations.

 

[teh_hunterer]

The Liberty would replace your dock, not your MBP. Your MBP wouldn’t need to plug into the Liberty, but it could if you need to charge and maybe get faster response than AirPlay.

I don't know why I'm even bothering to engage with you, because you completely ignored most of the substantive responses to you, including mine.

But this is a terrible idea. With a dock you just have to plug and unplug one USB-C/Thunderbolt cable. Who on earth wants to plug and unplug a bunch of USB, display, Power, ethernet, etc cables multiple times a day? Madness.

 

[HowardEv]

Just not seeing the need for it at all, why manage another device when I can have it all in one. I used to have a 17 inch MacBook Pro, anything since has been a dream to carry around.

Because All In Ones force you to compromise features, overpay, and your stuck with that screen size and CPU, and have to upgrade both at the same time.

With the Liberty, you could get the fast CPU and a small light laptop, or the cheapest CPU and use it with a large screen laptop, or get both laptops (they’d still be regular Airs that worked on their own without the Liberty) And you could get new displays as often as you needed, and upgrade to the new Liberty when it comes out without having to upgrade your screens and laptops at the same time, if they were still working fine.
You wouldn’t need to buy a $2500 17” MBP to get the fast processor you need, or not be able to get the fast processor because you wanted a small laptop.
You wouldn’t need to get a Liberty at all, Apple would continue to offer the laptops and iMacs and Mini it does now. But it’s hard to see why anyone would want the high end all-in-one or any Mini, when they could get the Liberty for the fastest CPU they’d get in the MacBook or iMac, with better cooling and cheaper than in a MacBook or iMac.

 

[HowardEv]

I don't know why I'm even bothering to engage with you, because you completely ignored most of the substantive responses to you, including mine.

But this is a terrible idea. With a dock you just have to plug and unplug one USB-C/Thunderbolt cable. Who on earth wants to plug and unplug a bunch of USB, display, Power, ethernet, etc cables multiple times a day? Madness.

Oh gee whiz. You could use a dock or dongle if you wanted.

I’ll go back and look for your previous response and try to answer it. I am answering most of them pretty diligently and in good faith and with a great deal of restraint.

 

[HowardEv]

The reason you're getting so much heat here is you continually describe a situation that suits a laptop, yet you refuse to acknowledge it.

I explain many times, getting the specs I want in a MBP is $2,500, and it throttles in clamshell mode, is cramped to work on if used as a laptop, can’t be moved about if it’s hooked up to monitors and peripherals, is assholish to take giant 2,500 MBP to the coffee shop, and amateurish to use at the studio.

It sounds like what you need is a MacBook Pro that's powerful enough for your studio sessions, and then you need a docking station at home and at the studio that you can plug the MacBook Pro into. You get to the studio, plug the laptop in with one thunderbolt/USB-C cable, get home, plug in the same way. There's nothing stopping you having a charger next to the couch.

I’d rather have the CPU in a separate little dock sized brick, and a small light MacBook Air that could connect to it wirelessly. I wouldn’t need docking stations (my dongle cost like 80 bucks), I’d rather it had enough ports to connect the displays (that also charges it) and audio interface directly. The difference in time between connecting a dongle attached to three cables, and connecting the three cables directly, would be about ten seconds. But if you wanted to use a dongle you could use a dongle.

You keep coming up with these absurd scenarios where you're the only person on the planet who needs a desktop computer in their pocket with a battery. But you're not providing any sound reasoning.

This is probably why I didn’t bother replying to you, brother.

We're never going to get through to you.

This is my thread to patiently explain my idea. I am trying to get through to you!
But you did get through to me that the name Mini has too much desktop baggage and got me to admit that “add a battery to Mini” was a bad idea.

will keep retreating to these ideas that a laptop is amateur so it can't be used in a recording studio

It is. Apologies if that’s how you run your studio.

, or that a laptop is "assholish" to take to a coffee shop

It is. Sorry if you bring your MBP 17” to the coffee shop and thought you looked cool.

and you need to bring the "humble Air" instead. It's all in your mind - it's never going to resonate with the rest of us.

Not only is a humble Air not dorky and stupid looking at the coffee shop, but it’s lighter and cheaper and less likely to get stolen by the mean kids.

 

[HowardEv]

So your conundrum with the desktop Mac that makes you yearn for this feature is because you regularly modify your desktop system. This is also why you find a UPS an unacceptable solution.

Umm, no. [edit, oh sorry, I get what you meant now] We rarely modify the system, but do hook different hard drives pretty often. The UPS doesn’t protect against unplugging cord, which is much more likely than a black out.

Depending on the IO, this issue can likely be solved with a USB-C hub or a thunderbolt dock. I would bet a Caldigit TS3 or similar would solve all your issues.

Well I have heard that USB hubs give worse performance than plugging into the machine. My audio interface manual said don’t use a hub.

Additionally, you’re issues with the MBA, presumably intel since you mentioned a fan, is largely fixed with AS. Also, CPU upgrades generally consume more power and therefore run warmer

Heat and fan noise is fixed with AS, but other problems make a laptop bad for my needs.

 

[HowardEv]

To me, the iPad would be the perfect device for this. If Apple allowed it to run macOS in docked situations.

It would indeed be cool if an iPad could turn into a Mac when docked. It’s the Pro chip I want, the fast specs and memory, running at same clock as the MBP, and a battery like the MBP. And almost pocket size, and only one pound. I don’t know how much the touch screen adds too much to the size or weight or cost, but could be worth it. Not sure if one USB port requiring a hub would work though.

 

[Starfia]

("The new Mac mini with battery is almost certainly coming")

 

[AdamBuker]

I do like the color, but dude the IIc didn’t have a battery! Grrr.

You could get third party batteries that would plug into the power input. Add the tiny LCD display that apple sold as an accessory, and you could have a fully transportable Apple //c.

 

[teh_hunterer]

It would indeed be cool if an iPad could turn into a Mac when docked. It’s the Pro chip I want, the fast specs and memory, running at same clock as the MBP, and a battery like the MBP. And almost pocket size, and only one pound. I don’t know how much the touch screen adds too much to the size or weight or cost, but could be worth it. Not sure if one USB port requiring a hub would work though.

I'm not sure what you mean by "pro" chip. It would be using a standard M chip rather than an M Pro chip. You couldn't put an M Pro chip in any tablet or pocketable device due to thermal constraints.

With Apple Silicon nobody is really concerned with the clockspeed anymore either. The only real difference between the same chip in different devices is the cooling system attached to it.

I'm not sure where the aversion to a USB-C or Thunderbolt dock is coming from. You have to plug into a monitor anyway, right? So why not just plug into a dock that charges your device, and connects to the monitor and all the peripherals, all with one single cable? Perhaps you're used to the USB hubs of old that were kind of clunky and didn't perform well for certain types of devices like audio interfaces.

A Thunderbolt dock is going to work off the PCIE standard, with 40GBps bandwidth, and shouldn't have any problem with audio interfaces. You can run external graphics cards off Thunderbolt.

I think what's confusing people is you're saying you need pro specs so you would have to get this "*******ish" MacBook Pro, yet in the same breath you're talking about an iPad with a pro chip, or a tiny Mac in your pocket with a pro chip. If the chip in an iPad Pro is suitable, then surely a high spec M3 MacBook Air would be fine for you as well?

 

[HowardEv]

I'm not sure what you mean by "pro" chip.

I assumed the iPad Pro had the M4 Pro chip, for some reason. I don’t know if I need the Pro chip or not. The M4 chip might be fine, if it beats my Intel iMac. l

It should come in the same range of chips as in the MacBooks, and beat all of them at cooling due to not having a screen. Maybe they will throttle if kept in pocket but then take them out of pocket and put on cool desk.

 

[Boil]

I assumed the iPad Pro had the M4 Pro chip, for some reason.

Again, the Internet is right there, with a ton of information available at your fingertips.

I don’t know if I need the Pro chip or not.

Of course you need the M4 Pro SoC, anything less would appear amateurish.

The M4 chip might be fine, if it beats my Intel iMac.

The current M4 SoC should trounce an older Intel iMac soundly.

It should come in the same range of chips as in the MacBooks, and beat all of them at cooling due to not having a screen. Maybe they will throttle if kept in pocket but then take them out of pocket and put on cool desk.

Thermodynamics for Dummies.

 

[AdamBuker]

I actually know music producers that prefer using their own pre-M1 MacBook Pro machines in the studio rather than the M1 Mac Mini’s that are already sitting in the studio. Anyone who thinks a MBP is “amateurish” needs to re-examine their thought processes.

I could only see running a pre-M1 laptop if it’s running Mojave or earlier for 32-bit AU/VST plugins that never made the switch to 64-bit, but if I was going that route and needed to commute between the studio and home I’d have two 5,1 Mac Pro machines in each location and use an external drive to shuttle projects back and forth.

To the OP, just a suggestion, if difficulty in finding a good name for your session is getting in the way of establishing a good habit of saving your work then try the following. Use a naming system and stick with it. That way you never have to think about what to name your files ever again. Not only that, it will make finding sessions easier as naming conventions makes for easier searching and can make organizing files in the Finder easier. Maybe use the following as a starting template.

For personal projects:
YY-MM-DD_[genre/instrument/something unique about the session]_key_tempo/time

for example 2024-11-22_Funk Jam w-Bryan_A-min_115bpm or 2031-03-15_Impromptu Piano March_Bbmin_Lento or 2017-04-01_Deep Trance Speed Metal mash w-annoying cicada hi-hat_Csharp dim_7-4_12-208bpm

Client work:
[CLIENT]_YYYY-MM-DD_[PROJECT NAME]_[CUE INFO]_key_tempo_STATUS

For example
APPLE_2024-04-01_WWDC_Plane Jump_Fmaj_120bpm_REJECTED