Using Vision Pro with Mac Mini M2

[wrcousert]

Apple says you can look at your MacBook and the display will transfer to your Vision Pro. Does the same technique work with the Mac Mini?

Also, does anyone know if you can attach a battery to a Mac Mini? I'd like to keep one in a backpack for use with the Vision Pro.

 

[chrfr]

Apple says you can look at your MacBook and the display will transfer to your Vision Pro. Does the same technique work with the Mac Mini?

Also, does anyone know if you can attach a battery to a Mac Mini? I'd like to keep one in a backpack for use with the Vision Pro.

Nobody has any firm answers on anything about the Vision Pro at this point.
The mini runs off AC power so you’d need an inefficient inverter to convert battery power to AC. In theory, yes, it’s possible, but not practical by any means as you’d need a very large battery to have enough power for the computer to be usable for any length of time.

 

[Night Spring]

Regarding whether you can connect Vision Pro to Mac Mini, I don't see why not, as VP would be as useful with desktop machines as it is with MacBooks. We won't find out for sure until Apple releases more details, but I'd be very surprised if VP didn't work with desktop Macs.

As for battery, I found this article. Looks like the battery would have to be quite large.

Best portable batteries for Mac mini 2025

Though it's intended for desktop use, the Mac mini is portable, but you'll need a pretty powerful battery to keep it running. Here are the best portable batteries you can trust right now.

www.imore.com

 

[subjonas]

Apple says you can look at your MacBook and the display will transfer to your Vision Pro. Does the same technique work with the Mac Mini?

Also, does anyone know if you can attach a battery to a Mac Mini? I'd like to keep one in a backpack for use with the Vision Pro.

Do you mean you want to use the VP while the Mac is in your backpack?

Either way, I don’t know the answers to either question, sorry.
But I’m curious, wouldn’t a MacBook be the better solution? Probably not terribly much more expensive than a Mac mini and battery setup, but with significant advantages like a slim design, built-in battery, and built-in physical display/keyboard/trackpad if you ever need it. Or is it because you already have the Mac Mini?

 

[matrix07]

Apple says you can look at your MacBook and the display will transfer to your Vision Pro. Does the same technique work with the Mac Mini?

Also, does anyone know if you can attach a battery to a Mac Mini? I'd like to keep one in a backpack for use with the Vision Pro.

Well, yes you can use VP with Mac mini (I only hope we’re not bound by one desktop. It’s a spatial computer after all. We should be able to separate each Mac window to its own separate space)

As for battery, you go camping? Because if you want to work like in Starbucks you can just plug in.

 

[wrcousert]

Do you mean you want to use the VP while the Mac is in your backpack?

Either way, I don’t know the answers to either question, sorry.
But I’m curious, wouldn’t a MacBook be the better solution? Probably not terribly much more expensive than a Mac mini and battery setup, but with significant advantages like a slim design, built-in battery, and built-in physical display/keyboard/trackpad if you ever need it. Or is it because you already have the Mac Mini?

I was thinking about getting a Mac Mini, because it was close to half the price of a MacBook Air ($599 vs. 1199). I bit the bullet and ordered a M2 MacBook Air with 16gb RAM. I'm also planning on getting a Vision Pro with my tax refund next spring. Hopefully I'll be able to carry my MacBook Air with me for full Mac compatibility on the Vision Pro.

 

[subjonas]

I was thinking about getting a Mac Mini, because it was close to half the price of a MacBook Air ($599 vs. 1199). I bit the bullet and ordered a M2 MacBook Air with 16gb RAM. I'm also planning on getting a Vision Pro with my tax refund next spring. Hopefully I'll be able to carry my MacBook Air with me for full Mac compatibility on the Vision Pro.

👍 I think you’ll have an immensely better experience with your MBA than you would have with a Mac Mini (same spec) plus external battery, worth much more than the difference in price.

Just wondering—$599 vs $1199 (USD?)–were you comparing the base Mac Mini to the base M2 MBA 13” plus an add-on? Because the base 13” (same specs as the base Mac Mini) is $1099. Or $999 if you’re willing to get the M1.

 

[mattopotamus]

👍 I think you’ll have an immensely better experience with your MBA than you would have with a Mac Mini (same spec) plus external battery, worth much more than the difference in price.

Just wondering—$599 vs $1199 (USD?)–were you comparing the base Mac Mini to the base M2 MBA 13” plus an add-on? Because the base 13” (same specs as the base Mac Mini) is $1099. Or $999 if you’re willing to get the M1.

Depends on your needs. For someone already with an external display and wireless set up, it is pretty damn hard to beat the price/specs of the Mac mini. I currently have an air that is docked 99% of the time. I'll definitely replace it with a Mac mini soon and just keep the laptop for the 1% of the time I need it.

The 15" air with upgraded ram is $1379, the same Mac mini spec wise is $679. That is a massive difference if you don't need a laptop.

 

[subjonas]

Depends on your needs. For someone already with an external display and wireless set up, it is pretty damn hard to beat the price/specs of the Mac mini. I currently have an air that is docked 99% of the time. I'll definitely replace it with a Mac mini soon and just keep the laptop for the 1% of the time I need it.

The 15" air with upgraded ram is $1379, the same Mac mini spec wise is $679. That is a massive difference if you don't need a laptop.

OP wants to use it mobile with a Vision Pro though.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

As soon as Apple showed the screen takeover mode, I had a desire for a portable compute block made to work with the AVP and running macOS. If an iPad can run an M2, why not a pared down Mac mini?

Make it compatible with the AVP and iPad Pros.