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SideMini
No monitor? Your Mac mini boots straight to your iPad
3 followers
No monitor? Your Mac mini boots straight to your iPad
3 followers
Mac minis don't come with a screen. SideMini makes your iPad that screen, automatically: turn the Mac on and the iPad lights up with your desktop. No monitor, no HDMI dummy plug, no Control Center clicks. If the link drops, it's back in seconds. Plug a monitor in and SideMini steps aside. Also: the iPad joins as a second screen at every login on any Mac, and the Mac can stay awake 24/7 for servers and local AI. $9 once. Free trial, no account.
Hi Product Hunt 👋 I'm Omer, and SideMini started with an annoyance.
My Mac mini lives on a shelf with no monitor, and my iPad is its screen. But Sidecar only starts when you click it, on a screen you don't have. Every restart meant plugging a monitor back in just to get the iPad going.
So SideMini does the clicking: turn the Mac on and the iPad lights up as its screen. If the link drops, it's back in seconds; plug a monitor in and it steps aside. It also adds the iPad as a second screen at every login, and can keep a Mac awake 24/7 for home servers and local AI.
A few honest answers up front:
• Why not a dummy plug + Screen Sharing? You can, but then you're remote-controlling the Mac through a VNC app. SideMini uses Sidecar itself: the iPad is a real display, with touch and Pencil, wired or wireless.
• FileVault: a fully unattended cold boot needs FileVault off and automatic login. SideMini explains the trade-off, asks before changing anything, and one button undoes it.
• macOS updates: SideMini uses private Sidecar APIs, so an update can break it. It runs on macOS 27 today, and fixes arrive through the app's own updater.
$9 once, 3-day free trial, no account. I'll be here all day and will ship fixes the same day.
Question for you: what's plugged into your Mac mini right now? A monitor, a dummy plug, or nothing?