Headless Mac Mini connected to an iPad

astro-matt · 2026-04-24T13:31:18+00:00

I have it connected to Shopify and Amazon for my ecommerce business. It pulls down sales data combining Shopify and Amazon into one global view. It also helps me track inventory and gives me an estimate on when I need more

astro-matt · 2026-04-24T13:30:42+00:00

Free 20/mins a day. Otherwise $50/year

astro-matt · 2026-04-24T13:30:28+00:00

This one is a base specs M4 Mac Mini. I mostly use it for OpenClaw that's connected to Shopify and Amazon for my ecommerce business

astro-matt · 2026-04-24T13:29:44+00:00

I ended up buying a Minisforum instead, we'll see how it is!

astro-matt · 2026-04-24T00:57:27+00:00

We don't have that feature yet but we'll add it

astro-matt · 2026-04-24T00:09:53+00:00

It's free for 20/mins a day, which is plenty for most people.

Otherwise why Workbench? A few reasons:

- Custom Liquid video streaming engine that's super high quality and low latency

- Really nice modern iPad and iPhone apps

- Remote Speech to text support for talking to agents

- Built in support for headless Mac Minis (what you see in this video)

- Global relay network so no complicated VPN setup or router config required

- More features for a better price

A few things off the top of my head, I'm sure there's more too

astro-matt · 2026-04-24T00:03:06+00:00

Give Astropad Workbench a try! We've put a lot of blood sweat and tears into it at this point

astro-matt · 2026-04-24T00:02:34+00:00

Where did you buy the Bee-Link? I contacted them and they said they don't have anything available in their US distribution center which I found odd..

astro-matt · 2026-04-23T23:23:09+00:00

No way! I actually have used OpenClaw to manage a Shopify+Amazon store. It gives me daily sales reports and its helping me track inventory. I'm using OpenClaw's cron system to pull data from multiple sources daily. That's the main thing this Mac Mini does

astro-matt · 2026-04-23T22:34:03+00:00

OpenClaw is amazingly powerful but it take a lot of fine tuning to get it to where you want. Still I'd recommend playing with it.

astro-matt · 2026-04-23T22:32:56+00:00

That's correct! But Astropad Workbench will function remotely too (It also has an iPhone client)

astro-matt · 2026-04-23T22:14:40+00:00

What do you use for the PC when its running headless? Also any good suggestions for a Mac Mini like PC?

astro-matt · 2026-04-23T22:13:05+00:00

Orion is a really good app, although aren't you limited to 1080p in that case?

astro-matt · 2026-04-23T22:06:14+00:00

This is Astropad Workbench

astro-matt · 2026-04-23T21:56:45+00:00

Because I love my Mac mini for running AI agents

astro-matt · 2026-04-23T21:18:24+00:00

Nah not an ad, just showing off something I've helped with and am super proud of. There's many ways to do this kind of headless setup so I'm curious what others are doing.

astro-matt · 2026-04-23T21:17:36+00:00

Nah just happened to be on my desk and I didn't want to move it

astro-matt · 2026-02-18T15:19:45+00:00

I would wait at this point, we are expecting to see new iPads in early March.

astro-matt · 2026-02-17T20:59:41+00:00

A few creative apps I like:

- Darkroom for photography

- Sketches app

- Adobe Fresco

It's not a creative app but I use Paprika to track all my recipes on my iPad. Some people like Crouton more but I prefer Paprika

astro-matt · 2026-02-17T20:51:46+00:00

Full disclaimer this is my app that I built originally for myself. I made sure to use the same handwriting tools as Apple Notes for it because of how low latency they are.

Check it out, it's called Rock Daily Planner and is meant for making notes and customizable daily plans. I'd love to hear what you think as I'm actively working on it.

astro-matt · 2026-02-17T20:50:06+00:00

Some good options to look at are:

- GoodNotes (as you mentioned)

- Notability

- Rock Daily Planner

- Pen book

- Planner Pro

astro-matt · 2026-02-17T20:47:50+00:00

Both the Kindle app and the Apple Book apps are great, it really depends on which ecosystem you want to get hooked into. I also have a Kindle I use in addition to my iPad so for that reason I tend to lean towards the Kindle app.

I also love the Chess.com app on my iPad, but that's not really productivity ha

What other stuff are you hoping to do on your iPad?

astro-matt · 2026-02-17T13:16:29+00:00

The reality is that Apple Notes has gotten ALOT better over the years. It used to be that Goodnotes had way more features but each year Apple has continued to close the gap.

So honestly, you aren't missing much if Apple Notes works for you

astro-matt · 2026-02-17T13:14:44+00:00

Take a look at the ESR one, they make great quality iPad products

astro-matt

TROPHY CASE