The Mac mini is a great little machine, but there's one obvious catch: it has no screen. So you're stuck hauling around a monitor, which kind of ruins the whole point of having a computer small enough to toss in a bag.
A Catsights portable display fixes that. Pair the two together, and you've got a real desktop you can pack up and take anywhere — no bulky monitor needed.
Here's what to get and how to set it up.
What you need
- A Mac mini — any M-series model works.
- A Catsights One or One S display — your choice comes down to whether you want the pen and sleeve in the box.
- A USB-C cable — the one that ships with the display.
- A compact keyboard and mouse — travel-friendly, since the whole point here is portability.
That's the whole list. No monitor stand, no display dock, no extra power brick.
How to set it up
The setup is genuinely simple:
- Connect the Catsights display to the Mac mini with the USB-C cable.
- That's it. The display draws power from the Mac mini over that same cable, so your computer still needs just its one power cable — nothing extra for the screen.
- The display activates automatically. No drivers, no configuration, no fuss.
One thing worth doing while you're at it: plug your keyboard and mouse receivers into the hub's USB ports. The hub adds a few extra ports, which is handy on a machine with as few ports as the Mac mini.
A bonus: touch support
The display is a touchscreen, and on a Mac, full touch support comes from the Catsights app. Install it, then grant the two permissions it asks for under System Settings → Privacy & Security — Accessibility and Input Monitoring. After that, you can tap, swipe, and drag right on the display. It makes a portable desktop feel like a tablet and a desktop at once.
Why this works so well
A Mac mini has no built-in screen, so it always needs an external display. Traditional monitors do the job, but they're big, heavy, and awkward to travel with.
A Catsights display changes the math:
- A full 2560×1600 resolution — crisp text and plenty of room for your apps.
- Under 510 grams and about 5.6mm thin — lighter than a traditional monitor by a wide margin.
- Fits in a laptop bag — you can carry the display, keyboard, and mouse in a bag that would otherwise hold just a laptop.
So you get a proper desktop experience at a coffee shop, in a hotel, or at a client's office — without ever feeling like you dragged a workstation with you.
Who this is for
This setup is especially nice if you:
- Keep one machine in several places — work, home, and somewhere in between.
- Travel with your Mac mini and hate the compromise of a small screen.
- Want a spare high-res display that's easy to store when you're not using it.
The Mac mini has always been a capable computer. Give it a screen that's just as portable, and it stops being a box on your desk — it becomes a desktop you can take with you.