GoKawiilDemand for Apple’s Mac Mini has skyrocketed, particularly in China, as the small computer has become an ideal platform for experimenting with autonomous AI agents like OpenClaw and others. Now, a company called Astropad is building out a remote desktop solution specifically for this use case.
On Tuesday, Astropad CEO Matt Ronge introduced Astropad Workbench, a remote desktop solution for Apple devices that he pitches as made “for the AI era.”
While an AI agent running on a Mac Mini may not need a screen, its operator (the human) will want to log in at times to see what’s happening in order to check logs, monitor outputs, or restart stuck tasks, he says.
Image Credits:Astropad
The new remote desktop solution offers a variety of features, including high-fidelity streaming; the ability to dictate prompts and commands with your voice; plus support for other input methods like the keyboard, Apple Pencil, or touch; and clients for both the iPad and iPhone — the latter essentially putting the remote desktop solution into your pocket for on-the-go access.
If you’re running AI agents across multiple Macs, Workbench offers a device chooser so you can move between them.
Image Credits:Astropad
The idea came about because it was something the team at Astropad had wanted for themselves, as had their friends.
“We have heavily adopted AI at Astropad, and we’ve been using agents. And sometimes, you have an agent running on a long task, and you want to check on it,” says Ronge. “There’s not a great way to do this…there were existing remote desktop tools, but nothing built specifically for this,” he continues. “There have also been ways where you can use a terminal, or there are things like Telegram chats, but they’re limited. I mean, there are times you’ve got to see what’s happening on your Mac. You’ve got to approve a dialog or save something, or just visually see what’s happening.”
Workbench also leverages the company’s proprietary, low-latency display protocol, which it calls LIQUID, which supports the workflows creative professionals use. It retains full fidelity, even at Retina resolutions, Astropad claims, and doesn’t blur lines or pixelate data. The protocol already powers Astropad’s other products, like Luna Display, which turns your iPad into a second display, and Astropad Studio, which lets you use an iPad as a professional drawing tablet.
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