Mimac

Mimac/Mac app

Free download

Mimac Connect for Mac.

The free menu-bar app that turns your Mac into a Mimac host. Install it once, grant two permissions, pair with a six-digit code. That is the whole setup.

Download for Mac Install steps

Free · Apple silicon · macOS 15 or later · Signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple

The Mimac connect screen on the iPad, listing a Mac found on the local network

Requirements

A Mac with Apple silicon

Any Mac with an M1 chip or later: Mac mini, Mac Studio, MacBook, iMac. Mimac relies on the low-latency HEVC encoder in these chips.

Intel Macs are not supported and will not be.

macOS 15 or later

Sequoia, Tahoe, and whatever comes next. No monitor required: Mimac creates its own display at your iPad's exact resolution.

Mimac Connect uses a few private macOS interfaces to do that. If a macOS update changes them, an update ships through the app's own updater.

A network the iPad can reach

The same Wi-Fi or Ethernet network for the best experience. Away from home, Tailscale on both devices.

Ports: TCP 47800 and UDP 47801, opened automatically by macOS's firewall prompt.

Install

  1. Download and open the installer.

    Get Mimac Connect.pkg from the latest release and double-click it. The package is signed and notarized, so Gatekeeper lets it through without any workaround.

  2. Choose the optional components.

    The installer offers two optional items, described below. Both are off by default and both ask for your administrator password because they install system components. You can add them later by running the installer again.

  3. Grant Screen Recording.

    Mimac Connect starts as a menu-bar item and asks for Screen Recording, which macOS requires for any app that captures the display. Approve it in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen & System Audio Recording.

  4. Grant Accessibility.

    Accessibility lets Mimac Connect move the pointer and type on your behalf. Approve it in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility. Without it you will see your Mac but not be able to control it.

  5. Note the pairing code.

    Click the Mimac icon in the menu bar. It shows a six-digit pairing code that is valid until you pair.

  6. Pair from the iPad.

    Open Mimac on the iPad. Macs on the same network appear automatically; pick yours, or enter its address. Type the code once. From then on both devices hold a key in their Keychain and the code is never needed again. You can forget a paired iPad from the menu-bar item at any time.

The two optional components, in plain English

Start before login

Normally a Mac that has just restarted sits at the login window with no user logged in, and no ordinary app runs there. This component installs a small system agent that owns Mimac's virtual display from the moment the login window appears, so you can restart your Mac remotely and log in from the iPad.

It needs FileVault off, or a Mac that reaches the login window unattended. With FileVault on, a restarted Mac stops at the pre-boot unlock screen before macOS is running, and nothing can reach it until someone types the password locally. If your Mac lives somewhere you trust, turn FileVault off in System Settings → Privacy & Security. If not, skip this component and only restart while you are nearby.

Install this if: your Mac is headless, or you want to survive reboots and macOS updates from afar.

Mimac Microphone

This installs an audio driver that adds an input device called Mimac Microphone to your Mac. While you are connected, it carries your iPad's microphone. Any Mac app that listens to a microphone, including Wispr Flow, OpenWhispr and macOS's own dictation, works as if you were sitting at the Mac.

Installing or removing it restarts the Mac's audio system for about two seconds. Install this if: you dictate. Skip it if: you never talk to your Mac.

Updates

Mimac Connect tells you when a new version is available and takes you to the download; one-click in-app updates through the open-source Sparkle framework are on the way, and the signed feed will live at mimac.ai/appcast.xml. The iPad app updates through the App Store.

Verify your download

Every release page lists the SHA-256 checksum of the installer. To check the file you downloaded, open Terminal and run:

shasum -a 256 ~/Downloads/Mimac\ Connect.pkg

The output should match the checksum on the release page character for character. macOS also verifies the Developer ID signature and Apple's notarization ticket when you open the package.

Uninstall

  1. Quit Mimac Connect.

    Click the Mimac icon in the menu bar and choose Quit. This also removes it from your login items.

  2. Delete the app.

    Drag /Applications/Mimac Connect.app to the Trash. Pairing keys live in the app's Keychain entries and go with it; the iPad keeps its copy until you forget the Mac there.

  3. Remove the optional components, if you installed them.

    These live outside the app bundle and need an administrator password. In Terminal:

    sudo launchctl bootout system /Library/LaunchAgents/ai.mimac.displayd.plist
sudo rm /Library/LaunchAgents/ai.mimac.displayd.plist
sudo rm -rf "/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/HAL/MimacMic.driver"
sudo killall coreaudiod

    The last line restarts the audio system so the Mimac Microphone device disappears immediately.

  4. Revoke the permissions, optionally.

    Remove Mimac Connect from Screen Recording and Accessibility in System Settings → Privacy & Security. macOS keeps stale entries around otherwise; they are harmless.

Privacy

Mimac Connect has no account, phones nowhere, and collects nothing. It listens for your paired iPad and nothing else. The only network request it ever makes on its own is the update check. Read the full policy.