Why not have a “MacBook Home” that requires a Mac mini in your home?

What’s the point of making a more portable (I guess you mean lighter?) laptop if the cost is that you make it less portable (because it only works while you’re at home)?

I have trouble believing that cost of hypothetical laptop + cost of Mac mini < cost of existing apple laptop. I guess maybe it makes sense if you already have a mac mini?

Why not use VNC to achieve the same goal?

I’ve got a huge PC at home that i log into from a an iPad with RDP. It’s like to say but I didn’t have to wait for Apple to tell me I could do it. For that matter it seems to be a well kept secret that you can use a bluetooth keyboard and mouse with an iPad instead of buying some expensive special purpose keyboard and case. It does seem though that there is some limit on how many bluetooth devices you can connect because it does get unreliable when I attach all that and use headphones and use WiFi.

You should perhaps consider an iPad with mouse & keyboard + Jump Desktop app.

I haven’t used it myself but have seen a lot of praise for how well it works. On a LAN, it should be even better