Hardware

The Mac

Any Mac on macOS 14.0 (Sonoma) or later — Apple Silicon or Intel. A Mac mini tucked behind the screen is the classic always-on kiosk, but a laptop or iMac works too for a temporary display.

The display

Any screen the Mac can drive, at whatever size fits the space. You pick which display runs the kiosk in the operator screen; every other connected screen is blacked out so nothing leaks.

Input

Whatever pointer the Mac uses — trackpad, mouse, keyboard, or a touch display that macOS reads as a pointer. Prefer look-don’t-touch? Scroll-only mode lets people scroll but not click.

Power

Keep it plugged in — kiosks run all day. Canned Web holds the display awake while sealed, and with automatic login the Mac boots straight back into the kiosk after a power cut.

Network

Wifi or Ethernet for a live site — or none at all. Point Canned Web at a website folder stored on the Mac and it runs completely offline, routing and assets included.

Mounting

Secure the Mac and the display, and route every cable out of reach. The software locks the screen down; the mount locks the machine down.

The power button

One limitation we won’t hide: macOS doesn’t let any app disable the power / Touch ID button, so it can’t be blocked in software. It’s exposed on Mac keyboards, most third-party keyboards, and MacBooks. For a truly hands-off kiosk, prefer a Mac mini (button around the back) with a keyboard that has no Touch ID / power key, mount it out of reach, and set “no password on wake” so a stray press just wakes back to your site.

Ready to set one up?