Having an always-on machine running LLMs locally at home while on the move with a lightweight machine - Experiences?

Hi!

I’m currently retraining in data science and my current laptop is an 8 GB MacBook Air, so naturally I’m looking to upgrade. I’m also interested in AI and running LLMs locally, and Ive been thinking about two options:

a) Get a MacBook Pro with 48-64 GB RAM
b) Get a Mac Studio / Mac mini with 64 GB RAM and keep using my MacBook Air

I’m on the go a lot and often work in cafés etc, so having the power directly in the laptop seems useful. But I’m also intrigued by the idea of having an always-on machine at home, for example running my OpenClaw / local LLM stuff 24/7.

What I'm wondering is: if I need the RAM/compute power of the Mac Studio or Mac mini while I’m out, can I access it remotely in a way that actually feels seamless? Or does that become annoying in practice?

Would be interested in experiences from people who have tried either setup, especially for data science, local LLMs, and remote development. What's your recommendation?

Thank you!