With a 32 GB of RAM and a beefy x86, you can have a fairly decent cluster inside your laptop. Even a fully configured Macbook will probably be able to host a dozen gigabyte-sized nodes, if you refrain from running Slack and iTunes.
Sure, and I have that in each of the half-dozen ThinkPads laying about my place.
That doesn't negate a desire for a unique architecture portable.
edit: Particularly of interest to me is being able to isolate nodes. Your router and console are on the same physical board perhaps, but only interconnect via an onboard Ethernet switch (itself managed as a 'slave' under either the router or console node, depending on where one landed philosophically). Compute nodes could be powered off entirely when not in use.
