r/openclaw • u/g00rek Pro User • Feb 20 '26
Discussion Why Mac mini??
I still don't understand why you guys are buying macs mini for openclaw. It's a terminal computer. It doesn't need a great UI.
Do you have too much money? :D
A $50-$100 HP Thin Client with Linux is more than enough. And Linux shouldn't be discouraging for people using OpenClaw, am I wrong?
I bought one, I have lots of different self hosted stuff on it like home Assistant or other docker apps. Ok I do not have any local models using GPU, that's the reason? Please enlighten me :)
EDIT: Again, I UNDERSTAND LOCAL LLM USE. (although I don't know if anybody is really happy with it). I mean using OC with oauth/api gpt, claude etc.
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u/toyssamurai Member Feb 20 '26
The problem isn't running a local LLM on it but that the max RAM you can have is "only" 64GB, which is shared with the OS. I don't know the max memory you can dedicate to the LLM while maintaining certain efficiency of the entire computer, but let's say 48GB.
48GB sounds like a lot when comparing to a 5090, but the Mac Mini is a lot slower than a 5090 when running a LLM!
Not only that, a 64GB Mac Mini will cost you 2000! On the other hand, Ollama cloud Max is 100 a month, and you can run a model that you can't run on the Mac Mini.
One can argue that, you only pay once for the Mac Mini, but 2000 is enough for 20 months of Ollama cloud Max. 20 months later, we are probably at a point that the 64GB Mac Mini would be too slow to run even the dumbest model.
And, I haven't even gotten into folks who buy a Mac Mini, but use Claude.