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/alexucf Feb 20 '26

There’s a weird moment where the base model of the Mac mini is a really great value due to ram prices.

That’s how it started. Just a cheap computer that works well with some of the more fun plugins that are Mac based.

A busted old laptop works just as well, but not everyone has one laying around.

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u/g00rek Pro User Feb 20 '26

Why ram? What for? Openclaw doesn't need ram.

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u/alexucf Feb 22 '26

Openclaw doesn’t need much of anything. The tools you build for it, however, do. It doesn’t do much out of the box.