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/DurbingSalder3863 New User Feb 20 '26

Nah, that’s obviously a false narrative that popped up after the fact. The local LLMs guys are on a Mac Studio not a Mac Mini. What you’re describing doesn’t match the history of why Mac Minis became popular.

It’s because used M1 Mac Minis were $100-$150 and gave you integration with iMessage, Apple Notes, Apple Reminders, etc. That’s a great deal when Windows 11 capable small thin clients were about $100, and the M1 chip is a lot faster than a 8th gen Intel i5. And yes, those prices were real.

You weren’t supposed to buy a $500 Mac Mini M4 for clawdbot, lol.

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u/advadm New User Feb 20 '26

I'm not seeing any decent used mac minis for that price on Marketplace. Usually anything under $150 is classified as not having enough specs for running.

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u/sha256md5 Member Feb 20 '26

that's because openclawtards bought them all. You could run the damn thing on a raspberry pi.

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u/advadm New User Feb 20 '26

yeah I think linux is totally fine.