It's the Mac Mini's moment, thanks to the OpenClaw craze
Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto
- Mac Minis are in the spotlight as AI agents like OpenClaw drum up demand.
- Tech enthusiasts are giving Mac Minis such a boost that wait times for some units extend for weeks.
- OpenClaw is a locally run open-source AI agent that can help organize users' digital lives.
Apple's small but mighty Mac Mini is flying off the shelves.
The sudden increase in demand is confusing some store workers, who are wondering why now?
In a TikTok video posted February 9, an employee can be heard telling a customer at Best Buy: "I don't know what's with the Mac Mini, everyone keeps buying them a lot. Is this some AI thing?"
Yes, it is an AI thing, and it's giving the Mac Mini a moment with tech enthusiasts.
@melodyskim “is this some AI thing??” me trying to explain to Best Buy employees why everyone is coming in to buy the Mac mini #ai #openclaw #clawdbot
♬ original sound - melodyskim
OpenClaw is a rapidly evolving, open-source, autonomous AI agent previously known as Clawdbot or Moltbolt. Its creator, Peter Steinberger, recently joined OpenAI after being courted by AI CEOs, including Sam Altman and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg. OpenClaw can organize users' schedules, monitor vibe-coding sessions, and run other AI agents. It can also be locally run on your computer, which can eat up a lot of memory. That's driven a bit of a frenzy for devices with higher memory, like some Mac Minis.
People are buying up the 5"-by-5" computer at a pace Apple can't seem to keep up with, as the tech giant shows weekslong wait times for the higher-memory Mac Minis. New York-based shoppers, for example, can get the 16-gigabyte Mac Mini by this weekend, while the 24-gigabyte and 32-gigabyte options have shipping and pick-up windows that extend until March 18, as of Wednesday afternoon.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Custom and higher-memory configurations often take longer to ship, but the online buzz around the Mac Mini and OpenClaw is easy to link.
Resellers on eBay are also trying to cash in on the hype. There are dozens of new Mac Mini listings asking for the retail price or more for brand-new and pre-owned computers.
Before you snap up your M4 chip Mac Mini, you might consider waiting for a new wave of devices to drop. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, known for his inside information on Apple, reported that new Mac computers, including a new mini, are expected in 2026.