Overpriced Mac minis are flooding eBay amid shortages of the sold-out machines, which have change into a popular device for operating on-device AI fashions like OpenClaw.
This week, experiences indicated that the $599 M4 Mac mini base mannequin with 16GB RAM and 256GB of storage is bought out on Apple’s retail web site, with no choices for supply or in-store pickup. The shortages have since prolonged to different configurations of the bottom mannequin, whatever the quantity of reminiscence chosen. This is the primary time the bottom mannequin has been bought out, some shops famous. Meanwhile, fashions with larger storage (512GB and up) are solely accessible to ship beginning in June.
As a outcome, eBay has change into a secondary marketplace for these in-demand computer systems. On the positioning, varied configurations of the M4 Mac mini can be found on the market at larger costs than if shopping for direct from Apple, which is now not an choice.
Apple’s power-efficient Mac minis have change into fashionable gadgets for testing and operating at-home, on-device AI fashions, starting with the OpenClaw craze however now extending to OpenClaw alternate options like ZeroClaw, different AI instruments from Anthropic and OpenAI, Perplexity Computer, or different specialised native fashions. Unlike some PCs, Mac minis additionally run quietly and are usually extra dependable for twenty-four/7 use, in contrast with laptop computer computer systems.
The scarcity of the gadgets additionally comes alongside an industry-wide reminiscence crunch and plans for a Mac mini refresh, in accordance with Bloomberg. However, refreshes of product traces haven’t led to shortages earlier than.
Apple didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
This good storm of provide chain stress and elevated demand for AI-friendly machines has inflated the costs of used shopper electronics.
As of Friday morning, M4 base fashions with the 16GB RAM/256GB SSD configuration had been promoting at markups like $715-$795 for a brand new, “open box” mannequin, and as excessive as $979 for an “excellent” refurbished model. Some “lightly used, pre-owned” Mac minis with this configuration had been promoting for round $700 — greater than $100 greater than the value of a brand new base mannequin.
There was additionally a single itemizing for a $925 brand-new M4 Mac mini with the identical 16GB RAM and 256GB storage; the itemizing warned in brilliant pink textual content: “Last one.”
While you continue to might be able to rating a fairly priced refurb should you hold an in depth eye out (or should you win an eBay public sale the place the bid has began at a cheaper price level), it appears that evidently the demand for the machine goes to maintain costs up till Apple’s provide chain refreshes.
And now that the Mac mini is unavailable, Apple has begun to see elevated demand for the Mac Studio, too. That pc can be now bought out throughout a number of configurations.
As Ars Technica identified, you may nonetheless get a MacE book Pro with 128GB RAM and bigger SSDs inside just a few weeks, and even the brand new and fashionable MacE book Neo continues to be delivery inside two to a few weeks. This suggests the true challenge is shopper demand for the Mac mini itself.
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