AI Demand Drives Mac Mini and OpenClaw Surge

Apple’s compact Mac Mini desktop is “flying off the shelves,” with demand surprising some retail staff who have noted an unusual uptick in recent weeks. A Best Buy (BBY) employee, recorded in a TikTok video posted on 9 February, commented that customers were buying Mac Minis in large numbers and asked whether it was “some AI thing.”

Online, Apple is now showing extended wait times for higher‑memory Mac Mini configurations. As of Wednesday afternoon, New York–area shoppers could receive a 16‑gigabyte Mac Mini by the weekend, but 24‑gigabyte and 32‑gigabyte models carried shipping and pickup windows stretching to 18 March. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the delays.

Custom and higher‑memory configurations typically have longer lead times, but the current pattern stands out because it aligns with a surge of interest from AI enthusiasts. The affected models are those best suited to memory‑intensive workloads, rather than entry‑level configurations.

The Mac Mini’s 5‑inch‑by‑5‑inch form factor and relatively low entry price have long made it a niche option. The recent wave of demand reflects a shift in how some users are deploying the machine, repurposing it as a dedicated local AI workstation rather than a general‑purpose home or office desktop.

Retail and online chatter has connected the Mac Mini’s sudden popularity to OpenClaw, an open‑source autonomous AI agent previously known as Clawdbot or Moltbolt. OpenClaw can organize schedules, monitor software development ‘vibe‑coding’ sessions, run other AI agents and operate locally on a user’s computer.

Running OpenClaw on‑device consumes substantial memory, which has pushed enthusiasts toward higher‑RAM systems such as upgraded Mac Minis. The desire to keep agent workloads local, rather than fully cloud‑hosted, is driving some of the interest in machines with 16GB, 24GB or 32GB of unified memory.

OpenClaw’s creator, Peter Steinberger, recently joined OpenAI after attention from senior AI executives including Sam Altman and Meta’s (META) Mark Zuckerberg. That move has further focused community interest on the project and, indirectly, on the hardware best suited to running it.

The software’s ability to orchestrate multiple agents and handle always‑on background tasks makes memory headroom important. Users looking to experiment with these capabilities at home or in small studios are therefore gravitating toward compact, relatively powerful desktops they can dedicate to AI processes.

As official delivery windows have slipped, resellers have moved to capitalize on the Mac Mini’s AI‑linked moment. Dozens of listings on eBay (EBAY) now offer new and pre‑owned Mac Minis at or above Apple’s retail pricing, targeting buyers unwilling to wait several weeks for higher‑memory systems ordered directly.

The secondary market activity underscores a near‑term mismatch between Apple’s supply of specific configurations and a spike in specialist demand. While the company has not commented on production or allocation, the current pattern suggests that component or build‑to‑order capacity is being stretched for the most in‑demand models.

For now, Apple’s retail channels continue to fulfill lower‑spec orders relatively quickly, while resellers step into the gap at the top end. How long this imbalance persists will depend on both OpenClaw’s adoption curve and Apple’s ability to adjust its supply chain for memory‑heavy variants.

Prospective buyers weighing immediate purchases against waiting periods also face the usual product‑cycle considerations. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who is known for reporting on Apple’s plans, has said that a new generation of Mac computers, including an updated Mac Mini, is expected in 2026.

That timeline means the current Mac Mini surge is occurring late in the product’s cycle, driven less by traditional upgrade incentives and more by the specific needs of AI workloads. Users focused on OpenClaw and similar tools are opting to buy now despite the prospect of new hardware within the same calendar year.

Until refreshed models arrive, the existing Mac Mini line will serve as Apple’s main desktop option for users seeking affordable on‑premises AI capacity. The interaction between evolving AI software requirements and Apple’s hardware roadmap will likely continue to shape demand patterns across the Mac portfolio.