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Base Mac Mini Sold Out From Apple Online Store

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Apple appears to be sold out of the base Mac mini, and the machine is listed as “Currently Unavailable” from the Apple Online Store.

mac-mini-cyber.jpg

The base Mac mini is the model with an M4 chip, 256GB of storage, and 16GB RAM. M4 Mac mini models with upgraded storage are still in stock, as are Mac mini models that are equipped with the M4 Pro chip. Configurations with 24GB RAM are also still available, but some models that use 32GB RAM or higher are out of stock.

When an Apple device goes out of stock, it can be an indication of an imminent refresh, but it’s not clear if that’s the case with the Mac mini. The Mac mini has been in high demand because people are purchasing it to use as a machine to run AI models locally, so it’s possible the shortage is related to demand rather than a sign that an update is coming soon.

Apple is also dealing with RAM shortages caused by a surge in global memory demand that has led to increased RAM pricing. The memory shortages previously caused some higher tier Mac mini and Mac Studio models to go out of stock. Apple removed the 512GB Mac Studio from its online store entirely earlier this year.

Apple is working on M5 and M5 Pro versions of the Mac mini for 2026, but the update may not come until later in the year due to the RAM supply issues.

(Thanks, Max!)


Article Link: Base Mac Mini Sold Out From Apple Online Store
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/04/22/base-mac-mini-sold-out-from-apple-online-store/
Last edited:
  • Haha
Reactions: Z-4195
While you were reporting that the Mac mini delays are only due to RAM shortage, several people pointed out that it is due to an imminent refresh. Now the lower RAM configs are also out of stock, indicating that it is indeed due to the refresh.
 
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Reactions: Anson_431, kolebee, adolflau and 15 others
The openclaw hype seems fake and mostly via influencers buying them up just to use for content and then return. I bet there will be tons of these hitting the refurb store later this summer.

OTOH, the memory shortage is a real thing, and apple is likely prioritizing the new M5 models instead of the existing old model
 
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  • Disagree
  • Haha
Reactions: IceOnFire, Agent007, vantelimus and 8 others
Are they no longer being sent on ships from China? Are flights being grounded as well? This logistics issue could turn out to be the next big crisis of 2026. In hindsight things like this would be the tells.
 
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Reactions: Yvan256 and code-m
goobot said:
If all this is due to the ai garbage, governments should really step in and require companies to fulfill consumer demand first and let ai companies get the leftovers rather than the other way around
Click to expand...
I think the theory is that it is at least partially due to consumer demand, to run AI models locally. I know my M2 mini does it pretty well, so these M4's are probably quite nice for it.
 
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Reactions: centauratlas, Tagbert, goobot and 1 other person
Just stop worrying about this running locally junk. Let it make a call to the servers. If you don't have service you are toast. Trying to make a phone run the equivalent of 80 computers hooked up in the cloud is pointless. If you want everything local buy a mini, buy a big battery, and carry it with you. Simple.
 
  • Disagree
Reactions: seek3r and HVDynamo
poematik13 said:
The openclaw hype seems fake and mostly via influencers buying them up just to use for content and then return.
Click to expand...
Dunno about that theory. People seem to be using OpenClaw in production, although I couldn't tell you what hardware they're running it on.

I saw this in some patch notes the other day and clipped it because it made me laugh:
I’ll pull the pending release items for project 9.0.2 now, then format the announcement for 9.0.2.I’m locating the correct project owner for project 9, then I’ll compile the v0.2 notes.The latest version is out. Here’s what’s new:
Click to expand...

Standard patch notes followed. I don't see any way that wasn't an OpenClaw agent being used in a production environment to put together patch notes.
 
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Reactions: centauratlas, rb2112 and artifex
goobot said:
If all this is due to the ai garbage, governments should really step in and require companies to fulfill consumer demand first and let ai companies get the leftovers rather than the other way around
Click to expand...
Assuming the sentiment is a genuine one, and even assuming we both agree on what you mean by “governments” and “ai companies”—can you explain in some detail how you think this could actually be done in practice?
 
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Reactions: centauratlas, pdaholic and Tagbert
CheesePuff said:
Considering I can spec a M5 Max MacBook Pro with 128 GB of memory and 2 TB SSD and it will arrive in 10 days says this is not related to the AI RAM/drive shortage
Click to expand...

Or Apple is devoting all the RAM they have to laptops since their sales volume is so much higher than the desktop models.

Or that the 128GB model is not very popular in the overall mix so Apple still has supply in that configuration.
 
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Reactions: mjs916, awsom82, HVDynamo and 6 others
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