Cloud-Based M4 and M4 Pro Mac Mini Models Now Available

Developers now have access to cloud-based M4 and M4 Pro Mac mini units via MacWeb, a Silicon Valley-based provider of cloud services.

m4 mac mini hands on
The company has launched three configurations of the new ‌Mac mini‌, powered by Apple's M4 and M4 Pro chips. Developers and IT teams can rent these machines for tasks ranging from basic development to advanced artificial intelligence modeling, providing an efficient and scalable infrastructure option without the need to purchase expensive hardware outright. A new ‌Mac mini‌ can range from $599 for a base M4 model to $1,999 for a high-end M4 Pro model with 64GB of unified memory.

The three configurations include the MacWeb Base M4 at $99 per month, the MacWeb Power M4 Pro at $199 per month, and the MacWeb Ultimate M4 Pro at $299 per month. The Base M4, featuring the standard M4 chip, is designed for virtual desktops and small-scale tasks. The Power M4 Pro includes a 12-core CPU and 24GB of unified memory, making it suitable for application development and testing. The Ultimate M4 Pro, MacWeb's most advanced tier, offers a 14-core CPU, a 20-core GPU, and 64GB of unified memory, capable of handling intensive workloads such as AI model training and mission-critical applications.

MacWeb touts the potential of its M4 Pro configurations to support advanced networking capabilities using Thunderbolt 5. According to the company, Thunderbolt 5 delivers 80 Gbps of bi-directional bandwidth, a performance leap described as being up to 800 percent faster than 10G Ethernet. This apparently enables seamless clustering of Mac minis, allowing users to pool resources for distributed computing tasks, including video editing and large-scale software testing.

Companies like AWS has offered similar services in recent years, but MacWeb's integration of Apple's latest Mac hardware positions it at the forefront of the market, along with MacStadium. MacWeb has retained its M2-based offerings for developers with less demanding performance requirements.

Related Roundup: Mac mini
Buyer's Guide: Mac Mini (Neutral)
Related Forum: Mac mini

Popular Stories

Apple Logo Spotlight

Apple Expected to Unveil Five All-New Products This Year

Wednesday January 21, 2026 10:54 am PST by
In addition to updating many of its existing products, Apple is expected to unveil five all-new products this year, including a smart home hub, a Face ID doorbell, a MacBook with an A18 Pro chip, a foldable iPhone, and augmented reality glasses. Below, we have recapped rumored features for each product. Smart Home Hub Apple home hub (concept) Apple's long-rumored smart home hub should...
airpods pro 3 purple

New, Higher End AirPods Pro Coming This Year

Tuesday January 20, 2026 9:05 am PST by
Apple is planning to debut a high-end secondary version of AirPods Pro 3 this year, sitting in the lineup alongside the current model, reports suggest. Back in September 2025, supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple is planning to introduce a successor to the AirPods Pro 3 in 2026. This would be somewhat unusual since Apple normally waits around three years to make major...
airtag prime day 2

Apple Developing AirTag-Sized AI Pin With Dual Cameras

Wednesday January 21, 2026 12:31 pm PST by
Apple is working on a small, wearable AI pin equipped with multiple cameras, a speaker, and microphones, reports The Information. If it actually launches, the AI pin will likely run the new Siri chatbot that Apple plans to unveil in iOS 27. The pin is said to be similar in size to an AirTag, with a thin, flat, circular disc shape. It has an aluminum and glass shell, and two cameras at the...
smaller dynamic island iphone 18 pro Filip Vabrous%CC%8Cek

iPhone 18 Pro Leak: Smaller Dynamic Island, No Top-Left Camera Cutout

Tuesday January 20, 2026 2:34 am PST by
Over the last few months, rumors around the iPhone 18 Pro's front-panel design have been conflicted, with some supply-chain leaks pointing to under-display Face ID, reports suggesting a top-left hole-punch camera, and debate over whether the familiar Dynamic Island will shrink, shift, or disappear entirely. Today, Weibo-based leaker Instant Digital shared new details that appear to clarify the ...
bug security vulnerability issue fix larry

Apple's Secret Product Plans Stolen in Luxshare Cyberattack

Wednesday January 21, 2026 9:17 am PST by
The Apple supplier subject to a major cyberattack last month was China's Luxshare, it has now emerged. More than 1TB of confidential Apple information was reportedly stolen. It was reported in December that one of Apple's assemblers suffered a significant cyberattack that may have compromised sensitive production-line information and manufacturing data linked to Apple. The specific company...

Top Rated Comments

lenningj Avatar
15 months ago
This is per device? at 5-6 months of the base subscription, especially with the low energy cost to run, suggest buying outright for most. Not sure who would jump onto this
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CharlesShaw Avatar
15 months ago
Awww, the 2024 mini is too cute to spend its life as a drone in a server farm. I hope they're treated well.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
StuBeck Avatar
15 months ago

What are the main use cases that make this business viable? Must be only for very short term higher compute tasks in between higher compute custom systems. From the description it sounds like it’s mainly for video fx/rendering but is there that much demand? How can this business even survive?
Short-term use, and when you don't have an infrastructure team available to set this up, plus ongoing management of the infrastructure. The costs of an environment aren't just the initial upfront hardware cost.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
masterleep Avatar
15 months ago
It seems pretty expensive. Better to rent a cabinet and stick your minis on a shelf there.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lenningj Avatar
15 months ago

Would Crypto mining bring in more than $200 a month to pay for it?
no
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Spock Avatar
15 months ago

Does that recoup the IT costs in getting something set up and managed for a few months? Some of us do our own IT, but not everyone has those abilities. It's likely way less expensive to rent for a few months than to pay for the machines, pay someone to set up and support, and then sell. If not, then buy and sell. Personally, I'd buy and then resell, but I'm comfortable being my own tech support.
I think it can depend on the size of the organization as well. I don't think that this is meant for the enterprise market. After you paid the legal team to go over the EULA and then pass the service onto security for evaluation you could most likely buy a couple Mac minis and keep them on-site.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)