Apple CEO Tim Cook warned on Thursday that the company expects it will take "several months" to catch up with surging demand for the Mac Mini, the compact desktop computer that has unexpectedly become a favorite among developers and AI enthusiasts. Speaking during Apple’s earnings call, Cook attributed the shortage to rapid adoption of the device for agentic AI tasks.
"On the Mac Mini and Mac Studio, both of these are amazing platforms for AI and agentic tools," Cook said in response to analyst questions. "And customer adoption of that is happening faster than we expected."
The announcement came alongside another record-setting quarter for Apple, though iPhone sales fell short of projections despite strong interest in the iPhone 17. The company’s subscription services business continued to grow steadily.
Apple faced supply constraints on both the iPhone and Mac product lines this quarter. The iPhone shortages were primarily driven by limited availability of advanced chips, while the Mac Mini shortage reflects unexpected demand from the AI community.