Most likely wanting to run Linux natively. Only M1/M2 can fill that role with Asahi, and still not with 100% hardware compatibility.

On the flip side, an M4 mini is cheaper, faster, much smaller (with built in power supply) and much more efficient. Plus for most applications, they can run in a Linux container just as well.

Thanks for the reply Jeff. This aligns with my understanding too. I'm close to purchasing a mac mini to replace my aging media pc. The core feature I want is to run microK8s natively, which I'm assuming the newish Mac containers will support.