Unpaid beta · Mac mini FAQ
How much can a Mac mini earn in this beta? $0.
Remotion and encode jobs finish fast enough on Apple Silicon that idle minis are useful test capacity. The current host beta is voluntary and unpaid.
What we measured
| Job | Output | M2 Max | M1 Silver1 | M1 Silver2 | CF live |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LongKinetic3m | 3:00 (5400 f) | 111.5 s | 133.7 s | 145.6 s | 2175.3 s |
| LongKinetic20m | 20:00 (36000 f) | 679.5 s | - | - | 14502 s PROJECTED |
LongKinetic20m CF column is PROJECTED (×20/3 from measured 3-minute CF live). Method: benchmark methodology.
| Job | Wall | Abs avg | Abs Wh | Elec @ $0.1883/kWh |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HeavyMotion | 32.62 s | 33.1 W | 0.287 Wh | ~$0.000054 |
| LongKinetic3m | 111.5 s | 28.6 W | 0.876 Wh | ~$0.000165 |
| LongKinetic20m | 679.5 s | 28.7 W | 5.403 Wh | ~$0.00102 |
M2 Max SoC package samples (ABS, not idle-subtracted). Canonical: power bakeoff.
| Step | M2 Max wall | Docker CF-shape | CF $ (rate-card) |
|---|---|---|---|
| VideoToolbox H.264 8 Mbps (20 min src) | 95.1 s | N/A on CF Linux | - |
| libx264 medium CRF23 | 102.8 s | 2371.1 s | ~$0.0474 |
Canonical: VideoToolbox vs cloud encode.
No earnings, wages, credits, reimbursements, or payouts accrue in this beta. A future paid program would require separate terms and explicit enrollment. Details: beta compensation policy.
Volunteer for the unpaid host beta
Host testers volunteer Apple Silicon capacity. No earnings, wages, credits, reimbursements, or payouts accrue.
Join as unpaid host testerOne RenderMac account can use both dashboards. See the unpaid beta terms.