Apple silicon - Quickstart

Reviewed on March 03, 2025

Scaleway Apple silicon as-a-Service uses Apple Mac mini hardware. These devices rely on the power of Apple's silicon technology, ensuring exceptional performance and groundbreaking energy efficiency.

Apple silicon as-a-Service is tailored for developing, building, testing, and signing applications for Apple devices such as iPhones, iPads, Mac computers, and more. The Mac mini boasts a sophisticated neural engine that significantly enhances machine learning capabilities.

Console overview

Discover the Apple silicon interface on the Scaleway console.

Before you start

To complete the actions presented below, you must have:

• A Scaleway account logged into the console
• Owner status or IAM permissions allowing you to perform actions in the intended Organization
• An SSH key added to your account

How to create a Mac mini

1. Click Apple silicon in the Bare Metal section of the side menu. The Apple silicon creation page displays.
2. Click Create Mac mini. The Mac mini creation wizard displays.
3. Complete the following steps in the wizard:
   • Select the commitment plan for your Mac mini. Two options are available:
     • No commitment: You can terminate the subscription of your Mac mini at any time after the initial 24 hours, a mandatory period required by Apple's software license. Learn more about Apple's software license requirements (Section 3.A) (PDF).
     • Commitment: You subscribe to a commitment plan for Apple silicon and benefit from a discounted monthly price based on your choice.
     Important

     Currently, it is not possible to switch from a monthly commitment to hourly billing.

   • Choose an Availability Zone, which is the geographical region where your Mac mini will be deployed. The available Mac mini configurations depend on the Availability Zone:
     • Mac mini M4, M2 pro, and M2 are available in PARIS 1
     • Mac mini M1 are available in PARIS 3
   • Choose a macOS version.
     Note

     If you choose a macOS other than the one installed by default, there will be a delay of about 1 hour before the Mac mini is made available.

   • Enter a Name for your Mac mini, or leave the randomly-generated name in place.
   • Verify the Estimated cost for your Mac mini based on your chosen specifications.
4. Tick the checkbox to agree to the Bare Metal specific conditions and the macOS License Agreement.
5. Click Create Mac mini to finish. The installation of your Apple silicon is launched, and you are informed when it is ready.

How to connect to your Mac mini

How to connect via remote desktop

You can access your Mac mini using VNC, a remote desktop-sharing protocol. It allows you to visualize the graphical screen output of a remote computer and transfer local keyboard and mouse events to the remote computer using a network connection.

Refer to our detailed documentation for Windows, Linux, and macOS for OS specific information: How to access the remote desktop of a Mac mini.

How to connect using SSH

1. Navigate to the Scaleway console and log in with your credentials.
2. Click Apple silicon under the Bare Metal section in the side-menu. This displays a list of your Mac minis.
3. Click the name of the Mac mini you want to connect to. The Overview page for your selected Mac mini displays.
4. Open your terminal application and use the SSH command provided on the Overview page to connect.
   • The SSH command will be in the format:
     ssh your_mac_mini_username@<your_mac_mini_ip>

   • Replace <your_mac_mini_username> with your Mac mini username.
   • Replace <your_mac_mini_ip> with the actual IP address of your Mac mini.

How to delete a Mac mini

1. Click Apple silicon in the Bare Metal section of the side menu. A list of your Mac minis displays.
2. Click more icon next to the Mac mini you want to delete and select Delete from the drop-down menu. A pop-up asks you to confirm the action.
3. Type DELETE, then click Delete Mac mini.

You are returned to the list of your Mac minis, where the machine you deleted no longer appears.