[oarsinsync]

I assume this is the v1 product, and simply preparing for the v2 using Apple silicon (M1? M2?)

Apple sells integrated hardware and software. They don’t license macOS to anyone else. Why would they start now having seen that strategy fail in their corporate history already?

[cwyers]

Let's be honest. Nobody is running workloads on Mac Mini servers because they think it's a good server OS or good server hardware. They're doing it to run Xcode as part of a CI/CD pipeline (or some other kind of automated testing) in order to develop applications for iOS devices. No, there is no money in Apple for either licensing out their IP or building their own server brand. It's a loss leader or at best a break-even, low-margin business for them, but it's a compliment to their high-margin businesses (having more/better apps means more App Store revenue and helps keep users on the hardware/software platform). Not having a convenient way to run Xcode in an automated workflow is a strategy tax on their other, profitable lines of business.