# Apple researchers turn idle Macs into a virtual GPU cloud with ‘Minions’ — researchers say the distributed scheme could scale globally and support model training

> Apple internally uses a system known as “Minions,” a “virtual GPU cloud” made up of idle Macs, to help manage workloads, as described in a recent arXiv paper published by its researchers.

- **Source:** [Tom's Hardware](https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/apple-researchers-turn-idle-macs-into-a-virtual-gpu-cloud-with-minions-researchers-say-the-distributed-scheme-could-scale-globally-and-support-model-training?utm_source=gearopen.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=feed&utm_content=6acf72b7f632139145f47d6b)
- **Published:** 2026-10-14
- **Category:** Gaming
- **Tags:** #apple #ai
- **Canonical:** http://localhost:4321/a/6acf72b7f632139145f47d6b

---

_GearOpen's distilled summary. The full original article is published at Tom's Hardware (source link above); GearOpen does not republish the source's full text._