Once Asahi Linux support matures (e.g. Thunderbolt external storage for software RAID) Mac Mini hardware with Linux for CI/CD will be competitive on price/performance/watt.
If Apple would re-enable Linux VMs on iPad/iPhone, everyone could be happy. Thankfully Google is now shipping a full pKVM Linux VM ("Terminal") on Pixel phones, including USB-c docking to external keyboard and mouse. Hopefully that "inspires" Apple to restore the Linux VM functionality they removed three years ago. Then iPhone Pro + USB-c dock = Linux desktop for iOS app development, buying time for Apple to converge iOS/macOS/visionOS in +++ years.