Legal

Terms of service.

The short, honest version of the contract you agree to when you rent a Mac from us. Last updated 27 August 2026.

VERSION 1.0 · 27 AUGUST 2026 · GOVERNED BY ENGLAND & WALES

1. Who we are

These terms are between you and Gekko I.T Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company no. 07923334, registered office at Concorde House, Margaret Street, Brighton, BN2 1TS, VAT no. GB 161 6932 1, trading as MacHive (the “service”, “we”, “us”).

Where you are a business, these terms are a business-to-business agreement. Where you are an individual buying for personal use, you are a “consumer” and the consumer protections in section 14 apply to you in addition to everything else here.

2. What we provide

We rent you dedicated Apple silicon Mac hardware (a Mac mini or Mac Studio), racked and monitored in our datacentres on the south coast of the UK, with:

  • the machine reserved for you alone, with SSH, full desktop and root access;
  • a dedicated public IPv4 (extras available), IPv6 on request, unlimited bandwidth;
  • nightly snapshots of your machine’s configuration on every tier;
  • a virtual firewall (pfSense / OPNsense) on Studio tiers, available as a paid add-on on mini tiers;
  • RDMA-over-Thunderbolt-5 cluster interconnect included on Studio tiers (up to four machines);
  • monitoring around the clock, and the support described in the FAQ.

We don’t provide cloud virtualisation, shared tenancy, or an SLA beyond what these terms say. The published feature list for each tier is part of the service description.

3. Reservations and Hive Latest

Hive Latest machines (M6 / M5 Pro minis, M5 Max / M5 Ultra Studios) arrive from 22 September 2026 and are subject to Apple’s supply. You can reserve a machine before it ships: no charge is made until the machine is racked and online, and we’ll confirm availability and timescales with you. If Apple’s supply slips, we’ll tell you and you can cancel the reservation with no charge.

512GB M5 Ultra configurations are waitlist-only until Apple makes them orderable (expected late October 2026). Joining the waitlist is free, requires no payment details and does not reserve a machine.

4. Your responsibilities and acceptable use

You have root on your own machine — which means you’re responsible for the software you run on it and for backing up your own data. You agree to:

  • use the service lawfully, and not use it for anything that is illegal, infringing, abusive or harmful;
  • not use it to launch attacks, spread malware, send unsolicited bulk communications, or mine cryptocurrencies;
  • not resell the service to third parties as a hosting service;
  • keep your own credentials safe and tell us promptly if you suspect unauthorised access;
  • not attempt to access other customers’ machines or our network infrastructure.

If you breach this section we may suspend or terminate the service without refund for the affected period, in addition to any other rights we have.

5. Billing

  • Prices are per month, exclude VAT (prices shown with VAT included where you choose the inc-VAT display). MacHive is a business service; VAT-registered businesses can claim VAT back.
  • Monthly: billed at the start of each period. Mini tiers: cancel any time, effective at the end of the current billing period. Studio tiers: three-month minimum term, then month-to-month.
  • Annual: the annual total is 15% off the twelve-month price (10.2× the monthly price), billed upfront in a single payment.
  • Add-ons (extra IPv4, virtual firewall on mini tiers, Time Machine backup storage, managed service) are billed monthly with your main plan and can be added or removed on the same cycle.
  • Colocation: monthly fee plus a one-time setup fee, as shown on the pricing page.
  • Invoices are payable on issue unless we agree otherwise. If payment is more than 14 days late we may pause the service (after reasonable notice) until it’s paid, without that counting as a failure by us.

6. Refunds

  • Mini tiers: cancel any time; your access continues to the end of the current billing period, with no refund for the unused part of that period.
  • Studio tiers: three-month minimum term; we don’t refund the remainder of an active minimum term except where the law requires us to.
  • Annual plans: annual payments are for the full year and are not refundable in advance, except (a) to a consumer exercising a statutory right, or (b) where we materially fail to provide the service.
  • If we cancel for cause, or if the service is materially unavailable for more than 14 days and you end the service, we’ll refund any unused, prepaid portion pro-rata.

7. Service levels and hardware

  • We monitor every machine around the clock. When stock is available, a new order is online within one working day of ordering; reservations for unshipped hardware are subject to the timescales we confirm with you.
  • Hardware is refreshed on a rolling 24-month cycle across our tiers: as a machine nears the end of its cycle we’ll offer to move you to current-generation hardware (same tier or better, at the same published price).
  • If a machine fails, we replace it as quickly as we can. Nightly snapshots let us restore your configuration quickly; snapshots are not a data backup — see section 8.
  • We do not guarantee an uptime percentage. Our commitment is to monitor, page ourselves, and get things right fast.

8. Your data, backups and snapshots

  • You are responsible for backing up your data. The hardware and the OS are ours to look after; your files are yours.
  • Nightly snapshots cover configuration (installed software, system state, settings) so a failed machine can be brought back the way you had it. They are not a substitute for data backups.
  • Time Machine backup storage is available as a paid add-on (£8/month per TB). If you use it, we retain the data you point it at for as long as you subscribe; it is deleted when you cancel (or on a reasonable schedule after cancellation).
  • We will only access your machine (a) with your consent, (b) to fix hardware/network problems we monitor, or (c) where the law requires us to.

9. Ownership and intellectual property

The hardware, our network, monitoring tooling and anything we provide as part of the service remain our property. Everything you create or store on your machine is yours. You keep all rights in your software and data; we claim no rights in them. Apple, Mac, Mac mini, Mac Studio and Thunderbolt are trademarks of Apple Inc. — we are not affiliated with Apple.

10. Confidentiality

We won’t share your business or technical information with third parties except as necessary to provide the service (our datacentres, payment and mail providers) or where the law requires it. You won’t publish our pricing or infrastructure details without asking first.

11. Termination

  • You: cancel monthly mini tiers at the end of any billing period; Studio tiers after the minimum term; annual plans run to the end of the year except as set out in section 6.
  • Us: for material breach (non-payment, misuse, unlawful activity) on reasonable notice where curable, or immediately where not curable.
  • On termination we’ll give you a reasonable window to collect your data before the machine is wiped and reused.

12. Liability

Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or anything else that can’t lawfully be limited. Subject to that:

  • our total liability to you in connection with the service (whether in contract, tort or otherwise) is limited to the fees you paid us in the three months before the event giving rise to the claim; and
  • we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, loss of profits, revenue, data or goodwill — except for the consumer protections in section 14.

We use commercially reasonable care to keep the service running and the hardware refreshed, but hosting is a physical business: hardware fails, and we’ll work hard to make it right quickly.

13. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms as the service changes. If we make a change that materially affects you, we’ll notify you (usually by email) before it takes effect; if you don’t agree, you can cancel under section 11.

14. If you’re a consumer

If you’re an individual buying for a purpose that’s mainly outside your trade, business or profession, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 apply to you on top of these terms, including:

  • a 14-day right to cancel a distance contract after it’s concluded (we’ll confirm this right and the cancellation form in our pre-contract information before you commit); and
  • the service must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose, and as described — and if it isn’t, you’re entitled to a repair, replacement, price reduction or refund under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Nothing in these terms excludes or restricts those rights, and section 12’s liability cap does not apply to them.

15. Governing law

These terms, and any dispute arising out of or in connection with them, are governed by the law of England and Wales, and you agree to the exclusive jurisdiction of its courts — except that a consumer may also bring proceedings in the courts of their country of habitual residence, as required by law.

16. Contact

Questions about these terms: use the contact form or write to Gekko I.T Ltd at the registered office above. We usually reply within one working day.