6 Reasons the Mac mini Is the Ultimate Media Server

If you have an old Mac mini lying around, it's a great idea to use it as a media server, and here's why.

Today, computers are just as important as your receiver and speaker choices in a home entertainment system. Turntables, CD players, recording decks, and even network television tuners have been replaced to a large extent by the media server.

But what makes the Mac mini special in this regard? Read on, as we'll list the various reasons why we think the Mac mini is the ultimate media server choice.

Component size is an important factor to consider when putting together a high-fidelity home theater system. The Mac mini's small footprint allows it to hide away in almost any home theater setup.

Because of its size, you can put it in any cabinet or mount it on a rack shelf in a standard 19-inch rack space. You can even place it horizontally instead of vertically if needed.

Your server is the one component of your home theater system that is typically left powered on continually. It is the piece of gear that needs to be accessed by all the other components throughout your home capable of playing back music or video content.

Power consumption, therefore, becomes a key factor in the total cost of ownership. Fortunately, modern Mac mini models are powered by highly efficient Apple silicon chips that don't draw much power. As a result, they're some of the most power-consumption-friendly computers money can buy.

From the ground up, Apple built the Mac mini as an entry-level Mac, but don't let that fool you. Despite costing just $599 for the base model, the M2 Mac mini is a very capable machine and has more than enough power for your media server needs.

The Mac mini gives you the best price-to-performance ratio in Apple's lineup of computers. And for $599, you get a Mac with 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD. And if that's not enough, you can configure it with up to 24 GB of RAM. Also, if you're planning on storing your media on the Mac itself instead of an external hard drive, you can configure it with up to 2TB of storage.

When you need an awesome media server, less is more. Servers are typically accessed in two ways; either over a home network to stream content or to play their media back on a big screen. Laptops and traditional desktops typically make bad media server choices because of the unnecessary attached screens.

But since the Mac mini doesn't come with a monitor, you have one less thing to worry about in your media server setup. This also saves a lot of space.

Many computers do not come with an integrated HDMI port. Fortunately, every Mac mini comes with one standard, allowing you to stream content directly into a receiver without having to go through a dongle or hub.

The HDMI port also allows you to stream audio directly into an AV receiver without using an inferior method, such as a headphone audio jack.

The Mac mini comes ready to live on your fully-connected home network. That means if you have your iTunes library on your media server, you can access that library anywhere in your home from another device.

If you have a TV or sound system in any other room in your house and you want to access your iTunes library, you could do so by simply adding an inexpensive device like an Apple TV.

A cheap PC with similar specifications might be a tempting consideration when choosing a media server. But when you consider the Mac mini's compact design, performance, efficiency, and long-term software support from Apple, it's value is hard to beat.

Except for a keyboard and mouse, you have everything needed to set up and configure your Mac as a media server. An inexpensive Bluetooth keyboard with a trackpad will be the only extra component you will need for your home media server setup.

However, if you do find that you need additional components in the future, like more storage space, for instance, the Mac mini comes with multiple USB ports for expansion.

Paul Doty is the former CEO of West Coast Sound & Light. He is a Mac computer enthusiast, touring sound & light engineer, and the author of The 15 Minute Mac Book series. Find Paul online at Team Services.