IS A 100% Apple Media Center Possible?

[mccaffertee]

THE GOAL: A seamless 100% Apple multi-media setup built on/around Apples software and hardware (if possible).

CURRENTLY: - 75" LG Smart TV and an Apple TV. We have about 40,000+ pictures, 500 home videos and 20,000+ songs between me and my wife - right now we play them through the Apple TV with HOME SHARING using our MacBook Pros. But, mine has most of the media and if my computer isn't available, nothing works.

MY THOUGHTS: Instead of storing all our media on several devices, I would like to buy a Mac Mini to use as our personal server and store all our media on it and then sync my laptop or phone when needed....As some of you know, if the Apple TV had storage, this obviously wouldn't be an issue...also, if the Mac Mini had an interface (maybe something like a Plex app), I believe that would solve the issues...but to my knowledge, that doesn't exist either). AND at the same time, I would like to be able update (transfer pictures, music and video's from our personal devices onto the Mac Mini) and keep it up to date and current.

Any suggestions, hacks, software that can help solve this? I appreciate any ideas -- I simply want it to "just work".
Thanks
Steve

 

[ElectronGuru]

I haven’t tried with 4K but my favorite approach is to enable HiDPI and just use the Mac interface with specific apps for specific jobs. You can play videos with IINA and images with photos. Then you also have maps and music and even find my.

 

[lostom]

I would think a NAS would work for your requirements. That's 100% not Apple, but it just works.

 

[J.Gallardo]

I have a WD NAS (mycloud) for that purpose. I love my Apple TV , have an iMac, and three iPads are used at home (plus 3 iPhones).
Having all our media in a centralized storage is wonderful. Setting up a NAS is really easy, as reliable brands provide foolproof assistance software. I think it’s cheaper than a dedicated mac (if you have to buy it).
It just has worked, for me. Not a problem, hiccup, nor needing of a forced reset or similar, in 4 years now. (Regular back-up is convenient, nevertheless).

 

[mccaffertee]

Thank you for the feedback... I like the idea of running it straight from the MINI, but wouldn't like the idea of using it like a computer, I need the entire User Interface like the Apple TV or PLEX... if I want to view Photos, click PHOTOS and etc... but the synchronization would be important too. If I do NAS, what software manages the media?

 

[lostom]

Thank you for the feedback... I like the idea of running it straight from the MINI, but wouldn't like the idea of using it like a computer, I need the entire User Interface like the Apple TV or PLEX... if I want to view Photos, click PHOTOS and etc... but the synchronization would be important too. If I do NAS, what software manages the media?

Different brands have different media organisers, though all the top brands run PLEX on them.
You can also run them as a Time Machine, Synology is probably the most popular for Apple, I use Qnap and I'm very happy as @J.Gallardo mentioned seamless operation.

Each brand has photo apps, music apps, surveillance, app stores etc.

If you do go this path, spend some time on checking specs, what processor do you need, do you need on the fly transcoding etc, how much storage do you need, what type of raid ?

All these things makes a big difference to the performance of the device and your experience.

If you have no experience with a NAS, these things might sound complicated, they're not, I'm sure there are plenty of people in this forum willing to offer advice to help you get what you're aiming for.

 

[J.Gallardo]

If I do NAS, what software manages the media?

NAS brands provide apps to access to media… but it’s superfluous, as the NAS disk is easily seen and can be used in most known and used media players; VLC will see the NAS and play its content at demand, music-player apps in my iMac see the NAS (Audirvana+), image viewers will be able to reach the NAS… and so on. Just check if your preferred media apps can use a NAS.
The Network Attached Storage is simply considered a “connected” drive, and so it goes.

 

[brucewayne]

I don't see an advantage to using Plex for the content you have, unless you have ripped movies and tv shows and/or media in formats the Apple TV doesn't support (i.e Plex will transcode formats like .mkv or streams like mpeg 2 etc)

You could setup a mac mini as a file server as you do with your current macs if that is all you want. A NAS or a Windows machine would work just as well.

Will you be upgrading your MBPs anytime soon where one can be repurposed as a file server?

 

[mccaffertee]

I don't see an advantage to using Plex for the content you have, unless you have ripped movies and tv shows and/or media in formats the Apple TV doesn't support (i.e Plex will transcode formats like .mkv or streams like mpeg 2 etc)

You could setup a mac mini as a file server as you do with your current macs if that is all you want. A NAS or a Windows machine would work just as well.

Will you be upgrading your MBPs anytime soon where one can be repurposed as a file server?

That sounds MORE like what I need and want... the visual experience is very important to me...if I make the mini into a file server, what I using to manage the media? I really didn't want to give up the Apple Apps.

 

[Expos of 1969]

Wow....that is the last thing I would want. Diversify yourself.

 

[Jwpyle3]

I would think a NAS would work for your requirements. That's 100% not Apple, but it just works.

Totally agree with this route. I have a Synology NAS and it comes with several apps to handle all of your media and other stuff. Plus there are apps for viewing and control for iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Android, Fire TV. I think it would be cheaper and offer better data protection.

 

[gigatoaster]

Hello there

I use a Mac mini. I’m against NAS: it’s noisy, you have do to maintenance and there are many security exploits. Instead, a simple HDD of 4 TB and a Mac mini would suffice.

I use Roon for my music. It’s expensive but it’s the best interface for listening music. Check out their free trial.

For TV shows, I download them via qBitorrent and I use an Apple TV with Infuse Pro. It has a great interface.

 

[theluggage]

That sounds MORE like what I need and want... the visual experience is very important to me...if I make the mini into a file server, what I using to manage the media? I really didn't want to give up the Apple Apps.

You don't have to "make the Mini into a file server". Just move/copy the media from your MacBook Pro to the Mini and use the same home sharing features that you're currently using to play it on your AppleTV. Set the appropriate applications (iTunes etc. if it's old-school) to auto-start.

The problem is that there is, AFAIK, no "TV friendly" viewing front end (with a so-called 10' interface designed to be used with a remote from a couch 10' away) for the Mac that ties directly in to iTunes/Music/etc. the way home sharing on the ATV does. There was, back in the mists of time - it was called FrontRow - but Apple discontinued it ages ago. So you'd probably want to keep your Apple TV as the 10' interface... you could keep the Mini attached to the same TV, you'll just have to sit up a bit closer and use a wireless kb/mouse when you need to make changes on the Mac side. Or you could use Screen Sharing to operate the Mini from your MacBook Pro (it's ages since I tried that, if I recall the drawback was that you had to have a display connected to the Mac to get a usable screen resolution via sharing).

That's based on your desire for an "All Apple" system that uses the Mac apps to manage everything. Otherwise, you can, of course, run Kodi or Plex clients full-screen on the Mini - Kodi will play anything that is stored in most common file formats on the Mac's hard disc while from what I know of Plex (limited) it will talk to a Plex server - which can be running on the same Mac. I've found it a bit of a pain organising video files so that Kodi/MrMC will index them sensibly, display cover art etc. but it basically works

If you want to go for a NAS + Apple TV you'll probably need to switch to Plex or MrMC (...a fork of Kodi that has been made App Store compliant so you can run it on the Apple TV without sideloading shennanigans). I kinda agree that, if your media collection is already living on Apple apps, home sharing from a Mac is nicer.

 

[brucewayne]

That sounds MORE like what I need and want... the visual experience is very important to me...if I make the mini into a file server, what I using to manage the media? I really didn't want to give up the Apple Apps.

Over the years Plex has gotten a bit more convoluted - not only does it serve your personal media, they have created links for music, podcasts, their own live tv and free movie links etc. You can turn that off, but it has a nasty habit of repopulating after updates etc. Many will duplicate the native apple apps you want to use.

You will still need to set your own metadata/poster art for your home videos since the databases they uses obviously wouldn't have that information.

If you rip a movie you name the file something like Ripped (2005) and it will pull from different movie databases to fill in the metadata.

Also, any purchased Apple Music or tv shows/movies that are encrypted will not work on it.

If you decide on Plex you would run the application on the mac mini use their local webclient to manage your libraries. You would then use the Plex app on your apple tv and ios devices to stream your content. you can also manage and stream your content via a webbrowser on your macbooks and other pcs

 

[Jwpyle3]

Hello there

I use a Mac mini. I’m against NAS: it’s noisy, you have do to maintenance and there are many security exploits. Instead, a simple HDD of 4 TB and a Mac mini would suffice.

I use Roon for my music. It’s expensive but it’s the best interface for listening music. Check out their free trial.

For TV shows, I download them via qBitorrent and I use an Apple TV with Infuse Pro. It has a great interface.

I do use a Mac mini for running HomeBridge and MySQL, but my Synology DS218+ (2x6TB Drives) and expansion unit (5x8TB drives) really isn't that loud. You could go for a NAS using SSD drives then it would be completely silent. The maintenance and security is no different than with a Mac mini. You just should apply the updates then they tell you other than that I really don't do much else with it.

I believe that you can set up the Mac mini with a software raid or I know you can use a usb raid drive. I've seen to many drives fail in my time to depend on just one.

That Infuse Pro looks amazing. I'm going to check that out.

 

[mccaffertee]

Thanks for all the feedback... BUT the main reason to keep it all Apple is I want to "share" music and photo's on my 2 other MacBook Pros and/or iPads and phone with the least amount of trouble.... I add music to the MINI Playlist and it will/should sync to my phone. Take pictures, should upload to the MINI. Is this correct or am I wrong?

 

[Jwpyle3]

Thanks for all the feedback... BUT the main reason to keep it all Apple is I want to "share" music and photo's on my 2 other MacBook Pros and/or iPads and phone with the least amount of trouble.... I add music to the MINI Playlist and it will/should sync to my phone. Take pictures, should upload to the MINI. Is this correct or am I wrong?

If they are all using your iTunes/Apple ID then you should be able to do this without any extra computer. Unless you have like Ripped DVD's, or home movies.

For photos you can just turn photos under iCloud in the setting app. This will sync your photos to all of the devices using your Apple ID. I do this on my iPhone, iPad, Apple TV's, MacBook, and iMac and they all sync fine.

My music also syncs with with all of my devices including my HomePod. I'm not sure about downloaded MP3's. To use those I used to use Apple's iTunes Connect but when I got Apple Music that feature was included.

If you are not using the same account on all of the devices, they you will most likely need something in between.

 

[brucewayne]

Thanks for all the feedback... BUT the main reason to keep it all Apple is I want to "share" music and photo's on my 2 other MacBook Pros and/or iPads and phone with the least amount of trouble.... I add music to the MINI Playlist and it will/should sync to my phone. Take pictures, should upload to the MINI. Is this correct or am I wrong?

I believe you are overcomplicating this. If all you want is what you have but available when your macbook pro isn't, adding a Mac Mini will work exactly the same as you have now - you can add a monitor or screen share to it to manage your content. The Apple TV will provide the interface on your TV like you currently have.

There is no real solution to give you an Apple TV like interface directly from the Mac Mini. Like a previous poster said, that functionality was lost years ago when they discontinued IR sensors and Front Row. Technically it could easily be done by Apple, (any M1 could run a simple port of the apps running on tvOS and the apple remote could connect via bluetooth), but that hasn't been announced and Apple isn't the type of company to cut into their profit from ATV sales.

 

[mccaffertee]

Amazing... thats simple, easy and accomplishes EVERYTHING.... thank you.

 

[gigatoaster]

I do use a Mac mini for running HomeBridge and MySQL, but my Synology DS218+ (2x6TB Drives) and expansion unit (5x8TB drives) really isn't that loud. You could go for a NAS using SSD drives then it would be completely silent. The maintenance and security is no different than with a Mac mini. You just should apply the updates then they tell you other than that I really don't do much else with it.

I believe that you can set up the Mac mini with a software raid or I know you can use a usb raid drive. I've seen to many drives fail in my time to depend on just one.

That Infuse Pro looks amazing. I'm going to check that out.

That’s great but your slightly off topic, I’m afraid. I don’t think OP wants to run a MySQL DB. Again, a mini and an external HDD is sufficient and NAS are, in most cases useless. It reminds me of going to friends places in the 90s, once you reached their places, they were like “hello do you want a coffee, I have a Nespresso machine!” It feels the same nowadays on the forum: I want a home-media solution, the answer must be “NAS”. It has too many disadvantages to even be considered.

OP needs to keep it simple. He just needs a mini, an external HDD and Infuse Pro. That’s it. It’s cheaper than buying a NAS and easier to setup.

 

[Jwpyle3]

That’s great but your slightly off topic, I’m afraid. I don’t think OP wants to run a MySQL DB. Again, a mini and an external HDD is sufficient and NAS are, in most cases useless. It reminds me of going to friends places in the 90s, once you reached their places, they were like “hello do you want a coffee, I have a Nespresso machine!” It feels the same nowadays on the forum: I want a home-media solution, the answer must be “NAS”. It has too many disadvantages to even be considered.

OP needs to keep it simple. He just needs a mini, an external HDD and Infuse Pro. That’s it. It’s cheaper than buying a NAS and easier to setup.

Wasn't suggesting that they run MySQL, that is just what I use mine for. They are amazing little computers.

If you just want a basic home media system then a Mac min and external drive would work depending on the size of your media library. One of the main reasons people go the NAS route is for data security. You have all of your data on one drive and it fails you most likely won't be able to recover it. I can have two drives fail at the same time and won't lose my data and still be able to access it when they system rebuilds. The NAS fails and I can replace it with a new one and move my drives over to it keeping my data.

If that is not a concern then using just a Mac mini and an external drive would work fine. I would recommend that external drive at least be a mirrored RAID setup.

Just wondering what you think the disadvantages are and which models you have used. The ones like Drobo's or ReadyNas could be a bit of a pain to deal with and were very limited. The QNAP and Synology one are pretty good.

The cheapest Mac mini is $599 then you need an external drive.

This Synology has is also $599 with 2TB SSDs. The NAS will also work and a Time Machine destination for the computers. You will need a larger drives for that.

Synology DiskStation DS218play Mini​

Synology DiskStation DS218play Mini Desktop NAS Server, Realtek RTD1296 Quad-Core, 1GB DDR4 RAM, 2TB SSD, DSM Software

Synology DiskStation DS218play Mini Desktop NAS for high security digital asset protection, backup with snapshots, file sharing, media streaming, Synology office applications, and public cloud backup and sync; made to be an easy to use home or small business file storage device! Form Factor: NAS ...

www.amazon.com

It features 4K Multimedia Server Capabilities, Desktop and Mobile Device Backup, File Server and Management, Video Station, Audio Station, Photo Station, Easy File Access with QuickConnect

It's as easy to use as a computer. You just logon to the device and it looks like a computer desktop. It really is much better that it used to be.

 

[wardie]

I have a 2018 MacMini and run Plex server on it. It works great with my LG 2019 C9 TV and the Plex internal app on that. Only disadvantage is that as its internal app you can’t get any better digital audio than available on ARC (not eARC only formats) due to TV limitation. Maybe there is better way via Plex app from external gadget with HDMI in for eARC out (to AVR). Also I would say just fr this use case only its pretty expensive but then I use my MacMini for other purposes and 24x7 file server, other apps I want to run always on, casual user use etc.
Edit: as above post, also with external drives USB3 on the side for the storage, I bought a basic 256GB SSD MM 2018. Just use cheap USB3 HDDs no need for SSD speeds for serving media like this IMHO.

 

[faraine]

Thanks for all the feedback... BUT the main reason to keep it all Apple is I want to "share" music and photo's on my 2 other MacBook Pros and/or iPads and phone with the least amount of trouble.... I add music to the MINI Playlist and it will/should sync to my phone. Take pictures, should upload to the MINI. Is this correct or am I wrong?

I have a QNAP NAS with to bays configured with RAID1, which means if one of HDD mal functions I don't loose any information.
All my Media is on the QNAP with regular backups to a external HDD.
QNAP gives you apps to backup your files, photos and movies from your phone or computer automatically.
It has a photo application that gives you a very similar experience as the Google Phots, you can create albums, recognize peoples faces, etc.
It runs a plex server.
It has an iphone app for streaming music from the NAS to your phone.
Can run a VPN server to access to your files while outside of you network.
Can be used as Time Machine for your MACS.
Can be connected to to your TV with HDMI.
Can run a surveillance station with IP cameras.
Each user can have separate accounts.
It's cheaper than Mac Mini.

If you still prefer the mac mini route don't forget to backup regularly specially if you're going to store all your files on the mini.

 

[nicho]

I would recommend that external drive at least be a mirrored RAID setup.

What a great idea. Corrupt both versions at the same time!

 

[pshufd]

I run a NAS off of my Windows desktop and it works really well. I think that you could do this with macOS but my experience is that it's more work. The benefit you get on macOS would be backup via Time Machine.