The mac mini home theater blog how to use a mac mini as a htpc. New mac mini software home theatre macrumors forums. It is one of four desktop computers in the current macintosh lineup, serving as an alternative to the allinone imac, and sits below the performance range imac pro and mac pro. When looking at software i was new for most of the programs so i did a lot of reading. Apples macbook air successor will reportedly have slim. The performance, style, small size, and noiseless operation makes this mac mini just perfect for home theater applications. Apples tvitunes bridge and other home theater discussion. We see how the latest version of the mac mini stacks up against the prior generation for use as a home theater mac.
Indeed, the updated unibody mac mini is notable as apples first computer to include an hdmi video port to connect to a television or other display. An example of what can be done using a mac mini as a media center. I currently have a 46 samsung tv and would like to know what hardware and software i need to make this become a reality. Jul 01, 2017 while finding your favorite htpc software often comes after trying several options, here you will find what are the popular media center softwares available. Another week another mac clone mac htpc the mac mini htpc. Aug 21, 2009 now that you have your mac mini configured and connected to your home theater system for a good visual hookup guide check out roberts mac mini media center post, its time to actually put. Mac mini home theater the mac mini is a small form factor computer particularly popular as a home theater solution. Hi all, do you think apple ever give us a apple tvlike theatre app for the new mini. Mac mini as a home theater system hello all, i would like to create a home theater system, that can function as a dvr, i can watch my dvd collection that i have backed up onto an external hd, and possibly stream to other computers throughout my house. Mar 18, 2020 if you plan to use the mac mini as a home theater pc for streaming to a tv, or as a basic productivity machine that uses web apps heavily, youll be set with one of the best mini pcs on the market. A special mini tostandard tos link adapter or cable with a mini end is needed.
The apple mac mini is perfect in size and capability for home theater applications, and the owc media center solution makes your mac mini a. Mac os also includes a variety of apps for creativity and productivity, so you can get started right away without buying and installing lots of other software. If there are any mac mini htpc owners out there, id love to hear from you and what youve learned, any suggestions. The finding neverland performance uses a mac mini running software. Airplay lets you stream audio from one apple device to an airplaycompatible speaker. Owc wants to turn your mac mini into a supercharged htpc.
These offer a wider range of file types that can be played, along with the ability to stream many types of content. I bought the 2012 mac mini to act as a home theatre and double as a computer for my small children to play with and learn. Turning your mac into an htpc home theater pc is a great project. You can also send a project from your iphone or ipad to your mac for finishing. Visit the apple site to learn, buy, and get support. Were living in a truly golden era for home theater, as the. It is particularly popular as a home theater solution. Apple highlights mac mini use in live concerts, theater, and data centers. The mac mini is a perfect candidate for such a setup. This top 10 list will simplify your task by listing the most popular media centers.
The audio measurement and analysis features of rew help you optimise the acoustics of your listening room, studio or home theater and find the best locations for your speakers, subwoofers and listening position. Home theater media center guide apple mac upgrades. This enterpriselevel solution will help reduce the load of your internal help desk by offering onsite repairs, nextbusinessday replacement, and overthephone troubleshooting. Lets outline the feature set of the mac mini as it pertains to home theater pcs.
Not all of them are free you know many years ago i had the original. Check out macbook pro, imac pro, macbook air, imac, and more. So, a mini with the i7 and an egpu could match or even beat the top imac and compete with the base imac pro. The mac mini stylized with a lowercase mini is a desktop computer made by apple inc. Jan 28, 2011 honestly, none of this isnt stuff you cant do to your mac mini yourself, but owc is hoping to catch the attention of apple lovers who would like a real mac controlling their home theater. I recently sold my jailbroken apple tv because i decided to use my mac mini as a htpc just wasnt using it as a computer, use my laptop all the time. Crenova xpe496 mini projector, full hd 1080p and 170 display supported, portable mini video projector, 50,000 hours led, compatible with pc, mac, tv, amazon fire stick, roku, iphone, ipad, ps. Apple 2010 mac mini utlizing plex, handbrake, and makemkv, the owc media center solution takes advantage of the fully customizable nature of the mac mini to deliver a home theater media center that will serve you not only now, but well into the future. Make your home workspace more comfortable with this softacare.
With its hdmi port, is the new mac mini the home theater. Mac mini audiophiles and purists or home theater mac mini htpc folk may prefer the optical mini toslink option built inside of the mini s dualfunction sound jack. In general, the mac mini has been praised as a relatively affordable computer with a solid range of features. Yep, everyones talking about using the mac mini as a home media center, and theres a reason why. Aug 21, 2009 the mac mini has always been the perfect form factor for a media center appliance often called a home theater pchtpc. Any mac will do though the mac minis size is a nice fit for home theater. Feb 10, 2010 part two of how to turn a mac mini into a home theater pc with a few easy steps. After years of consumer complaints, apple finally bowed to. Apple is also said to be working on an update to the mac mini, its miniature desktop computer that has been even more neglected in the companys update plans. Now that the hardware is setup, its time for the software. Sep 14, 2010 when looking at software i was new for most of the programs so i did a lot of reading. The small form factor mac mini costs less than ever, but isnt as flexible as other macs.
You can start cutting a project on your iphone, then use airdrop or icloud drive to wirelessly transfer it to your ipad. For 1080p home theater setups the older lessexpensive models such as my base model 2012 still work fine, but im also curious if anyone has. Its also much more versatile, with a wide range of configurations that should appeal to hometheater users and. Htpc software is short for home theater pc software. This is an important distinction to make, as the vast majority of applications made for pc usage are meant to be used on a desktop with mouse and keyboard and the user sitting close to the screen. Oct 07, 2017 it comes with macos which has a variety of utilities and small apps, photos, itunes, imovie, garageband, pages, keynote, and numbers. If the cable from your external display, hard drive, or other device doesnt connect to the thunderbolt 3 usbc ports on your mac mini, you might need an adapter. Apple highlights mac mini use in live concerts, theater. Its compact and its form factor integrates easily with most home theater setups.
This is a mac mini that will appeal to the biggest section of the mac mini market pros who dont need it for everything, but do need it for very specific things, and find its usability and utility more than justifies its price, especially when it. Read on for tips and tricks to get the most out of your machines hardware and software, as we transform a 2009 mac mini into the ultimate. Apple and tigerdirect business apple mac computers. Software used for ripping, converting and playing dvds 480p, 720p, 1080p, bluray using plex as the main video serving software. Loosing a bit of money in the process too, trying out different solutions. Rew is free room acoustics analysis software for measuring and analysing room and loudspeaker responses. If you think that having a mini tower sitting on the floor next to your entertainment stand is 733t then there is a reasonable chance youre not a huge fan of os x anyway. I have tried many different home theater solutions without being completely satisfied. Kodi formerly xbmc is a free and open source media player application developed by the xbmckodi foundation, a nonprofit technology consortium.
Mac a macintosh computer with an intel core duo processor 1. This is a mac mini that will appeal to the biggest section of the mac mini market pros who dont need it for everything, but do need it for very specific things, and find its usability and utility more than justifies its price, especially when it comes to the software it can run and the uptime it can keep. Now that you have your mac mini configured and connected to your home theater system for a good visual hookup guide check out roberts. Flip4mac perian vlc 64bit handbrake hotspotshield for streaming netflix and tv shows outside of the us vuze dropbox flash safari plugin. Applecare for enterprise delivers integrated support and service for all your apple hardware and software. Top 10 best htpc software for your tv media experience.
Part one of how to turn a mac mini into a home theater pc with a few easy steps. With its hdmi port, is the new mac mini the home theater computer youve been waiting for. Most mini pcs run either windows or linux, and a few run chrome os, but the venerable apple mac mini, running macos, also fits neatly into this category as well. Join our large community of audiophiles, engineers and diyers using our innovative products. Oct 10, 2011 using a mac mini mediacenter is one of the smartest move i have made.
I was wondering what software people install on their new lion mac minis for home theatre use. Youll need to provide your own monitor, keyboard, and mouse or trackpad. Youll need to provide your own monitor, keyboard, and mouse or. Apple computer is one of the most powerful players in the world of specialty audio video even if they are known more for their macintosh operating system and computers like the imac, mac pro, mac. Plex is remarkable software that turns a mac mini connected to a tv into an internetbased media center that makes the most of the macs software and integrates metadata information about movies.
It appears that there is an issue with plex and the apple remote where any button presses while in plex continue on to the operating systems default behavior. That said, if youre desperate for a home theater mac with as. Kodi is available for multiple operatingsystems and hardware platforms, featuring a 10foot user interface for use with televisions and remote controls. The small size has made the mac mini particularly popular as a home theater solution. Reviews noted it is possible to purchase small computers at the same price with faster processors, better graphics card, more memory, and more storage. Continue reading to see how the kodi, plex, windows media center and others compare with each other. The latest mac mini has a slick new look with its darker. Mac mini early 2009 edition dvi hdmi hdtv optical audio receiver cheap.
The enclosure itself has been updated to a unibody aluminum construction similar to the macbook pro, and the server mac mini omits an optical drive entirely in favor of dual hard drives this was the case for the previous server model ed. Mac mini home theater making the mac mini the centerpiece. This is a demonstration of my home theater mac mini and the various control and software options. If you really need the portability of a mini pc, or your available space is really limited, then mini pcs are available to fit just about any need. I am not using this mac mini for all its capabilities to say the least. After reading this post on reddit i decided to install the following software. Perhaps more important than that, the mac mini is now the first mac ever to include builtin hdmi. Guide to using your mac as an htpc home theater pc lifewire. These are usually smallercased computers, running some sort of media software. Jan 25, 20 an example of what can be done using a mac mini as a media center. My experiences putting together and using macs for home theater use. First of i set up an evernote account so that i could post links from my phoneipadmacbook and get them from my mac mini.
It sports an hdmi port, which allows you to jack the computer directly into your tv or hdmicompatible av receiver. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or instore pickup. The mac mini home theater blog how to use a mac mini as. Wer aber einen reinen htpc hometheaterpc basteln mochte, kann sich fast aller zusatzsoftware entledigen. Apr, 2020 the small size of the aerb mini wireless keyboard with touchpad might make it hard for some people to use but it is an ideal choice for those looking for a compact controller for their home theater. Mac mini home theater a journal following the conversion of my home theater to center around a new 2009 mac mini. Crosstour projector, mini led video projector home theater supporting 1080p 55,000 hours lamp life compatible with hdmiusbsd cardvgaav and smartphone. An i7 will boost video processing and rendering software, like cadcam due to hyperthreading. By doing this, the drive will always mount when you turn on your mini, saving you that extra step.
Personally, what i did, was to download and test all this on my desktop before i went out and purchased the mac mini. Macos pcs macs entertainment software home theater streaming media mac mini. You can also send a project from your iphone or ipad to your mac for finishing touches like color correction and animated maps. The new mac mini is apples version of a barebones computer. Mac mini home theater the mac mini is a small form factor computer. A mac mini as a home theater pc showing apples discontinued front row interface a home theater pc htpc or media center computer is a convergent device that combines some or all the capabilities of a personal computer with a software application that supports video, photo, audio playback, and sometimes video recording functionality. You can also stream video and mirror the screen on your ios device or mac to an apple tv airplay 2 adds the ability to play music across multiple speakers throughout. Ready to upgrade your mac mini home theater to latest operating system offering from apple. Home theater pc drive your tv and media experience with a media pc. Todays mac mini offers other advantages as a media server. With an hdmi cable, you can connect to your hdtv as an extralarge monitor, or even use your mac mini as a dedicated home theater server for streaming your itunes music and movie collection.
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