Can I use my mac mini as an apple tv

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Can I use my mac mini as an apple tv

Hi I have a complete home server setup with one gaming PC and one home server PC, 2 apple TV 3rd Gen and some IP cameras. I would like to know if I can use a Mac Mini as an Apple TV. I feel the features are lacking in the apple TV as I need something with an Internet browser and something that can stream 3d movies to my TV and for the TV to recognize this content. Will it be worth it considering I have a server PC with all my movies, music, pictures and series on it. I don't own a Mac mini yet but I'm thinking of buying one.

Posted on May 9, 2014 1:27 AM

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Answer 1

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lllaass

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210,411 points

May 9, 2014 3:21 AM in response to Chris450f

I do not realy understand what you want to do. You can AirPlay to Mini with Reflector from the server if the serve support AirPly Mirroring

A supported Mac

AirPlay Mirroring in OS X takes advantage of the hardware capabilities of recent Macs to deliver high frame rates while maintaining optimal system performance. The following Mac models support AirPlay Mirroring when using OS X Mountain Lion or later:

iMac (Mid 2011 or newer)
Mac mini (Mid 2011 or newer)
MacBook Air (Mid 2011 or newer)
MacBook Pro (Early 2011 or newer)
Mac Pro (Late 2013 or newer)

The Apple remote is very limited to what it can do with a Mini

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Answer 2

lllaass

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210,411 points

May 9, 2014 3:01 AM in response to Chris450f

You can AirPlay to a computer like you can AirPlay to an Apple TV by installing the Reflector program on the computer

Reflector - AirPlay mirror your iPhone or iPad to any Mac or PC, wirelessly.

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Answer 3

Chris450f Author

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May 9, 2014 3:08 AM in response to lllaass

So I can use my apple tv remote and stream 3d movies and all my files from my server to my Mac mini just like an apple tv. And this would be a great alternative for an Apple tv.

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Answer 4

Chris450f Author

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May 9, 2014 3:11 AM in response to Chris450f

Will it also be able to take a USB mass storage device with 4 HDD in it

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Answer 5

Chris450f Author

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May 9, 2014 3:41 AM in response to lllaass

I have a windows 8.1 server PC. I want to use the Mac mini as an apple TV. So the Mac mini is connected to the TV and the movies, music and photo's are all shared to the Mac mini via Itunes like the apple TV. Is this possible? So basically it's a beefed up apple TV. I want to convert my TV into a smart TV with an Internet browser and the ability to stream 3d movies which the apple TV is lacking. I would also like to go on the TV and do everything the apple TV can do plus the benefit of having the possibility of doing anything a Mac can do.

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Answer 6

lllaass

Level 10

210,411 points

May 9, 2014 4:04 AM in response to Chris450f

What Mini? If the Mini support Mirroring

Mac mini (Mid 2011 or newer)

Then you can mirror the Mini's screen to the ATV.

You can control the Mini via BT keyboard.

If you have an iPhone, iPad or iPhone you can get apps (TeamViewer is free for personal use) on both devices so you can control the Mini via ithe iOS device.

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Answer 7

Joe Bailey

Level 6

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May 9, 2014 6:37 AM in response to Chris450f

What are you hoping to accomplish using a $600 to $800 Mac mini that you cannot do with a $100 Apple TV?

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Answer 8

Chris450f Author

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May 9, 2014 7:59 AM in response to lllaass

OK I have never owned a MAC only Iphones and Apple TV's. So It might sound like a dumb question. Let me put it in another way. If I have multiple PC and Mac's all with Itunes on them on the same network will it share the library from the one to the other and stream content from each other without the files natively being on the device? So lets say I have a Mac mini (which I don't yet) and I have a home server PC (I have this with Windows 8.1 on it) now I connect the Mac Mini to my TV without the Apple TV. Let's say the Mac has no content on it it's straight out of the box. Can I go on the Mac and stream movies and music to the mac from the server (which has everything on it) and be able to watch the content on my TV?

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Answer 9

lllaass

Level 10

210,411 points

May 9, 2014 8:27 AM in response to Chris450f

This describes Home Sharing

Understanding Home Sharing

This article describes setting up and using the Apple remote app on iPhones and other iOS devoices

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1947

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Answer 10

May 9, 2014 9:56 AM in response to Chris450f

You might want to look at Plex

https://plex.tv

and XBMC

http://xbmc.org

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Answer 11

Chris450f Author

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May 9, 2014 10:11 AM in response to John Lockwood

Plex is what I might be looking for thank you. But I also solved my own question and the answer is yes you can stream content from one PC to another through Itunes but they must be authorized. So I can use the Mac mini to stream content from my server to my TV and enjoy Internet browsing and having a full PC right there on my TV. So the Mac mini will replace my Apple TV.

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Answer 12

Aug 18, 2014 8:33 PM in response to Joe Bailey

Hey Joe:

Seems like you know a lot about this, but I've been told / seems to me that the Apple TV has limited music ability, whereas the Mini has all the internet music streaming capability. My hope was that the Mini would serve the purpose of Apple TV and a music streaming device in the same box... or, what am I missing?

I guess I'm concerned more about the opposite problem: are there things that the Apple TV unit does that are impossible or more cumbersome with the Mini?

Thanks

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Answer 13

Dec 30, 2014 2:29 PM in response to Chris450f

Hi, sounds like you've already got your answer, but just my 2 cents: I use a Mac mini under my tv purely as a media player instead of Apple TV as I wanted to stream films from my home server (which it does perfectly well using XBMC) and also have use of a internet browser. Haven't figured out a way to be able to give it an interface like an Apple TV for ease of use, but that's the only "negative"

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Answer 14

Dec 30, 2014 2:54 PM in response to Sketchbook18

XBMC now called Kodi does support the built-in IR receiver on the Mac mini and also supports using an Apple Remote with it. Arguably the XBMC/Kodi user interface is already akin to an Apple TV for ease of use and there have been Apple TV styled 'skins' for XBMC.

Plex was originally based on the XBMC code but has evolved significantly away from that since. Plex in particular has a strong range of addons (called Channels) for supporting a wide variety of Internet media sources and I would say is much superior to XBMC/Kodi in this area. However XBMC/Kodi is superior in supporting full-blown DVD and Blu-Ray media. I therefore lean more towards Kodi.

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