In May 2005, iTunes evolved from a music player into a video library manager, paving the way for video iPods (October 2005), Apple TV (March 2007), and AirPlay video streaming (September 2010). Since then, iTunes libraries have become bigger and more central in homes, as users now stream content stored in iTunes — sometimes called a media “server” — to “clients” including Apple TVs, iPads, iPhones, and iPod touches. Unless you stream all of your content from the iTunes Store, you probably have some space-consuming videos sitting in your computer’s iTunes library, where they can be accessed by client devices so long as both the server computer and iTunes are turned on.
Apple has resisted calls to release a standalone, inexpensive iTunes home media server for years: 2008’s release of Time Capsule came tantalizingly close, but couldn’t act as a standalone streamer. So when my video library became too large to keep on my iMac, I bit the bullet and bought a used Mac mini to serve as an iTunes server. It works well, and consumes a lot less power than keeping my iMac on all the time, but it’s still a full-fledged $700 computer — overkill for streaming videos to the Apple devices in my home.
Today, I’m going to help you build a small, inexpensive, and ultra energy-efficient iTunes media server. Depending on the size of your iTunes library, it could cost as little as $150, or as much as $300, in either case much less expensive than a Mac mini. The key component is Intel’s new Compute Stick, a tiny basic Windows PC that can plug directly into an HDTV, run iTunes, and stream videos across your network. For around $130, you can now get an iView-branded Compute Stick with a CPU similar to the 12″ Retina MacBook, bundled with a wireless keyboard and trackpad. Although there are some important caveats you should understand up front, the Compute Stick can become a ~3-Watt video server using a $20+ microSD card, radically reducing the energy required to stream iTunes content in your home. If you need more storage and power, you can easily add a near-silent $90+ hard drive with 2TB-5TB of capacity…
The Apple Option: A Mac mini ($500 and up)
When my iTunes library outgrew my iMac, there was only one Apple-built option that made sense to me: a 1TB Mac mini. Keeping a large, screen-laden iMac turned on as an iTunes server struck me as a huge waste of both components and electricity. An energy-efficient Mac mini, even a previous-generation model, would save a lot of cash up front and hopefully enjoy a major power savings over time, as well. (My iMac consumes 142W of power when idling, and 200W maximum. The Mac mini consumes less than 8% of that power (11W) when idle and 42% (85W) maximum.)
You can get an entry-level, current-generation Mac mini now for $465, including a 1.4GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor and 500GB hard drive. It has an HDMI port on the back and can be connected to any HDTV in your house with a $5 HDMI cable. If you want to step up to a faster version with a 1TB hard drive, you can get one for $664 through this link.
To set up the Mac mini and occasionally use it for OS X updates or managing files, you can either use a $22 dedicated Bluetooth track pad and keyboard combination, whatever spare USB or Bluetooth keyboard and mouse you already have on hand, or Apple’s official Magic Trackpad and Wireless Keyboard. (More choices are in my Best Mac Accessories article here.) So the total cost of a Mac mini-based iTunes server solution starts at $500 and goes up from there.
There are several major advantages of using a Mac mini as a media server. Apple’s hardware runs near-silently, has great long-term reliability, and is typically trouble-free when it comes to running OS X and iTunes. You shouldn’t expect the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to just stop working, your iTunes library to disappear from the network, or the computer to just not turn on after a few years of active use. Moreover, depending on the Mac mini you buy, it may be able to do lots of other things on an as-needed basis. Faster machines can run video game emulators and smoothly play back high-definition videos on the connected TV. But even if you go with a cheap Mac mini, it will still be a problem-free iTunes server for your home.
The DIY Option: A Compute Stick Plus Additional Storage ($150-$300)
Thanks to Intel’s release of the Compute Stick, you don’t need to spend $500 or more to get a basic, quiet-running iTunes media server — so long as you’re willing to accept an extremely basic computer that won’t reliably do anything else. To underscore a point sometimes missed by the TL;DR crowd, the Compute Stick works properly for the purpose discussed in this article, but as the size and price make clear, it’s not a full replacement for a big, powerful desktop PC. You can get an Intel-branded Compute Stick for $170 through this link or faster for $199 through this link, adding the Bluetooth keyboard and track pad yourself. Or you can buy iView’s Cyber PC bundle, which includes a Compute Stick and wireless keyboard/track pad combo. It sells for $130 via Amazon or $150 at Newegg.
The major advantages of the Compute Stick are its size, low power consumption, and extremely low price. Roughly the same size as a candy bar, the Compute Stick has a quad-core 1.33GHz Intel Atom Bay Trail processor, is pre-installed with Windows 8.1, and connects directly to a TV’s HDMI port — no extra HDMI cable is required, but an extender is included for tight-ported HDTVs. The photo below shows the extender on a TV’s side, but it can easily be hidden behind the set, as well. Power is supplied via an included micro-USB wall adapter, but Compute Stick is amazingly efficient: when it’s idle, it draws only 3W of power, with a maximum power draw of 8-9W under stress. That’s roughly 1/4 the power consumption of my already impressive Mac mini at idle, and 1/10 at maximum.
Bluetooth 4.0 and 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi are built in, along with 32GB of storage space, and 2GB of RAM. You can easily expand the storage space using microSD 32GB cards, doubling the capacity, for $20 and up. (Note that iView’s packaging and marketing materials differ on the maximum microSD capacity supported; some references say 32GB, others say up to 128GB.)
Whether that’s enough for your needs depends on how you plan to use your iTunes media server. Of the built-in 32GB storage space, 18GB is usable, which means that a 32GB card will give you 50GB of total space, with up to 146GB total if a 128GB microSD card works. If you just want to stream a music collection and relatively small number of videos throughout your house, a microSD card may have enough space for you.
If you’re planning to share your entire video library over your network, you’ll want a bigger, wall-powered external drive, and that’s where the Compute Stick’s USB expandability comes in. For $90 to $130, you can get a 2TB, 3TB, 4TB or 5TB Seagate Expansion USB 3.0 hard drive (shown below), which has earned a lot of positive reviews (4.4/5 stars from 178 Amazon users) for operating whisper-quietly, waking very quickly from sleep, and delivering incredible storage capacity for the price.
There are pricier options with longer warranties and greater long-term reliability in my best external hard drive guide, but they’ll push the total Compute Stick price up from under $300 to around $400. At that point, you may want to consider the Mac mini instead, as you’ll get a more powerful machine (albeit with less storage space) for the price.
Setting Up The Compute Stick
Unlike the Mac, which will arrive with OS X ready to go after a really quick Wi-Fi and Bluetooth setup process, the iView Compute Stick will take a little work. The hardware part is fairly easy: once it’s unpacked, you can just plug it directly into an HDMI port on your TV, and then into the wall with its wall adapter. Some TVs may require you to connect it to the port labelled HDMI 1, while others will not.
After the Compute Stick is connected to your TV and wall, you’ll need to plug its combination keyboard and trackpad in using an included mini-USB cable. This is necessary to charge the remote’s integrated lithium ion battery, as well as to set it up as a wireless device within Windows. Once it’s charged and wirelessly paired, you won’t have to do this again; an included USB wireless dongle will let it operate independently, while an included micro-USB to USB adapter can be used to connect a USB hard drive. (You may want to keep the remote’s charging cable connected to a separate USB charger in case the remote’s battery runs out.)
Setting up the Compute Stick will require jumping through standard Windows hoops, including the aforementioned pairing process, joining your home’s Wi-Fi network, and installing updated drivers. The keyboard is small, but surprisingly capable, and the trackpad is similarly tiny but entirely functional for occasionally navigating the Windows 8/iTunes environment. Once the computer’s all set up, you’ll want to grab the latest version of iTunes from here for free and install it.
Although PC-to-PC iTunes library transfers are fairly easy, the single biggest pain point for Mac users will be moving the content of a complete iTunes library from a Mac to the Compute Stick’s PC hard drive. Reformatting the external hard drive as exFAT will make it easier to access the drive on either a Mac or PC. Apple provides an iTunes library moving guide here, but it’s mostly intended for Mac-to-Mac or PC-to-Mac transfers. Preserving a larger iTunes library’s structure when transferring from Mac to PC will require additional guidance beyond the scope of this article.
If you’re using a microSD card instead of a hard drive, the process is less painful. You can put that card into an SD Card adapter, plug the adapter into your Mac’s card slot, and drag-and-drop individual files to transfer them between platforms. Alternately, you can set up Home Sharing on the Compute Stick’s copy of iTunes and iTunes on your Mac, then drag and drop files from the Mac’s library to the PC. The transfer over Wi-Fi will probably take a lot longer than using a card or hard drive for the transfer, but you won’t have to do it more than once.
In any case, you’ll need to have Home Sharing turned on to see the Compute Stick’s (or Mac mini’s) iTunes library on your network. So long as iTunes and the Compute Stick are on, your library will be visible and ready to stream to Apple TVs, iPads, iPhones, iPod touches, and other iTunes computers in your home. Rebooting the Compute Stick and iTunes can help your iOS device or Apple TV to see an upgraded iTunes library that isn’t appearing in their “Shared” library list/tab (generally found within the Videos app).
Possible Issues
Three potential issues you should be prepared for with the Compute Stick are non-iTunes performance, wireless stability, and Windows 10. While reviews of the Compute Stick have been fine when it’s used for media streaming and web browsing, it’s not capable of more powerful computing, and unlike the Mac mini can’t replace a desktop PC for gaming or other tasks.
Some reviews have noted that its Bluetooth wireless performance is spotty, particularly when its wireless chip is simultaneously being used for Wi-Fi connectivity. Driver updates may well help with this, but there could be other underlying engineering issues that only get improved in later versions. The iView version of Compute Stick works around this by including a separate wireless dongle.
Last but not least, Compute Stick is intended to be compatible with the upcoming release of Windows 10 in late July of this year. It’s unclear whether Windows 10 will improve or reduce its overall performance as an iTunes server, so you might want to hold off on performing a Windows 8.1 to 10 upgrade until its reliability is established.
Those issues aside, a Compute Stick can serve as a nice (and inexpensive) iTunes media server for your home. It runs quiet, consumes very little power, and works just like a much larger PC when used to stream audio and video files. If you don’t want to spend the cash on a Mac mini, it may well be your next best option.
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What about just having Apple TVs?
You have to have the files (anything you haven’t purchased from iTunes) on your computer with iTunes open in order to play them on the Apple TV. Huge flaw, but hopefully one they’ll correct next week.
Implicit in your comment, but just to make it explicit for other readers: your computer has to be powered on, too. Which means that it may well be drawing power at 3x to 10x the rate of the Compute Stick, all day long, depending on the settings. My Mac mini goes into sleep mode when used as a server, sometimes requiring a manual wakeup with an external peripheral before Apple TVs can see it.
I still dont get the diff. The same is true for this method you are just using a second computer directly connected to the tv rather then using your existing computer wireless. With an apple TV you also have netflix/hulu etc readily. Apple tv isnt perfect either but if you are going to have your content stored in itunes anyways it seems like a cheaper way to go.
To elaborate: I have Thousands of movies in my itunes library. I had a mac mini connected to my tv to use in the same manner as this (except home sharing my library to the mini’s itunes as my desktop had much more storage) which as the author stated is overkill. I sold my mac mini, bought 2 apple tv’s (one for my living room and one for my sons room) with cash left over. Id rather have the apple tv UI then a full fledged itunes on the TV anyways.
I don’t use iTunes for my videos because it is too bloated and slow. I just keep my movies organized in a folder on my MacBook Pro. When I want to watch a movie on my TV, I open the movie in VLC and use AirPlay Display mirroring. Easy Peazy.
A number of NAS boxes have iTunes server software on them that negates this. You still need the files, but you don’t need to have your machine on running iTunes. If you have a NAS you also likely already have the files on such a thing anyway.
@wavemedia which NAS are you aware of that can stream iTunes videos? I have been unsuccessful in getting my symbology to stream iTunes video, iTunes music no problem , video is where I have not found a good NAS solution for iTunes videos (purchased from iTunes Store – not ripped)
I have not found NAS iTunes Server to work with ATV directly. iTunes Server is a central location for iTunes library that Mac/PC iTunes can use with Home Sharing, thus eliminating multiple copies of media. However, streaming to ATV requires a PC or Mac iTunes or airplay from iOS. So, Compute Stick + USB HDD is a viable solution for low power, high availability alternative to a full PC/Mac to stream from.
There are Airplay apps for NAS which would allow you to push NAS content to the ATV, but that requires another app/device to initiate the stream. There are also NAS with HDMI that can connect direct to your TV, but NAS is generally a higher cost than Compute Stick.
Ideally, ATV-next would support USB devices and run its own iTunes app that would enable ATV to become the iTunes Server for the entire home. That would make ATV all the more compelling as your digi-hub for media, TV subscription (if rumors are true), Netflix/Hulu/HBO, and HomeKit Hub. Add an app store with game content running direct on the ATV, and you have a one-stop shop, no additional kludges required.
Is there not an available ethernet adapter for the compute stick?
i dont get it, why this v.s. an apple tv?
AppleTV has no option to add storage to it like Roku etc. does.
As noted, Apple TV needs something to serve it media. I imagine you could use this as a relatively low power PC in conjunction with an Apple TV, if that’s how you want to access the content and avoid logging into Windows. If you set the folder permissions correctly on the network you should be able to do most of the content management via another system elsewhere, particularly if you make use of the ‘automatically add to iTunes’ folder as a way to get files into iTunes.
I’m looking to do something similar except with a small mITX sized system in a case that takes about 8 HDDs. I’ll probably throw in an i3 processor or somethingmore substantual than an atom to allow Plex transcoding, but get a motherboard capable of Wake on Wireless Lan so I can automate going into and out of standby on an as need basis to conserve power during the 95% downtime.
I’ve been thinking about this for a while, but perhaps the new Apple TV will have local storage?
Unlikely, I’d guess. Local storage was removed when iCloud came about, as Apple has traditionally not been supportive in making it simple to use media purchased (presumably) outside of it’s own ecosystem. Once you could re-download content from them, streaming directly made more sense than making/allowing you to transfer to and store on the local device, which also makes it easy to purchase content elsewhere.
In late 2010 when the hockey puck Apple TV was introduced, Steve specifically said “users don’t want to manage storage”
I’ve always wanted to get a Mac Mini and a thunderbolt RAID and use that for streaming server / home cloud and HTPC…so expensive, but if you’ve got the dough, gopher it. AirServer is must have software for this config also — allows any Mac to be used as an AirPlay target, just like an AppleTV.
I have all my media on an external drive. I have an iTunes library that points to that drive and have home sharing turned on. I’ve been doing this forever. And since its shared over home sharing, it works perfectly fine with my library, all my Apple devices (including my Apple TV), or with anyone else that comes under my network.
Either I’m over simplifying things or this article is over complicating things…
Which computer do you keep it on, and how much power is it drawing remaining on as an iTunes server? The Compute Stick draws 3W/8-9W, versus a Mac mini at 6W (idle) and 85W (max), iMacs at 33W to 70W (idle) and 68W-288W (max).
Retina MacBook Pro. Recently, I’ve downsized even more. Now I store everything on a 1TB external. It sits right on my desk. It automatically turns on/off as my computer turns on and off. When I plug my computer up to power, I plug my drive in. So there’s no additional work.
I’ll concede that technically mines isn’t a true server, as it’s not on at all times. But by definition it is. Because it does the exact same thing as yours. I also have the added benefit of taking my library with me when I travel (if I want).
Let me be clear that I’m not one of those guys that just want to make noise on your page. I’m just trying to see the difference between our two systems :-)
My recollection is that the Retina MacBook Pro (depending on screen size and model) consumes 10W-16W idle and ~60-80W max, again many times greater energy consumption than the Compute Stick, though the MacBooks’ numbers also involve screen use. So there’s a difference in power efficiency, which adds up when a machine is staying on as a server.
I personally have a Retina MBP as well, but wouldn’t use it as a home iTunes server for a few reasons. One is that I take my MBP (but not always my family) with me when I travel or work off-site, which means that three other people who like to watch the server’s content wouldn’t be able to access it. There were other issues that caused me to pick a Mac mini, including my desire to fully use and move around the MBP while other people might be connecting to it, and the noise generated by (most) external drives.
My personal philosophy is that — especially in a household with other people — there’s value in having a basic, standalone, dedicated server capable of streaming and storing iTunes content without other interruptions. How much value will depend on the individual buyer’s perception and living situation. At $130-$175, the Compute Stick lowers the price bar to a really attractive entry level.
To that valid point, I will concede.
I don’t think it’s any more or less complex really. Essentially you’re just swapping a MacBook for a small Intel PC, but other than that the concepts by and large the same.
Each option has its tradeoffs. Your Macbooks more powerful but also consumes more power. Having it built into your laptop means you can *probably* take the setup with you easier if you so wish, but then things fall apart if you have a family who wants to use the server at a time where you’ve taken your laptop away.
I’m not sure if Wake on Lan could be configured on the Macbook or not to allow it to go into a low power state, but wake up if an Apple TV wants to interact with it.
Bingo, this is PRECISELY what I do. I don’t know why this article has so much complication in it. Set up a never-sleep machine, Home Share iTunes, Multiple Apple TVs throughout the house, life rocks.
Because a never-sleep machine wastes an unbelievable amount of power versus this option.
Maybe the next version of AppleTV will have a USB-C port that can be used for storage. One can only hope. I wish I knew why Apple is the only hardware company that doesn’t allow storage on its streaming device. Not that I care because I’m using an i7 quad-core MacMini and it’s perfect for running Popcorn Time and almost everything else that’s useful to me like PLEX, Spotify, Dramafever, Viki, iTunes, you name it. For anything else, I’ve got my Roku 3, so I’m totally covered. I’ve even got VMWare Fusion Desktop Pro running Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. That’s more than enough.
Why not something like a Raspberry Pi?
Using a device as a server over a wireless connection seems like a no-go for me.
The set-up is really not that difficult and it comes out a lot cheaper, which means more budget for storage. It can immediately serve as a media player for your TV, or as a file server for your network.
Regardless, I’d go for something with a Gigabit Ethernet interface. For your $300 budget maybe even a cheap Synology NAS is doable.
And you can add AirPlay software to Pi if that is a requirement.
Question: Can the compute stick mount remote drives? If so, could you mount your Time Capsule drive (assuming you have one) to store media, adding it from that location in iTunes? Thanks!
Yuck. Why bother with this bizarre underpowered stick thingie running Windoze, when you can build a decent Hackintosh with modern i5 CPU and Terabytes of internal storage for around $350-$400? Yes, it will be a bit larger, but I have mine sitting in my garage on the shelf, so who cares what it looks like.
Why bother with a Hackintosh for $400 when you can get a real Mac mini for $465 etc etc etc…
This solution starts at $130, consumes way less power than your hideaway Hackintosh, and doesn’t need to sit on a shelf in a garage. Different strokes for different folks.
Lots of reasons actually. First – you won’t get a decent Mac Mini for $465. You will get underpowered several years old model with slow 5400rpm hard drive and poky CPU. My Hackintosh will run circles around your crappy $465 Mini, especially when transcoding movies via Handbrake (which is what I used mine a lot for).
Second – I can fit several 3.5″ hard disks into my miniATX case, giving me a huge amount of storage (over 10TB). You can do that with Mini – you need an external enclosure, which means more boxes, more cumbersome setup, slower performance than my Sata3 drives, etc. Since this article talks about home iTunes server – ample storage is a key requirement.
Third – my Hackintosh is infinitely upgradeable. By using standard commodity PC components – I can easily upgrade my CPU to Skylake, get fast SSD boot drive, upgrade memory for a few bucks, etc. Again – good luck with any of that with Mac Mini.
Final note – my Mackintosh sits on a shelf in a garage “by design”. It’s a backend server. It downloads content, rips / encodes video, and serves movies to several ATV3s around my house.
Different strokes for different folks indeed.
The $465 Mac mini mentioned above is actually a current-generation model. Processor and drive are indeed low-end, but that’s how Apple’s entry-level Macs always roll. And the mini is, by design, a compact, quiet-running computer you can put into a bedroom rather than hiding in your garage. It purposely doesn’t have room for three 3.5″ drives inside. Criticizing it for being small and limited in expansion is like knocking a sedan for not being a big SUV.
Similarly, the Compute Stick purposely doesn’t have room for any drive inside. It’s supposed to be a silent, low-power, tiny form factor machine. The box you’ve built really has nothing to do with this type of iTunes server. You’ve just turned a standard PC into a DVD ripping and media storage computer. That’s obviously great for your needs, but not what this article is focused on.
FWIW, I’ve built and modded a couple of PCs to use as Hackintoshes. They were highly compromised machines that always had something or multiple things wrong, could never be reliably updated with new versions of the OS, and were just like common PCs in terms of noise levels, energy efficiency, and design. Techies and power users live with and work around the issues, but most people just don’t want to deal with that sort of experience. The Compute Stick isn’t for power users. It’s a Prius to the sedan and the SUV — power-sipping and still capable of the basics, but not as spacious or powerful. There’s a big market for Priuses, even if you’re not interested in one.
No need to build a second computer.
Option 1) Apple Time Capsule (optional) + Computer running AirVideo Server (my MBP) + iPhone or iPad + Apple TV. Use Air Video app on the iPhone/iPad to play videos stored in your Time Capsule, then AirPlay it to the Apple TV.
Option 2) Either that, or just have your Mac use your Apple TV as a second monitor.
FWIW, your solution will not support AC3/Dolby Digital 5.1. If you have ripped DVDs to your iTunes library (Handbrake, etc), then you need to use iTunes to feed the AppleTV to get 5.1 audio. The ATV will pass through the 5.1 sound to your home theater via the HDMI or optical audio outputs.
There are dozens of ways to create a legit media server. I have a Synology NAS now but before that I had a LaCie Network Space 2. I have a jailbroken ATV2 with Infuse installed. If you’re looking for cheap then probably the LaCie or WD NAS is the way to go. If you’re looking to dominate, go with Synology RAID Nas; because who wants to lose 2tb of music and movies when the Hdd suddenly fails.
If the compute stick is a full Windows PC, I would a) just mount my Mac as a server on the compute stick, and stream the movies over on-demand, rather than add additional storage b) it will run VLC, so you could play back video formats that iTunes cannot and c) You can add XMBC or NetFlix or Hulu without any problems. Sounds like a much more adaptable system then Apple TV. Heck, even add a USB DVD or blueray player and use it that way….
A word to the wise, the compute stick has gotten absolutely horrible reviews and is pretty much judged as worthless technology. Surprised anyone would recommend buying or using the device at all.
Actually, with the exception of the deliberately inflammatory Gizmodo review, virtually every other review I’ve seen has noted that it is fine for some things (including streaming videos) and not for others (replacing a larger, more expensive PC – duh). There’s nothing wrong with recommending it for the positive things it can do, rather than focusing on the things it can’t do.
Reviews of this Intel based PC have neither been “absolutely horrible” nor has any reviewer I have seen called this trchnology “worthless”. Your chacterizations, on the other hand, may qualify as both….
This extremely low cost server is by a huge margin the least expensive way to serve iTunes content, while using tiny amounts of power and space as well. If you know of some other way to fill your home with iTunes content both to AppleTV and iOS clients, then please state your alternative. No doubt it will be at least double or triple the cost, use 6 to 20 times the power, and have its own issues.
This solution is very econmical, ingenious, and not available until recently. Dedicated laptops, MacMinis, or power hungry desktops were the only other alternatives. And this solution, unlike NAS and ‘hacked’ clones of Macintosh, run the real iTunes with updating from Apple directly.
Thanks for publishing a great bargain alternative approach for those of us looking to save some money running non jail broken non hacked standard Apple iTunes server and clients.
Can I use a 2011 macbook pro instead of a mac mini?
I’d imagine that the Intel stick would also support DLNA. If iTunes doesn’t get some serious upgrades soon (24 bit AirPlay, FLAC support) then I’ll be changing my media server to UPnP.
Western Digital MyBookLive is an iTunes server, also a DNLA server for photos/videos. Throw your files on there and for 2-3TB its less than $140. Accessible remotely also.
I use Itunes Match for AppleTVs int he house to stream all my music from the cloud or on the go, do not need a PC running at all after matching is done.
iTunes Match is fine for music, but the streaming video is missing, particularly if you have hundreds of DVD ripped to your iTunes library like I do. ATV cannot browse NAS content directly, needs a PC/Mac with iTunes running to stream, or pushed airplay content from a mobile device.
That said, NAS iTunes server could be the media content for iTunes running on Compute Stick.
I have been considering this as well as other mini-PC solutions… holding out for ATV-next and hoping for a small miracle from Apple.
All of the current solutions are a kludge in my mind. ATV should be capable of being the end-all for your home, eliminating the need for other devices.
Ideally, ATV-next would have:
* USB port enabling iTunes media store with your choice of USB HDD. PC & Mac would consume and manage ATV media via home sharing.
* Time Machine backups (of iTunes Media, apps & settings) to Airport Extreme.
* App Store and motion sensors (for games),
* HD Camera & Microphone for FaceTime, with iOS or Mac controls. Also useful with games via ATV SDK Game-Kit.
* TV subscription service with iCloud DVR, allowing playback on any iCloud capable device or web.
* HomeKit Hub (lighting, security system, HVAC, control) with iCloud service allowing web\iOS control.
* AirPort Express, enabling ATV to be a standalone WiFi for business presentation, and travel media hub.
All the clutter goes by the wayside! ATV could truly become the digi-hub for your home, furthering the post-PC concept. I would buy several!
You may call me a dreamer, but I’m not the only one!
John…. I’m with you on your wish list.
However, the pragmatist in me doubts Apple will fulfill that list in its entirety, but we live in hope, right?
Very nice article. I’ve been looking for a low-power way to stream videos from iTunes to my AppleTV.
Do you know of a compute stick type device that has wired ethernet (preferably GigE) or a way to add such (USB dongle,etc)?
My media is on a NAS. Streaming would begin faster, especially with HD videos, using a wired connection between the NAS and the iTunes server.
One other solution I’m considering is buying a lower end used laptop PC. The price point would be less than the Compute Stick, it would have a wired network connection, and a free upgrade to Windows 10 in the near future. Power draw would be more than the Compute Stick, but not nearly that of a desktop PC.
Search for “USB ethernet” on Amazon or elsewhere and you’ll find the dongle you are looking for. Some of the dongles double as USB hubs.
I use the TrendNet RJ-45 ethernet to USB dongle bought on Amazon and it works great with the PC stick.
I’ve been wanting to do something like this for a while so this is great information. After some research I think that the HP Stream Mini is the better way to go. The Stream Mini offers similarly capabilities and offers similar low-power usage (not quite as low-power, but close enough). However, it also offers upgradeable memory and hard drive, an ethernet jack, 4 USB 3.0 ports. So if I decide the 2 GB of RAM isn’t enough, I can easily add more. It’s $179 on Amazon. I plan to use it to run both iTunes and Plex.
Excellent article — and good information! Thank You. The Mac Mini solution is preferable for me since my iTunes library is currently around 4.85TB and growing. By using a mini and external DROBO I can run not only iTunes but also use the system as a home file server and web server in a headless configuration. I do admit the Compute stick is a very low cost option – and paired with a sufficiently large external disk COULD do the job. But in my value trade-off the additional functionality of the Mini + DROBO (since I have most of the stuff anyways) is the better choice. But now I know what to get my geek son for Christmas — he’ll have a blast with it!
Many thanks for this. I can’t believe some of the comments here. A solution this cheap and small, with such low power requirements is a big deal to some. If you have a breaker that doesn’t trip when aircons, dishwasher, laundry machine, toaster, microwave, coffee maker, amplifier, subwoofer, PC etc are all on at the same time – good for you. I am grateful for the low power needs, the space saved and the price!
One question: have you noticed the thing getting hot? Does it have a fan?
Hmmm. I’ve tried so many solutions over the years including the original ATV with storage and various NAS devices that supposedly will stream video. None were a better solution than an old headless Mac Mini (or any old Mac for that matter) and Apple TV, especially if you want to stream to more than one location. Maybe I’m missing something but loading all your media onto a HD would be ok if video content didn’t change but it does. Using an old Mac as a server allows content to always be current and will stream to multiple locations. After many other solutions, I finally got a cheap MacMini and installed it in a closet. I can connect to it from anywhere using screen sharing and operate it as if I were in front of it. I can add multiple external Hard Drives if desired, as well as let it handle any cpu intensive jobs or long downloads that might tax my MacBook Pro’s energy or force me to keep it running. Best of all (maybe this only matters to non techies like me) – it integrates seamlessly with all devices on my network. I didn’t have to open a manual or learn anything new and best of all, don’t have to deal with Windows OS. I’ve had it with expensive devices that claim to be “Mac Compatible” but are not. (Anyone want to buy an HP EX495 MediaSmart Server? Any device that claims to be Mac compatible but requires a PC for setup and install is lying. I hate it).