2012 i7 Mac Mini for Apple Music hosting

[danb1979]

Just found my old 2012 i7 Mac Mini in our loft and wondered if I can use it as a 'server' of sorts to connect my 4TB SSD to, to manage Apple Music and all the downloaded TV shows / movies and music I've ripped from DVSs and CDs in the past?

I'd connect it to my 4k Dell monitor via HD I to set up, switch home sharing on and then that's it, it can share to my Apple TVs around the house etc

Will it work or not?

Thanks

 

[Boyd01]

Basically, what I would call an "iTunes Server". I used the base model 2012 Mini for that for a number of years, then replaced with a base 2014 Mini. The i7 is a quad-core (I also have one and use as a file server now) and should be more than powerful enough, but there could be other issues. Apple stopped supporting the 2012 Mini with Catalina which may cause problems.

After many trouble-free years, I ran into a bunch of problems using my 2014 Mini for this on Mojave last year. Finally just gave up and got a new m4 Mini to replace it, as discussed in this thread.

Aside from that, should be pretty simple to just give it a try with a small library and see what you think. I don't think the 2012 Mini is compatible with 4k screens, but have never tried that myself.

 

[danb1979]

Basically, what I would call an "iTunes Server". I used the base model 2012 Mini for that for a number of years, then replaced with a base 2014 Mini. The i7 is a quad-core (I also have one and use as a file server now) and should be more than powerful enough, but there could be other issues. Apple stopped supporting the 2012 Mini with Catalina which may cause problems.

After many trouble-free years, I ran into a bunch of problems using my 2014 Mini for this on Mojave last year. Finally just gave up and got a new m4 Mini to replace it, as discussed in this thread.

Aside from that, should be pretty simple to just give it a try with a small library and see what you think. I don't think the 2012 Mini is compatible with 4k screens, but have never tried that myself.

Thats what I'm worried about...

Think I'll list it for sale and buy a base M1 Mac Mini - they're c£200 on eBay UK so not expensive and that'll be ideal for Apple Music etc

 

[!!!]

Just found my old 2012 i7 Mac Mini in our loft and wondered if I can use it as a 'server' of sorts to connect my 4TB SSD to, to manage Apple Music and all the downloaded TV shows / movies and music I've ripped from DVSs and CDs in the past?

This is exactly what I do with my 2011 mini, running High Sierra no less. Never had any problems accessing it via Apple TV or my iPhone.

Can't speak for Boyd01's iTunes Store issue, I don't use it for that.

 

[danb1979]

This is exactly what I do with my 2011 mini, running High Sierra no less. Never had any problems accessing it via Apple TV or my iPhone.

Can't speak for Boyd01's iTunes Store issue, I don't use it for that.

I managed to sell it yesterday for £100 and it was collected (was to be the buyers kid's first Mac) - Happy to sell it for that cause

Ordered an immaculate base M1 Mac Mini from eBay UK last night; £200 delivered - I'll get that set up as soon as it lands

 

[Boyd01]

Can't speak for Boyd01's iTunes Store issue, I don't use it for that.

Just to be clear, my problem wasn't that I couldn't access the iTunes store (although that would have been a problem farther down the road). My problem was that iTunes was "stuck in a loop" and constantly asking me to sign in to the store. When I did that, it would just repeat. And that dialog box froze everything else in iTunes so that I couldn't do anything. Interestingly, it didn't affect home sharing though and I could still access my library from my AppleTV's.

I think something got corrupted in the preferences (or whatever) and it probably could have been resolved by wiping the Mini and re-installing everything. But that made no sense to me, for a machine that old with software that's no longer supported. I'm glad to have moved to the m4 Mini, which will be supported for many more years. I think the OP made the best decision for the long run, although the 2012 Mini probably would work fine in the short term.