There is no evidence for such with the Mac. It doesn't need to be turned off (much less rebooted outside of updates) unless there is a problem or very bad weather that may put it at risk.
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How often do you turn your Mini off?
- Thread starter Sarah Hamilton
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I get long life - rarely under 10 years - from my Macs and I never switch them off.
I have a bunch of Minis of various ages and they only get rebooted for SW updates. I have a 2009 Mini Server at work that is too old for updates now and hasn't been rebooted for nearly 2 years.
Regarding longevity, I think there's a reasonable case to make regarding heating/cooling cycles affecting lifespan, i.e., that letting them get hot (which is unavoidable) and then cold (when you switch them off) causes expansion and contraction which may shorten component life.
I have a bunch of Minis of various ages and they only get rebooted for SW updates. I have a 2009 Mini Server at work that is too old for updates now and hasn't been rebooted for nearly 2 years.
Regarding longevity, I think there's a reasonable case to make regarding heating/cooling cycles affecting lifespan, i.e., that letting them get hot (which is unavoidable) and then cold (when you switch them off) causes expansion and contraction which may shorten component life.
Have you tried turning it off and then turning it on again? 
The most demanding moment for any electronic circuit is when it is powered on and receives a surge of energy. It's not just computers. It's any form of electronics - televisions, radios, whatever. I've spent a career in broadcasting and transmitters run literally for years without being turned off.
TLDR: You can leave your Mac on 24/7 and all should be fine, but it’s not silly/unreasonable/pointless to shut it down sometimes either.
I’m okay with having my Mac mini on all day and night, in part because I use Air Video HD for occasional movie/show streaming to iDevices. If I don’t expect to stream or otherwise utilize my Mac beyond a point in the evening, I indeed shut it down until the next morning. Sure, it doesn’t consume lots of power at idle. However, to me, why be wasteful with power consumption and add any wear to the device if there is little or no inconvenience -- current computers boot within seconds. Additionally, I did experience an extremely slow responsiveness (requiring a restart) a couple of times after leaving my mini on for a week or more straight. I suspect the cause is a certain piece of software, for example, Air Video HD is far from Apple Silicon, current macOS optimized and probably will never be updated by the developer.
I’m okay with having my Mac mini on all day and night, in part because I use Air Video HD for occasional movie/show streaming to iDevices. If I don’t expect to stream or otherwise utilize my Mac beyond a point in the evening, I indeed shut it down until the next morning. Sure, it doesn’t consume lots of power at idle. However, to me, why be wasteful with power consumption and add any wear to the device if there is little or no inconvenience -- current computers boot within seconds. Additionally, I did experience an extremely slow responsiveness (requiring a restart) a couple of times after leaving my mini on for a week or more straight. I suspect the cause is a certain piece of software, for example, Air Video HD is far from Apple Silicon, current macOS optimized and probably will never be updated by the developer.
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My Mac Pro (2017) I left on all the time as power outages wouldn't hurt it. The battery would keep it running. My MAC Mini (2020) I turn off. A lot of times the power will go off and back on in seconds (Flicker). These (Spikes) can hurt the power supply and the SSD. Just not worth the risk of not powering it off as just one time would do it. If you have a UPS then I would leave it on.
KenK
KenK
It doesn’t really matter if you let it sleep or turn it off. If you are concerned about power fluctuations, get a battery backup. If you think there is a memory issue then restart it.
If you feel this way, why are you so confident that one of these events won't happen while it's powered up and you're using it? I consider a UPS an essential protection, regardless of whether you shut the computer off at night.
My Mini and peripherals are hooked up to a power strip on the floor.
Each night I shut down the Mini, then reach down and flip off the power strip.
Next morning, I reach down and flip the power strip on, then press the Mini's power-on button.
If I'm going to be away from the Mini and out of the house for a while during the day, I might shut if off, as well. I don't care for too many electrical items to be left on when I'm not around.
I've been doing this with my Macs since 1987.
Has always worked fine for me.
Each night I shut down the Mini, then reach down and flip off the power strip.
Next morning, I reach down and flip the power strip on, then press the Mini's power-on button.
If I'm going to be away from the Mini and out of the house for a while during the day, I might shut if off, as well. I don't care for too many electrical items to be left on when I'm not around.
I've been doing this with my Macs since 1987.
Has always worked fine for me.
I turn off my mini when I’m done with it. I don’t use it much. I leave my MacBook sleeping forever. It never gets turned off. Works fine.
Sleep on Macs historically was never reliable for me. I’d never use it cuz OS would eventually get corrupted. But now it seems to be reliable.
Sleep on Macs historically was never reliable for me. I’d never use it cuz OS would eventually get corrupted. But now it seems to be reliable.
I have to turn my 2018 Mini off instead of sleeping it because of egpu issues.
I agree with others here that they can be run at all times, but sadly mine cannot.
I agree with others here that they can be run at all times, but sadly mine cannot.
I never turn my 2018 Mac Mini off. It never goes to sleep either. The screen does turn off after an hour.
besides being my main work computer, it serves as a Time Machine target for both my MacBook and my wife’s MacBook Pro, and as a Resilio Sync peer with my MacBook and my out-of-state assitant’s MacBook Pro.
Reboot only for software updates and Parallels updates (which now requires reboot to allow some permission or another, which is annoying). Currently running latest version of Big Sur.
besides being my main work computer, it serves as a Time Machine target for both my MacBook and my wife’s MacBook Pro, and as a Resilio Sync peer with my MacBook and my out-of-state assitant’s MacBook Pro.
Reboot only for software updates and Parallels updates (which now requires reboot to allow some permission or another, which is annoying). Currently running latest version of Big Sur.
Once a day before going to bed. I have no use to leave it on. Boot time is in seconds anyway.
Because if I have two, then I can work on the second one while the first is off and vice versa. And if I alternate between the two like this, I now have two machines that last twice as long which is actually 4x greater value (2 machines x 2 times longer life)
What specifically do you see degradation on? Processors, ram, and SSD should all last well over a decade under normal wear a tear. It’s usually an HDD that start to go bad, but modern macs don’t use these.
If you’re using an old 2010 you may see extended use by having two, but you’d likely be better off with just getting one newer Mac with an SSD. Also resale value goes way down after a decade so financially it may make more sense to sell after a few years when macs still have retained their value.
I can't say for sure that my method is the best, I can only say that it has worked really well for me. I always have a computer to use and each of my computers seem to last twice as long this way
It can't sleep, the screen goes black but it is still running. I'm running Mojave and as I understand it egpu issues were ironed out in later OS verisons.
My eGPU was a bit flacky under Mojave (especially so in the later security updates), but under Big Sur my eGPU has been a dream! If you can, I suggest you try it.