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That's what I use mine for. Movies/TV on a synology nas and the audio to an amplifier with a built in DAC.

I just can't get on with plex so I still use kodi.

The only issue i have is that my mini does not wake the tv up from sleep.
 
I also wonder about HiDPI. How big will macOS be on a 4K TV in the size 50-55 inches? Do I get the opportunity for scaling?

That's what I use mine for. Movies/TV on a synology nas and the audio to an amplifier with a built in DAC.

I just can't get on with plex so I still use kodi.

The only issue i have is that my mini does not wake the tv up from sleep.
What do you do when Mac mini doesn't wake up the TV?
 
I used to run a Mac Mini as a HTPC back in the days, and when we switched to the AppleTV, the experience just got SO much better. The Mini is now just running as headless media server for said AppleTV.

For media consumption, an AppleTV is much more convenient , while significantly cheaper than a Mac Mini M1.
 
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Yes, an Apple TV is definitely better for media consumption. The advantage of the Mac mini is that you can do more though (at the expense of poorer media consumption).
 
Get a Apple TV 4K and stream from your Mac or pc. Simple. My new Mac mini doesn’t use iTunes to stream either.
 
I use a mac mini M1 (base model) as a smb file server for local network storage and as a tv/media computer with a logitech keyboard/trackpad combo in the living room. I connected two external usb hard drives for more storage. Works great for that purpose, and it consumes very little power.
 
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