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New Mac mini. Is it safe to leave your Mac mini on all the time ?
- Thread starter Capt4545
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Yes, it's fine. It'll eventually reboot for updates if allowed to. But there's nothing forcing you to turn it off. Putting it to sleep works well as an alternative to fully powering it down when not in use, much like an iPhone or iPad.
Yes, it's OK.
I've kept my Mac Studio on 24/7/365 since I got it over a year ago and have experienced no untoward effects from doing so. It wakes every morning at 3 AM to do a CCC backup then goes back to sleep. Instantaneous on whenever I need to use it during the day. No spinning platter to spin up (slowing down startup) or wear out bearings. Sweet.
I've kept my Mac Studio on 24/7/365 since I got it over a year ago and have experienced no untoward effects from doing so. It wakes every morning at 3 AM to do a CCC backup then goes back to sleep. Instantaneous on whenever I need to use it during the day. No spinning platter to spin up (slowing down startup) or wear out bearings. Sweet.
It’s fine to leave it on. I reboot mine once a month. I don’t let apple install updates automatically. Just let me know when available.
Depending on where you live, having a good surge protector might be a good idea!
The last server we had at work was a 2009 Mini and when we retired it it had been running continuously for over 3 years - eleven hundred and something days of uptime.
Do you NEED to leave it on all the time?
Since I started using Macs (in 1987), I keep the Mac (and peripherals) plugged into a power strip.
Each night, I power everything off (including the Mac).
And then, for an extra measure, I reach down and TURN OFF the power strip.
In the morning I turn the power strip back on, and press the Mini's power on button.
This routine has worked for me, for 36 years. Guess it will work "until I'm done"...
Since I started using Macs (in 1987), I keep the Mac (and peripherals) plugged into a power strip.
Each night, I power everything off (including the Mac).
And then, for an extra measure, I reach down and TURN OFF the power strip.
In the morning I turn the power strip back on, and press the Mini's power on button.
This routine has worked for me, for 36 years. Guess it will work "until I'm done"...
I used to leave a 2009 and then 2018 Mini on 24/7, rebooting for updates.
2009 was an iTunes server and also elgato tv recording so would sleep and wake as required.
2018 was iTunes server,
now with the studio and elgato replaced with HDHomeRun then leave the NAS box on 24/7 and also serves as plex server.
my own stuff I add to iTunes library and the Plex monitors the folder and adds.
neither Mini came to any harm from it.
if bothered then put a UPS in and power through tha.
2009 was an iTunes server and also elgato tv recording so would sleep and wake as required.
2018 was iTunes server,
now with the studio and elgato replaced with HDHomeRun then leave the NAS box on 24/7 and also serves as plex server.
my own stuff I add to iTunes library and the Plex monitors the folder and adds.
neither Mini came to any harm from it.
if bothered then put a UPS in and power through tha.
Power cycling causes thermal stress on your mini's components. While it's less of an issue now, thermal stress is the primary cause of solid state device failure. You have to balance a shorter lifetime with the cost of electricity and A/C; my rule of thumb is if it's used at least 8 hours a day, leave it on 24, so I generally shut down (work) machines only for weekends.
Yeah it's fine. I would put it to sleep while not in use if you are not running a server or something. It takes no time put it to sleep with a short cut and wake it up with a mouse click, why leave it on all the time if you have no need to.
There are two things that "wear out" in your mini: the fan and SSD. I figure there's no point letting the fan blow dust into the components 24/7, and macos will continue to write to SSD even in idle. Putting it to sleep mitigates both
Again, it's not a big deal. So if you need to have the Mac on 24/7, don't hesitate to do that. But if you don't, there's no reason not to put it to sleep
There are two things that "wear out" in your mini: the fan and SSD. I figure there's no point letting the fan blow dust into the components 24/7, and macos will continue to write to SSD even in idle. Putting it to sleep mitigates both
Again, it's not a big deal. So if you need to have the Mac on 24/7, don't hesitate to do that. But if you don't, there's no reason not to put it to sleep
Not the current model, but I left my 2012 Mini on (or sometimes in Sleep mode) 24/7 for over 9 years straight. Only got turned off when I was away for more than a day, or doing hardware maintenance/upgrades, or when there were electrical storms about for more than an hour or so (battery limit of the UPS).
That Mini is still working fine (last time I fired it up, now running an M2 Air as primary comp).
Definitely get a good surge filter (usually incorporated into a UPS).
That Mini is still working fine (last time I fired it up, now running an M2 Air as primary comp).
Definitely get a good surge filter (usually incorporated into a UPS).
Yep Well Worth it
We have ours plugged into a 300w 240v Battery UPS, Will run it for a couple of hours in case of power outage, (was only £50 from Amazon)
Especially useful as we run our house off grid when at home so it saves it getting spikes or rebooting everytime we switch from the Grid to our local power..
In my case, I have a whole home surge protector that was installed at the same time as my standby whole home generator. So my Mac desktops are on 24/7/365 without concern for power outages. As I said before, I've encountered no problems.
Looking at a tear down on YouTube it’s obvious the mini still has loads of free space inside and great ventilation so the chances of it overheating are minimal
Plus, it would be pretty hard to overheat the mini when it's in standby (sleeping) unless some process or app happened to be running in the background unintentionally/unexpectedly.
I run three mac minis 24/7/365 the only thing i do is set screen saver. They are never sleep. I have owned mac. minis since 2005. I now have a 2012 running 11 years in a row. I also have a 2018 and a 2021 M1
I may be getting a new unit during the aug 26- sept 4 no sales tax NJ deal. I will retire the 2012 if I do.
I may be getting a new unit during the aug 26- sept 4 no sales tax NJ deal. I will retire the 2012 if I do.
Hey, you might try to set your power settings so that the Mac wakes automatically when power is resumed - when you turn on the power strip.... saves you one button press!
Here wha I did is install a whole house surge protector, protect absolutely everything that is plugged in the home
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My experience as well. My 2010 Mac Mini Server has been on since I purchased it. The only time I shut it down was when I replaced internal hard disks with Samsung SSDs and maxed out the memory using OWC memory modules. Other than that, it's been running without a glitch all the time. The same is true with my 2023 Mac Mini M2 Pro and 2019 MacBook Pro in clamshell mode. They have been on all the time as well, plugged into an APC uninterruptible power supply (UPS). Also, none of my Macs have ever been allowed to sleep.