Apr 29, 2019 I'm running my Plex server on a 2011 stock Mac Mini with 4GB RAM and a 2.3 Ghz i5, and it is doing its job perfectly, and serving multiple 1080p streams without skipping a beat. Any modern Mac Mini will serve you, unless of course you'll be doing transcoding. Why not repurpose that Mac to be a Plex media server? OS X Minimum Requirements. The biggest software requirement for an older Mac to become a Plex media server is that it has to run Mac OS 10.8 or later, otherwise known as Mountain Lion. If Older Than Mountain Lion, Try Linux. Jan 02, 2020 Once you've picked which hardware you're going to use, download the Plex Media Server application.If you haven't created an account yet, now's a good time to do so. You'll see a drop-down menu. The Plex Media Server takes your media and creates libraries with your collections. From watching movies in virtual reality to organizing your photos for an album, Plex Media Server is both the beauty and brains creating the magic. Need more information? Visit the Plex Media Server support overview page.

For long time Mac users, iTunes became the default media server for all your movies, television shows, music, home videos, and the like. It worked decently enough, but the user really had to take the time to manage file information, metadata, album or movie artwork, and much more.

Plex On Mac

Plex

A much better solution has gained widespread adoption over the last few years, and that is Plex. Plex does what iTunes does, serving up your content over your network, but it does so much more, and it does it so much better.

Old Mac

Do you have an older Mac sitting around with nothing to do? You have to really watch those old Macs, they get lazy if you don’t tell them what to do! Why not repurpose that Mac to be a Plex media server?

OS X Minimum Requirements

The biggest software requirement for an older Mac to become a Plex media server is that it has to run Mac OS 10.8 or later, otherwise known as Mountain Lion.

If Older Than Mountain Lion, Try Linux

If you have an older Mac that does not run Mac OS 10.8, you could install Linux on the machine and run a Plex media server that way. Ubuntu 10.04 can be run on many older Macs, and will make a fine server. And you know you always wanted to play around with Linux a little, right? Here is your chance!

Meta Heaven

A Plex media server does something really cool that we only wish Apple’s iTunes did: it takes care of all the meta data for you. It will scour the internet to provide movie descriptions, album artwork, keep television series tagged correctly for season and episodes, provide album data for your music, and much more.

Interested in Buying an Old Mac for Cheap?

Storage

Running a large media library via a Plex server is no problem. Simply connect a large external hard drive, or even a RAID, to your Mac, configure Plex to look on that drive, and your all set. Even cooler? Any time you add something new, Plex will update your library automatically at a set interval. (I have mine set to once an hour).

Plex Media Server For Mac

While we all love Apple and Apple products, we also live in a world with numerous other technologies. Smart TVs, Android, Windows, Playstation 3 and 4, the Xbox, Amazon Fire TV, and ROKU (just to name a few). And everything listed above is compatible with running the Plex client software, which is what you will use to enjoy all your content!

Apple TV

The new Apple TV (forth generation) has a Plex client you can download, so if you are an only-Apple technology household, you can still take advantage of the better Plex media server. (One caveat: iTunes purchased content cannot be played via Plex).

Free!

You can download Plex for free. Requirements for a Plex media server can be found here.

Mac Pro

Mac Pro 1,1 and 2,1
Mac Pro 3,1
Mac Pro 4,1 and 5,1 4-Core
Mac Pro 4,1 and 5,1 8-Core
Mac Pro 5,1 6-Core
Mac Pro 5,1 12-Core
Mac Pro 6,1

iMac

iMac 4,1, 4,2 and 5,2
iMac 5,1 and 6,1
iMac 7,1
iMac 8,1
iMac 9,1
iMac 10,1 and 11,1
iMac 11,2 and 11,3 (i3)
iMac 11,3 (i5/i7) to 12,2
iMac 13,2 14,2 15,1
iMac 17,1

MacBook Pro

MacBook Pro 1,1 and 1,2
MacBook Pro 2,1 and 2,2
MacBook Pro 3,1 and 4,1
MacBook Pro 5,1 to 6,2
MacBook Pro 7,1
MacBook Pro 8,1 to 8,3
MacBook Pro 9,1 and 9,2

MacBook

MacBook 1,1
MacBook 2,1
MacBook 3,1 to 4,2
MacBook 5,1
MacBook 5,2 (667-Mhz)
MacBook 5,2 (800-Mhz)
MacBook 6,1
MacBook 7,1

Mac Mini

PowerMac 10,1 and 10,2
Mac Mini 1,1
Mac Mini 2,1
Mac Mini 3,1
Mac Mini 4,1
Mac Mini 5,1 to 5,3
Mac Mini 6,1 and 6,2

On the web there are plenty of services for organizing your media, but every now and then one pops up that really goes the extra mile to provide a better experience.

This is the case with Plex, which allows you to create your own ‘server’ using your Mac or iOS device to stream your media to other devices connected via apps.

Here’s a better look at Plex and how it all works together.

Setting Up Your Content Server

Step 1: The first thing you have to do is head to the Plex website on your Mac or other computer that you will use as a server and download the Plex server client there and on any other computer that you’ll like to serve media from. Use this opportunity to create an account there as well.

Step 2: Before starting to stream your media, make sure to have it ready in separate folders for optimal performance. Plex has an entire section on its website dedicated to how you should prepare and organize your media for optimal recognition performance, but other than for organization purposes, I saw no other reason for it.

Of course, if you deal with more complex media (like separate files for movies and subtitles for example), following Plex’s instructions is definitely advised.

Step 3: Once the server client has been installed on your Mac and you have your media ready, access the server from your Mac’s menu bar and click on Media Manager to open the web interface.

Plex Server Mac Mini

There you will be prompted to add your media folders to create Libraries. These are completely ‘editable’ and you can even refresh it to keep it up to date with what is on the folders they feed from.

Important Note: Remember that if the computer you serve your media from is underpowered, playback of media such as videos might not be smooth.

Plex Apps

A big part of the appeal of Plex is to be able to interact with your content from other devices. For this, Plex uses apps that you can install on your iPhone ($1.99) or other smartphone, on your tablets and even on your smart TV.

The moment you start an app your device (an iPhone in this case), it will immediately show all the libraries available on your network (the ones you set up before) and their contents.

From there, you can instantly start playing your content on your device, which Plex transcodes on the fly for smooth playback.

I tried a couple of shows and movies and playback on my iPhone was flawless.

The local iPhone app also provides a healthy amount of options, allowing you to tweak a variety of settings, ranging from the quality of your streams to the size of the subtitles when available, among many others.

Additionally, you can also use your mobile device as a server, and with the Plex apps that you can install on smart TVs, you can actually stream content from your iPhone to your TV, which opens up a lot of possibilities.

All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by how well Plex fared in my case. I don’t like the fact that everything on your computer/server has to be done through a browser instead of through a native app, but that’s a minor grip when compared to how well the rest of the package performs.

The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.Also See#ipad #iphone

Did You Know

The iPhone 5s is one of the most popular Apple phones, with more than 70 million units sold since 2013.

More in iOS

3 Best Ways to Transfer Contacts From iPhone to Android Without a PC