A superb replacement that also happens to be free of charge is Kodi (formerly known as XBMC). Unfortunately, Apple discontinued the excellentįront Row software a few years ago and it’s no longer possible to hack old copies to work on OS X. If you intend to use only a remote control to access your Mac Mini, you’ll need to leave a USB keyboard and mouse attached but hidden out of the way.įor the complete home entertainment hub experience you might want to install some media centre software to playback movies and music you download outside of iTunes. However, a word of warning with regard to any kind of remote control: if the Mac Mini boots without a keyboard and mouse attached, or paired via Bluetooth, it will forever attempt to detect one. Rowmote Pro (£4.99 and £3.99 respectively) turn your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch into a wireless trackpad and keyboard for a Mac, and are also worth considering. Despite what the app says upon starting, you’ll need to tap the Home Sharing link within the Remote app and also set up Home Sharing on iTunes in the Mac Mini (File > Home Sharing) for the Remote app to work. IOS Remote app to control your Mac Mini’s playback via your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. Third-party accessories like the Henge Dock Clique let you fix the Apple keyboard to the Magic Trackpad, allowing easy storage of bothĪll Mac Minis come with infrared receivers, and you can use anyĪpple Remote to control both video and audio playback in apps like iTunes. Despite its name, the Audio MIDI Setup app in the Utilities folder within the Applications list of Finder offers sound in-depth configuration options that it can be useful playing with. If this doesn’t fix things, open System Preferences, click the Sound icon, select the Output tab, and ensure the receiver is selected in the list beneath. You may have to deactivate auto-detect on the receiver and manually configure its output options. Various solutions are listed across the web – just Google – but start by ensuring the receiver is configured for 5.1 output. Typically, you might find 5.1 channel sound isn’t working. The optical output also supports 5.1 channel sound for connection directly to your receiver, allowing you to connect the HDMI output directly to the TV.Īlas, problems with sound output from a Mac Mini via HDMI are common. The Mac Mini also features a headphone output that in addition offers both analogue audio output for a stereo or headphones (via a 3.5mm jack to RCA adapter) and SPDIF optical digital output, although you’ll need a TOSLINK to TOSLINK mini adapter. How overscan is disabled differs from model to model of TV, and you should consult the manual (or consult Google), but selecting a “PC” or “Gaming” profile for the HDMI input might do the trick. However, ensure the TV doesn’t have overscan activated, which will zoom into the desktop slightly – also causing blurriness – and crop-off the edges of the image, possibly hiding the menu bar. Lowering the resolution on the Mac Mini might make on-screen elements larger, but could blur the image slightly Pro tip: here in the UK, TVs described as HD or HD Ready tend to be 720p (1280×720), while those described as Full HD are usually 1080p (1920×1080). Check the TV’s manual to find out its maximum resolution. Then select the Scaled radio button alongside the Resolution heading, and select from the list below. The Mini will probe and set its resolution automatically but if there’s an error in resolution settings – usually indicated by a blurry image – you can set it manually by opening System Preferences and clicking the Display icon. Mac mini or MacBook Air: low cost Macs comparedĪttach your Mac mini to your TV via HDMI and you’ll essentially turn the TV into a large monitor, complete with sound output.
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