Not sure why this was downvoted as it's a valid issue. For the last 16 years I've used some kind of Mac hooked up to a stereo receiver as a media server and had

Not sure why this was downvoted as it's a valid issue. For the last 16 years I've used some kind of Mac hooked up to a stereo receiver as a media server and had a similar concern. 2002 - 2006 G4 tower 2006 - 2016 2006 Mac Mini 2016 - now 2012 Mac Mini For music, the Mac Mini is used headless via screensharing. But it's set to never sleep because it sometimes doesn't wake up properly. I'm always curious if an Apple TV would basically pay for itself over a few years with reduced power consumption vs having Mini with an 12TB external dual-drive running 24/7 (the drives do spin down on their own though). edit: formatting edit2: I did some rough math. Apple TV at idle (2w) vs 2012 Mac Mini at idle (11w) = 9w difference. At roughly $0.20/kWh the 32GB Apple TV 4k ($179) would pay for itself in just over 11 years. Probably sooner because: 1. Electricity prices are likely to increase in the next decade. 2. Assuming the power usage difference is higher when actually playing/streaming music (given how bloated iTunes has become). 3. Even more power saved when streaming Netflix / Amazon Prime on Apple TV vs in Chrome on the Mac Mini (and up to 4k vs 720p on Chrome).