872: The Mighty Mac mini

Sparky swapped his Mac Studio for an M6 Mac mini, and he breaks down everything a Mac mini can do as an always-on home server: backups, automations, app hosting, Plex, Docker, and more!

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

• Squarespace (squarespace.com/mpu): Save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code MPU.

• Workbrew (workbrew.com/free?utm_source=relay&utm_med…): Deliver the software your team needs securely and at scale.

• 1Password (1password.com/promo/macpowerusers-podcast): Never forget a password again.

Links and Show Notes:
Sign up for the MPU email newsletter (sparky-media-inc.kit.com/8ff3d47e2e) and join the MPU forums. (talk.macpowerusers.com) You can watch the podcast over on YouTube. (youtube.com/@relaympu)

Credits

The Mac Power Users

Stephen Robles (beard.fm)

David Sparks (macsparky.com)

The Editor

Jim Metzendorf (twitter.com/jmetzendorf)

The Fixer

Kerry Provanzano (twitter.com/ciaokerryciao)

More Power Users: Ad-free episodes with regular bonus segments (relay.fm/mpu/join)
Submit Feedback (relay.fm/mpu/feedback)
Some iPhone Duo orders getting moved up to earlier dates (9to5mac.com/2026/10/19/some-iphone-duo-orders-…)
Crackling/distorted sound from MacBook Pro (discussions.apple.com/thread/256143303?sortBy=…)
Apple's October 28 'Pro and Tell' Launch: What's Coming (macrumors.com/2026/10/19/apple-october-28-prod…)
Stephen's iPhone Duo First Look (youtu.be/Y5MY-fFa-Ic)
iPhone Duo Day 2: IRL (youtu.be/h2gl5iZ6S4o)
Parachute Backup (parachuteapps.com/parachute)
Orion — HDMI Monitor for iPad (orion.tube)
Guermok Video Capture Card (amazon.com/dp/B08Z3XDYQ7)
A launchd Tutorial (launchd.info)
Transcriber (beardfm.app/#transcriber)
Instinct (instinct.com)
Plex Pass (plex.tv/plans)
MakeMKV (makemkv.com)
HandBrake (handbrake.fr)
LM Studio (lmstudio.ai/download)
Mac mini M6, 32GB, 1TB (apple.com/shop/buy-mac/mac-mini/m6-chip-12-cor…)
Apple and Meta team up to run Meta’s Muse Spark Open model on Macs (thenextweb.com/news/apple-meta-muse-spark-open…)
Docker Desktop (docker.com/products/docker-desktop)
HomeBox (github.com/sysadminsmedia/homebox)
Paperless-ngx (github.com/paperless-ngx/paperless-ngx)
Audiobookshelf (audiobookshelf.org/docs/documentation/introduc…)
github.com/dgtlmoon/changedetection.io
Mealie (github.com/mealie-recipes/mealie)
Uptime Kuma (github.com/louislam/uptime-kuma)
github.com/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF
Karakeep (github.com/karakeep-app/karakeep)
Calibre-Web (github.com/janeczku/calibre-web)
Aqara Camera Hub G5 Pro PoE (amazon.com/dp/B0DPX69RWZ)
Airversa QliQ AC1 HomeKit Button Controller (amazon.com/dp/B0FT2P18HL)
Raspberry Pi 5 (raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-5)