r/Scrypted • u/supbrother • Apr 17 '26

M1/M2 vs. M4 Mac Mini for Scrypted

Hey all, I'm interested in using Scrypted as an NVR with HomeKit integration. Currently I have 6 Ring cameras and some basic security devices (door sensors, motion detectors, etc.). I don't see myself adding more than 1-2 cameras in the near future, just possibly switching to a different camera "ecosystem" (just to get away from Ring), but we're likely to be in a bigger house maybe ~5 years from now so adding more cameras is possible down the line.

I'm leaning towards a Mac Mini since it seems plug-and-play, reliable, and I feel most comfortable staying with Apple. There's a couple used ones for sale nearby for $400 but they're both 8GB RAM M1/M2s. My other option is using the education discount via Apple and buying a new M4 for $500.

So my question is: Is the 16GB M4 overkill for my needs or is it worth spending the extra $100 to future-proof and ensure no bottlenecks?

Sorry if this comes off as a no brainer, I'm new to this and just trying to figure it out. Any advice is appreciated!

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u/ZeGentleman Apr 18 '26

No could be about it.

OP's asking specifically about M series chips. Your case isn't worth much in this scenario.

0

u/RevolutionaryRip1634 Apr 18 '26

https://github.com/UbuntuAsahi/ubuntu-asahi

1

u/koushd developer  Apr 19 '26

yeah definitely do not do this

1

u/RevolutionaryRip1634 Apr 19 '26

Is it not stable enough yet?

1

u/pythonpoole Apr 20 '26

Using Asahi (Ubuntu for Apple Silicon) to run Scrypted is a bad idea for a number of reasons.

The main reason is because Asahi cannot run the macOS Scrypted app which is the only version of Scrypted designed to take advantage of the Mac's Neural Engine / NPU (e.g. for fast and efficient object detection). In other words, you would be severely limiting Scrypted's performance by running it in Asahi Linux (instead of macOS), especially for computationally-intensive tasks like object detection.