“Could Apple be working on the ‘iServe’ media server I’m always wanted? Perhaps,” Dennis Sellers reports for Apple Daily Report. “The company has been granted a patent (number 8,769,054) by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office for pairing a media server and a media client.”
“Imagine a range of iServe appliances, all based on the Mac mini form factor, that provide media services throughout your home, that are always on, and worked with Siri, Apple’s voice-activated, personal assistant,” Sellers reports. “The media sever would store all your photos, movies, TV shows, music, and more and make them available to all your Macs, iOS devices, and the Apple TV.”
Read more in the full article here.
iDream
Yeah, this “media server” is called iCloud. Nothing to see here.
shcmluss – I disagree. Having a dedicated server at home is a big difference than storing your data in the cloud. Call me crazy but I want to control my own data not a 3rd party. Plus my own home media server would be a much smaller target to data thieves, NSA, etc.
Why cant any of your macs be used for this purpose?
I am sure they can. However, my Mac mini is the lowest cost Mac I own and it is headless using my huge HDTV as a display. It is quiet, low power, … However, if it had an A7 or A8 chip in it, could run all the iPad apps and Mac apps, I would replace it in a heart beat. When I can read a file type in my iPad or iPhone to AirPlay to my AppleTV, I reach out with my Mac mini. It will be a great home server some day! And a great game center, video conferencing /phone, security, … product.
Because Apple’s current line of Macs is ill-suited to server duty! First and foremost, Apple’s consumer-oriented products have too many features that a server does not need, which makes them too expensive compared to a Linux box. Moreover, current Apple machines do not allow for internal expansion — external drives increase the price and complexity. Then you have the issue of heat management. Aside from the older and newer Mac Pro models, there is no recent Mac that stays cool under constant use.
There is no doubt that Apple could manufacture a superior NAS or home server that the non-IT professional would love. Unfortunately, Apple mistakenly thinks that consumers are all going to be satisfied with the limitations of iCloud server rental — all of which is throttled by your local ISP. Apple (and Google, et al) could not be more wrong. Professionals and Prosumers aren’t going to parcel out their critical data to somebody else — the 1984 ad is no prettier when Apple is Big Brother.
Airport Extreme with a storage (Apple already does that) with some software can be used to provide cache function for one’s iCloud. It is totally crazy (I mean CRAZY) to try and turn back the clock.
Airport Extremem is already the ideal platform to become the HomeKit central hub so adding some storage, clever software to do advance cache function is an easy choice and one more item added to the ecosystem.
I already have 2 x Airport Extreme that needs to be upgraded with the latest version so I cannot wait for a homekit/buffer device.
Go Apple
You may Tim but there is little sign that Apple agrees with you, it seems highly unlikely just as Apple is massively rolling out and pushing is iCloud services that will go back to yesterday by providing a dedicated media server that people have been longing for for as long as I remember. The only hope is that it will make using its devices as one more convenient for those who truly want it.
I don’t know why some people on this forum are so quick to dismiss ideas. Even in the seemingly ridiculous there can be a nugget of some value.
In my opinion, this is somewhat analagous to the difference between a WAN and a LAN. The two networks complement each other. As proposed, the iServer is basically a distributed processing/storage approach that complements iCloud. iCloud also extends your connectivity with your data beyond your home (LAN) to the rest of the world (megaWAN).
It is not clear to me that Apple is in a position to capitalize on this approach. Even the Mac mini is far too expensive for most people to consider purchasing multiple units around the home. Drop the price by a factor of ten to twenty – say a $35 Raspberry Pi, and you are getting in the right ballpark. If Apple evolves the AppleTV to fill this role within iServe, then it might work.
Kinda like my iMac running iTunes & iPhoto does now, except for the Siri control interface?
Except for the potential further simplification for users, I’m not sure what the value added is for a separately marketed media server would be. Perhaps some linkage through iCloud to make it available outside the home?
Keep dreaming dude.
If Apple releases a dedicated media server, my wallet is opening up.
Just plug a flash drive into your airport extreme, enable WAN access and viola! you’ve got your own cloud storage.
That’s particularly useful for things that aren’t in iTunes, like MP4’s of DVD’s that I’ve copied. An Apple media server would make it so you don’t have to keep your computer running just to watch your digitized DVDs.
Given Apple’s dismal record with what they did to OSX Server, I won’t be playing along. I’ve got a really good device that does all this for me now. But I can see the path here… move all your media to the server, access it from any of your Apple devices….. and then… kill the iServer, forcing you to move all that data to iCloud, which you’ll need to pay a big monthly fee to continue to access. So you go from paying nothing to access your media, to paying a monthly fee to access it. Don’t Subscribe To Software
‘…I’m always wanted?’
Have this already. Mac Mini connected to a TV and monitor. Multiple drives that hold iTunes library and backups which is soon to be replaced by a Drobo. Always on and running iTunes. Any device can access it for movies, music etc. Works well with Macs, iPads and AppleTVs.
Have a remote app on my iPhone that can control the Mac to play and FF videos etc.
No Siri control but then wireless remotes are better in my opinion.
Corporations will, if they can, tie you up with a monthly subscription. This provides them with a consistent income which offsets their consistent expenses. Some consumers prefer this approach – balancing their monthly outgoings with their monthly income. But subscriptions generally cost more than one-off purchases and if you lose your job you can find yourself with a lot of outgoings which are difficult to terminate.
I have a lot of media – too much music for Apple’s iTunes Match, too many photos for the free iCloud limit, terabytes of video (I make docos) and masses of data files (business related). Cloud storage is just way too expensive and I don’t generally need access to this stuff away from home, or if I do, I am overseas and don’t have cost effective access to the internet.
An iServer based on a Mac mini with thunderbolt modular drives would suit me well – I could set up a NAS for my Macs, but currently iOS (including my Apple TV) wouldn’t see it. But I would still need some way of backing it up without incurring a large monthly fee. At this point that means a high capacity tape drive – expensive to buy, but cheap and simple to operate, and tapes can be stored offsite for nothing or next to nothing if you have no friends or family.
Right now I have stuff everywhere and lots of duplicates. I have two 8tb thunderbolt drives on order – these could easily be moved to an iServer.
One issue remains: asymmetric internet performance, which means remote access to an iServer would be slow and remote uploads for video shot on location would take an age.
Wow! Catching up to Windows! You guys are a hoot!
I already have this. . .it’s called my Time Capsule and AppleTV.
Nice for the amateurs at which Apple currently puts all its focus. Unfortunately, for those who need superior performance, the 3TB of non-RAID disc space is a problem. If you do add an external USB drive for more space, then you have to deal with the additional latency of the USB. Apple’s solution might be fine for absolute beginners with hardly any media, but it’s a far cry from a serious NAS. Apple can and needs to do better.
Time Capsule with Thunderbolt port.
Never done it.. but i’m sure you can tear down the time capsule and swap the HD.. done it with the desktop/portable HD’s out there, I can only assume a time capsule is a little harder to get into.. but doable.
The 5Big NAS offers what Apple inexplicably refuses to do:
https://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?id=10604
I currently use a Synology NAS and a Drobo FS before that. There is a market for home servers and if Apple can produce a reliable one that plays well in it’s walled garden then shut up and take my money!
It seems that some people live in an alternative universe where Apple does everything! Why on earth should Apple become another low margin conglomerate that tries to do a thousand things and does them all badly. There are asian manufacturers aplenty for that.