If it is cheap. My 2012 macMini does just fine, yours will be faster with more RAM.
Use the internal disk for system and get an external for the music. The machine is too old to really take advantage of SS disk.
Note that iff you get a USB DAC (i would suggest) then best to have a FDirewire/THinderbolt drive so DAC and disk are not on the same buss.
dave
Use the internal disk for system and get an external for the music. The machine is too old to really take advantage of SS disk.
Note that iff you get a USB DAC (i would suggest) then best to have a FDirewire/THinderbolt drive so DAC and disk are not on the same buss.
dave
I use a 2010 MBP for my music server. It runs iTunes with a bunch of files in lossless AAC format. I control it with the Remote app from Apple. It works for me... You could also consider installing Volumio on it.
The older MacBook Pros have optical out through the 3.5 mm headphone jack. I connect that to a DAC. I think it was around 2020 that Apple finally dropped the optical out, though the modern MBPs still have the 3.5 mm headphone jack.
Tom
The older MacBook Pros have optical out through the 3.5 mm headphone jack. I connect that to a DAC. I think it was around 2020 that Apple finally dropped the optical out, though the modern MBPs still have the 3.5 mm headphone jack.
Tom
Audio hardly requires any bandwidth so I wonder where this concern comes from. I retrofitted my 2010 with an SSD. Works great and is certainly faster than an external USB 2.0 drive (which is all the 2010/2011 MBP would support anyway).
Tom
A 2010 Macbook Pro can be upgraded with an SSD and will utilize it greatly if you grab the last available OS X release that supports that hardware (I believe it'd be whaterever was released in 2020, 2019 for sure). I ran a 2010 for a decade with a 2TB SSD. It ran Roon with 192kHz/24 bit and DSD256 files just fine. Only replaced it because I could.
Other players that worked fine were: Audirvana, JRiver Media Center, iTunes (whatever Tim Cook calls it these days) and Colibri
Here is a bunch of guides walking thru replacing HDs for the various models. Just click thru the options for your particular laptop model: https://www.ifixit.com/Device/MacBook_Pro
Easy way to go is to get a DAC that supports a USB interface. I'm not sure how the optical out works as I never experimented with it. I use a Benchmark DAC3. Pricey but lots of native support and a well regarded unit in the audio press.
Should be fairly plug and play. If it is solely dedicated to the music player, should run fine with no hiccups.
As stated, even the hi-res stuff isn't demanding like the gaming graphics are.
Other players that worked fine were: Audirvana, JRiver Media Center, iTunes (whatever Tim Cook calls it these days) and Colibri
Here is a bunch of guides walking thru replacing HDs for the various models. Just click thru the options for your particular laptop model: https://www.ifixit.com/Device/MacBook_Pro
Easy way to go is to get a DAC that supports a USB interface. I'm not sure how the optical out works as I never experimented with it. I use a Benchmark DAC3. Pricey but lots of native support and a well regarded unit in the audio press.
Should be fairly plug and play. If it is solely dedicated to the music player, should run fine with no hiccups.
As stated, even the hi-res stuff isn't demanding like the gaming graphics are.
My 2010 MBP runs High Sierra. It makes me a little nervous from a network security standpoint, but it's not like I use it for a USB plugfest or surf the web on it. It's behind a firewall with a packet filter (pfSense running on an old Mac mini). My file server is a 2010 Mac Pro "cheese grater" with 48 GB RAM and 12 TB of spinning enterprise grade discs running TrueNAS. You may notice a theme here. 
All of the machines except the 2010 MBP were bought for dimes on the dollar at my local eWaste recycler.
Tom
All of the machines except the 2010 MBP were bought for dimes on the dollar at my local eWaste recycler.
Tom
However, the MacBook has a Thunderbolt port to which I can connect a dock, which I own, which has various USB3 and eSata ports, very useful for connecting very fast disks so the problem is only the cost of the repair which is around €170. I will have to decide whether or not to spend this money. Advice for a DAC that isn't too expensive?
What's your budget?
Schiit has received some good reviews and has sub-$500US models.
https://www.schiit.com/
Schiit has received some good reviews and has sub-$500US models.
https://www.schiit.com/
Well, I managed to make the Mac work by intervening on the nvram excluding the discrete gpu which prevented the normal functioning of the computer. I inserted an SSD instead of the CD drive for the operating system and I would like to insert a mechanical HD in the second SATA slot. Do you think a mechanical HD would be fine for music files or would another SSD be better? Could you suggest me a free player to play hi-res lossless files instead of iTunes? The Mac runs with high sierra and iTunes does not read Flac files or similar. Thank you