M1 MacBooks with a cracked screen or a failed display cable sell for around $200 on eBay. A server has no use for the screen, and when the display is the only damage, the rest still works: the 8-core M1, two Thunderbolt ports, Wi-Fi 6, and the battery.
Udon is home server software for Apple Silicon Macs running macOS 26 or later. It runs alongside macOS as a background service and adds a browser dashboard for containers, file sharing, Homebrew packages, remote desktop, and an AI assistant.
The main difference between a mini PC and Udon
A $200 mini PC with Intel's N100 or N150 is the usual budget server: four efficiency cores, 16 GB of memory, an NVMe slot, and Ethernet, ready for Linux or Proxmox. An M1 scores about twice as high as an N100 in Geekbench 6, and the MacBook Air has no fan, so it runs silent. The laptop also has its own battery, so the server and any bus-powered drives keep running through a power cut, and Udon's Power tile shows the charge and time left.
Most of these MacBooks have 8 GB of memory and a 256 GB SSD, both soldered, which covers file sharing and a handful of containers. There is no Ethernet port, and one of the two ports charges the Mac, so a USB-C hub with Ethernet and power passthrough is usually the first purchase. Without a monitor attached, a closed lid puts a MacBook to sleep even with Udon's Keep Mac awake on, so the lid stays open.
Before you buy, make sure the seller has signed out of Find My. Activation Lock ties a Mac to its owner's Apple Account, and a locked Mac can't be set up. Pass on liquid damage or a swollen battery. For the first setup, connect a monitor, keyboard, and mouse through the hub and close the lid with the charger plugged in, so macOS uses the monitor alone. Install Udon then; after that, its dashboard and remote desktop reach the Mac from any browser.
A mini PC vs Udon side by side
| A mini PC | Udon | |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Intel N100 or N150, four efficiency cores | Apple M1, four performance and four efficiency cores |
| Memory | 16 GB on most | 8 GB on most, soldered |
| Storage | An M.2 NVMe slot | 256 GB on most, plus Thunderbolt or USB drives |
| Network | Gigabit or 2.5 GbE Ethernet | Wi-Fi 6; Ethernet through a USB-C hub |
| Power cut | Goes down without a UPS | Keeps running on its battery |
| Price | About $200 new | About $200 used, plus $29 for Udon |
Pick a mini PC when
- You want Ethernet, 16 GB of memory, and an NVMe slot without adapters.
- You plan to run Linux, Proxmox, or Unraid on the machine itself.
- You would rather buy new, with a warranty.
Pick Udon when
- You found an M1 or newer MacBook with a broken screen, or already own one.
- You want the faster chip for the same $200, and silence from a MacBook Air.
- A battery that keeps the server up through power cuts beats buying a UPS.
- You want macOS, Homebrew, and remote desktop next to your containers.
Try Udon on your Mac
Try Udon free for 5 days on your own Mac, then pay $29 to keep it:
curl -fsSL https://udon.sh/install | bash