Hi, I was wondering if and when will there be a version of plex media server that runs on apple’s new chipsets?
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Also, if plex would support hardware transcoding on the m1 chip
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I’m also interested in answers to these questions.
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Me too! About to pull the trigger on an M1 Mac mini.
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Following this thread for sure. My 2012 Mac Mini is starting to struggle on transcoding.
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If I’m not mistaken, Apple’s “Rosetta 2” translation process will convert Plex (and any other Intel-targeted apps) into a binary for Apple Silicon. I’m not sure how much performance will be affected, especially hardware transcoding, but I’m almost positive it will “work”. I’ll be getting a Mac mini with the M1 hopefully before end of November and will definitely be testing Plex out on it.
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What I’m concerned is if hardware transcoding will be supported by Rosetta.
Plex and ARM are iffy.
Plex needs to clarify what they are going to do with M1 and will it be on par with intel hardware transcoding.
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My guess is they (Plex) have or are getting the Apple transition hardware kit and are working on it. Also it can’t be a huge priority as I don’t think there are that many Plex servers on MacOS when compared to NAS, Windows and Linux. Apple has been clear this will be a two year process so they have plenty of time.
It will be interesting to see how well Rosetta 2 works with Plex on the M1 chip, can’t wait to hear the feedback from other Plexers.
Personally I’m waiting for the M2, it always seems Apple over achieves on version 2 of any of their products.
I’m using an older Mac Mini for a Plex server now. Was planning on upgrading to the new Mini but was concerned about compatibility after hearing about the new processor. Will have to figure out something else if Plex server isn’t available.
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I ordered a MacBook Pro with M1. It will be here Monday. Plex is among the first things I will test. Should be a pretty good indication of what to expect on a MacMini.
EDIT: Looks my MacBook Pro won’t be here until Wednesday now… 
EDIT: Things are looking up… the M1 eagle will land tomorrow 
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let us know how it serves and encodes with Rosetta - thanks
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It’s out for delivery so it will be among the first things I try when it gets here.
EDIT: M1 in the house. Let the testing commence.
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My Mac mini is on it’s way.
Make us dream. And don’t go to sleep until it’s fully tested
Could you do a passmark test? I didn’t see any for now.
Thanks, I’m looking forward to read your test
Not sure PassMark is feasible as PerformanceTest is Windows only.
EDIT: PMS is setup on MacBook. Just added my 4K BD library. Let’s see what happens.
EDIT: Single 4K stream transcoded works flawlessly. Two… not so much. There is no hardware acceleration so this is just the processor powering through via Rosetta. Pretty impressive really.
With two 4k transcodes I am not sure if the wireless is causing the issue or the processor.
PMS dashboard with two 4K transcodes running
Also, keep in mind that PMS is still performing the new library scan too. This thing could be an absolute beast with true ARM support. It is crazy fast in everything I have done thus far.
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pics or it didn’t happen! 
Alright, let’s see how it does with standard 1080p BDs…
EDIT: Two 1080p to 1080p transcodes is flawless.
EDIT: Four 1080p to 1080p transcodes working great.
EDIT: Hit six and that looks to be about the limit. Again, I don’t know if the WiFi is the limiting factor here. Need a MacMini to test further.
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Nice !
Can’t wait to get mine
Thanks for doing this - I have this forum, The Verge review and the Buy Screen for the Mac mini from Apple open on my computer (available for pickup tomorrow). And I keep hitting refresh !
This is looking very cool! May I ask how your MacBook Pro is configured. Memory and SSD?
I picked up the 8GB with 256GB SSD. I didn’t want to commit too heavily to something that was a complete unknown.
Great! That’s what I was going to do too (on the Mac mini, though). On the Air, the cheapest one (256GB) only has a 7 Core GPU for some reason.
