Preview: "Universal" PMS build for macOS (a.k.a. M1 support!)

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
1

Hello Plexians,

Since the introduction of the Apple M1 chip for macOS, users have asked for Plex Media Server to natively support “Apple Silicon”. The existing Mac server versions run just fine under Rosetta2, but native is always better, right? Well, here it is!!!

We present, the Plex Media Server “Universal” build for macOS. This new package includes Plex Media Server for both Intel and Apple Silicon architectures, so you don’t have to worry about what you are installing. If you would like to test this out, you can grab the installer from the link below.

Please note that this is a preview release. This needs to be installed manually for now and it will not auto-update to newer releases.

Important Note: You will need to manually re-install an official public or beta version of Plex Media Server to auto-update to the Universal build once is it officially available.

What changes should I expect?

You should notice improved transcoding speeds. PMS running under Rosetta2 was already pretty fast, so the change may not be significant. However, as the code is now native, it should be more stable and more efficient on the CPU.

Known Limitations:

  • auto-update does not work

We have done extensive testing on our own M1 devices. There are no other known issues related to this new build.

Where to get it:

Download: Universal macOS binary 1.27.2.5929

Link Updated - July 6, 2022

53 Likes
3

That’s great!

Is Sonic Analysis supported with the M1 build? I’m asking because on the support page it’s clearly stated that this feature isn’t supporting ARM-based CPUs.

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I’m told it should @Tion1

To be clear for anyone else reading this it is only the M1, not other Arm based CPU. When this is out of the forum only preview we will update the Sonic article.

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5

M1 support?! I’m so excited! I’m a lifetime member, but I’d totally pay extra again for this. This is great, my M1 Ultra is exciting to try it out.

2 Likes
7

Installed and running fine. I tested transcoding and it’s gone up from about 6x to 7x. I forgot to check the CPU utilisation before but it’s hovering around 40 while transcoding.

9

Does this support more than 1 HW transcode now on macOS or do we still have that limitation?

1 Like
10

Someone on Reddit got 14 x 1080p yesterday. Apparently only 1 x 4K. But that’s probably tone mapping.

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Dear Plex Team!

Thank you so much for the native M1 version.

:grinning::smiley:

Chris

1 Like
12

This is awesome, great news. Can’t wait to test it out and see how it preforms! Finally xMas came early.

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Yes. There are no limitations on Plex’s end. Your hardware may still have their own limitations.

14

If VideoToolbox and the underlying hardware are at capacity, what happens next?

Does VideoToolbox silently fall back to an internal software path?

Or is Plex notified, and Plex falls back to software itself?

15

This.

2 Likes
16

:+1: :smiley:

17

Hi! is there any native m1 Plex app? not medie server

thanks!

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Only Plex amp

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There is not a native Plex client app . It is something we would love to provide in the future.

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At last :slight_smile: Moved my Plex from QNAP to M1 Mac Mini. Seems to have gone smoothly and tests going well.

21

Where will you list subsequent test builds…?

22

Great news! Still no player app… that’s sad, the experience with the current one is so bad… consumme so much power. Even on a web browser it’s much more optimised.
We wait for the player app :slight_smile:

1 Like