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Apple Silicon M1 Mac Mini as an Emby Server?


1011011011

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1011011011

Do you think its a good idea to get a new Apple Silicon M1 Mac Mini ans use it as a headless Emby Server? How is running an Emby Server on MacOS in the first place? Do you think that the M1 chip's GPU will be good enough to transcode 4K video?

This idea is attractive to me since the M1 seems to be very power efficient and also has a very good CPU/GPU.

Any thoughts?

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1011011011
2 minutes ago, Luke said:

Hi, I haven't tried it yet but I'm sure it would run just fine as an emby server.

Thanks Luke. Is the MacOS server software stable and does it have all the same features as the Linux server software?

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  • 2 weeks later...
analogking

I purchased a 8GB/256GB M1 Mac Mini to test Emby on.  My initial impression is that it is fast, but not as fast as the dual Xeon I'm replacing.

Right now, I'm testing an 80GB MKV.  Transcoding works with a single device.  Transcoding 3 devices with subtitles is giving me occasional pauses.

January 8th is Apple's extended return date.  I plan on testing this for another week or two, then I'll most likely return it and wait for the M1X.

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adrianwi
3 minutes ago, analogking said:

My initial impression is that it is fast, but not as fast as the dual Xeon I'm replacing.

You weren't expecting much then!  How much did the 2 Xeon processors cost v the M1 Mini?

 

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analogking
10 minutes ago, adrianwi said:

You weren't expecting much then!  How much did the 2 Xeon processors cost v the M1 Mini?

 

I spent $700 on the Mac Mini.  The Xeon's originally retailed for $700 each in 2014.

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analogking
2 minutes ago, adrianwi said:

The M1 will save you a fortune in electricity too 😉

That's the big goal here.  It's quiet and doesn't take much electricity.

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1011011011
19 hours ago, analogking said:

I purchased a 8GB/256GB M1 Mac Mini to test Emby on.  My initial impression is that it is fast, but not as fast as the dual Xeon I'm replacing.

Right now, I'm testing an 80GB MKV.  Transcoding works with a single device.  Transcoding 3 devices with subtitles is giving me occasional pauses.

January 8th is Apple's extended return date.  I plan on testing this for another week or two, then I'll most likely return it and wait for the M1X.

What installation method did you use?

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analogking
9 minutes ago, 1011011011 said:

What installation method did you use?

I used the Mac installer.  I wanted to move my docker instance over, but docker isn’t working for me yet.

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1011011011
10 minutes ago, analogking said:

I used the Mac installer.  I wanted to move my docker instance over, but docker isn’t working for me yet.

So you think it can do 2 4k transcodes without pausing?

Is the Mac installer as good as the Linux version?

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analogking
46 minutes ago, 1011011011 said:

So you think it can do 2 4k transcodes without pausing?

Is the Mac installer as good as the Linux version?

No, I don't think it can handle 2 4k transcodes.  When I pull up two streams on two mobile devices, there is buffering.

Mac installer was easy to use.  I'm not sure of any differences from Linux.

Edited by analogking
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  • 2 weeks later...
cybergrimes

Are there any plans for a native M1/ARM version of Emby server for Mac? Could we expect better performance than running it through Rosetta?

Edited by cybergrimes
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Are there any plans for a native M1/ARM version of Emby server for Mac? 

Hi, yes we'll certainly look at supporting it. I don't have a definitive answer to the performance question yet.

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  • 2 weeks later...
abescalamis

I will also buy the Mac mini when the mx1 comes out, and was planing on using it as a headless server too.

I have a synology 916+ Emby server runs very well on it, my movies are no 4K, they are 1080px265.mp4 around 1.5 gb size movies, and the most I only use 2 - 3 clients so I don’t think I will move the emby server to the Mac, I would if the my Nas was newer with ssd cache support

Edited by abescalamis
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