Skip to Content

Beta Version of Plex Media Server With Native Apple Silicon Support Now Available

Popular media platform Plex today announced the launch of a beta version of the Plex Media Server that has native Apple silicon support.

Apple Silicon Teal Feature
The new version of the Plex Media Server uses the "Universal" build for Macs, which means it is compatible with Apple silicon and Intel Macs. At the current time, the release version of the Plex Media Server runs using Rosetta 2.

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.

The preview version of the Plex Media Server must be installed manually and will not auto update to newer releases, which is something to keep in mind. It can be downloaded from the Plex website.

On Apple silicon Macs, Plex users can expect improved transcoding speeds, though there may not be a significant difference. The code will be more stable and efficient on the CPU, according to Plex developers.

(Thanks, Will!)

Tag: Plex

Popular Stories

MacBook Neo Feature Pastel 1

First MacBook Neo Benchmarks Are In: Here's How It Compares to the M1 MacBook Air

Thursday March 5, 2026 4:07 pm PST by
Benchmarks for the new MacBook Neo surfaced today, and unsurprisingly, CPU performance is almost identical to the iPhone 16 Pro. The MacBook Neo uses the same 6-core A18 Pro chip that was first introduced in the iPhone 16 Pro, but it has one fewer GPU core. The MacBook Neo earned a single-core score of 3461 and a multi-core score of 8668, along with a Metal score of 31286. Here's how the...
imac video apple feature

Apple Unveils Seven New Products

Friday March 6, 2026 11:48 am PST by
Apple this week unveiled seven products, including an iPhone 17e, an iPad Air with the M4 chip, updated MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models, a new Studio Display, a higher-end Studio Display XDR, and an all-new MacBook Neo that starts at just $599. iPhone 17e features the same overall design as the iPhone 16e, but it gains Apple's A19 chip, MagSafe for magnetic wireless charging and magnetic...
Apple MacBook Pro M4 hero

Apple Planning 'MacBook Ultra' With Touchscreen and Higher Price

Sunday March 8, 2026 8:05 am PDT by
Apple is planning to launch an all-new "MacBook Ultra" model this year, featuring an OLED display, touchscreen, and a higher price point, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Gurman revealed the information in his latest "Power On" newsletter. While Apple has been widely expected to launch new M6-series MacBook Pro models with OLED displays, touchscreen functionality, and a new, thinner design...

Top Rated Comments

49 months ago

Was going to pick up an Intel NUC to run as a Plex Server. Would an M1 Mac Mini be overkill?
It would be just the right amount of kill.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
49 months ago

Unfortunately h265 does not give higher quality just lower file size.
Yes but if you are in a bandwidth limited environment (like crappy hotel Wi-Fi) you get twice the quality for same bitrate
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Alfred.Woodden Avatar
49 months ago

Was going to pick up an Intel NUC to run as a Plex Server. Would an M1 Mac Mini be overkill?

It would be just the right amount of kill.
Exactly what I have a M1 mac mini for :) movie server but with Infuse on ATV, instead of Plex. The mac mini also functions as a network time machine backup for all our other macs and itself gets backed up to Backblaze.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
49 months ago
Great news! My 2014 Mc Mini is getting sad and I've been eyeing an M1. Native is great, but does it use HW acceleration via videotoolbox for encode? I would particularly love to be able to transcode to h.265 instead of h.264 as well, it would give so much better quality.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Westside guy Avatar
49 months ago

Was going to pick up an Intel NUC to run as a Plex Server. Would an M1 Mac Mini be overkill?
Seems like significant overkill to me. I've always just used older, leftover Macs as my media servers. Right now that means a 2014 Mac Mini running Jellyfin, which I prefer to Plex - simply because of the absurdity of Plex requiring a remote account login to view my local files.

Prior to the 2014 Mac Mini, I was using a 2006 MacBook Pro.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
49 months ago
Who runs Plex on an expensive Mac?? I have been running Plex on the same PC I built for very cheap since 2013. It is still running like a champ.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)