Second Life on Apple's New M1 chips

[Kimo Dezno]

Does anyone know where Linden Labs is with Apple's New M1 chipset?  Are they developing a native version for the M1 chipset?  How is it performing with the M1 Macs?  Is there any support yet? 

[Madelaine McMasters]

There's been no mention of an M1 native viewer, but people are running SL viewers on Apple's M1 machines...

 

[CaerolleClaudel]

I just loaded it on my new MacBook Air, which is the lowest model, and it seems to run fine on a mid-range graphics setting. I did find issues with it, though. For one, I am using Firestorm (the official viewer may behave differently, but is so poorly featured I won't use it), and the only way I could open it was to go to Privacy and Security and allow it there. Also, when I maximize the FS window, it covers everything else, including it's own system-level toolbar (or perhaps doesn't even have one?), so I cannot minimize it and I cannot access the Dock. I am new to MacOS, there is probably a way to switch among open windows using a keyboard shortcut, but I don't know it yet and had to use Com-Q and quit FS to do anything else.

[Arduenn Schwartzman]

10 minutes ago, CaerolleClaudel said:

 the only way I could open it was to go to Privacy and Security and allow it there. [...] when I maximize the FS window, it covers everything else, including it's own system-level toolbar [...]  I cannot minimize it and I cannot access the Dock [...] switch among open windows using a keyboard shortcut

All this has everything to do with Mac OS and nothing with the M1 processor.

In Preferences you can change from full-screen mode to in-window. You can also cycle apps and the Finder by pressing Command-Tab.

[CaerolleClaudel]

7 minutes ago, Arduenn Schwartzman said:

All this has everything to do with Mac OS and nothing with the M1 processor.

In Preferences you can change from full-screen mode to in-window. You can also cycle apps and the Finder by pressing Command-Tab.

Thanks, I am sorry, I was also talking about FS on a Mac in general and the things that are opaque to a long-time Windows user, though I guess that was off-topic. As you say, the M1 seems to not cause any problems, though I also already installed some layer app for Microsoft apps, and I would guess it is needed for FS, too.

[Kimmi Zehetbauer]

The M1 can run SL on it. Since there's no native support for SL on the new chip --- the machine uses Rosetta to emulate to run it. Much like when Macs went from the PowerPC chip to Intel.

[Lyssa Greymoon]

1 hour ago, CaerolleClaudel said:

Also, when I maximize the FS window, it covers everything else, including it's own system-level toolbar (or perhaps doesn't even have one?), so I cannot minimize it and I cannot access the Dock.

Drag your mouse cursor to the top of the screen and you’ll get the menu bar back, click the green dot to switch back to windowed mode. You can also use ctrl-arrow to switch between desktops while FS is full screen. 

[Arduenn Schwartzman]

49 minutes ago, Kimmi Zehetbauer said:

when Macs went from the PowerPC chip to Intel.

Apple has made some dramatic changes that had big consequences for their user base. From 68k to PPC, from classic OS 9 to Unix OS X, from PPC to Intel, now from Intel to M1. Ditching serial/parallel/SCSI for the first USB, Firewire, Lightning. M1 seems one of the few innovations that don't seem to have an initial setback, though. I remember my first USB Zip drive to be much much slower than my SCSI one.

[CaerolleClaudel]

1 hour ago, Lyssa Greymoon said:

Drag your mouse cursor to the top of the screen and you’ll get the menu bar back, click the green dot to switch back to windowed mode. You can also use ctrl-arrow to switch between desktops while FS is full screen. 

Ah, yes, thanks! I am an idiot, lol. User error rather than FS shortcoming. (rolls eyes at self)

[Waiomao]

As for maximizing the Firestorm window without covering file menu or dock, just press your Mac's control key while pressing the green dot in the top left of the Firestorm window. The window will then maximize the window without covering top and bottom of your screen. This is super handy for me, because scrolling to the top of maximized windows the Mac file menu would drop down and hide the window's menus. Same when scrolling to the bottom of a window - that would always pull up the doc. Ugghh! Glad the control key + the green dot maximizes windows in a "safer" way 🙂

As for the M1 chip, that shouldn't make any difference. In fact, it may help speed things up! The problem as I see it is Apple's potential to use their Metal engine exclusively - thereby preventing anything made with OpenGL to render. That would be catastrophic inworld, and would hamper creators using tools like Blender. If that happens I'll be forced to pull out my old Linux laptop and say aloha to the Mac.  

[Kimo Dezno]

On 5/1/2021 at 12:02 PM, CaerolleClaudel said:

I just loaded it on my new MacBook Air, which is the lowest model, and it seems to run fine on a mid-range graphics setting. I did find issues with it, though. For one, I am using Firestorm (the official viewer may behave differently, but is so poorly featured I won't use it), and the only way I could open it was to go to Privacy and Security and allow it there. Also, when I maximize the FS window, it covers everything else, including it's own system-level toolbar (or perhaps doesn't even have one?), so I cannot minimize it and I cannot access the Dock. I am new to MacOS, there is probably a way to switch among open windows using a keyboard shortcut, but I don't know it yet and had to use Com-Q and quit FS to do anything else.

Thanks for the feedback.  I'm a Mac Pro.  If you need help just reach out here or in world.  When you have an application go full screen it will completely take over your screen.  No Dock, nothing.  Just the app.  You can press down  COMMAND + TAB keys together and it will show you all the apps open.  Keeping your finger pressed down on the COMMAND key while tapping the TAB key will cycle through the different apps you have open.  I would try going into SYSTEM PREFERENCES and looking at the TRACKPAD settings.  You'll find GESTURES.  Place you cursor over each one and you'll see an animation of what it does.  There's a swipe one which allows you to swap between different screens.  The MacOS allows you have multiple desktops.  You can have Safari on one desktop, Word on another, Photoshop on another and Firestorm on another, all running at the same time.  RAM is your only restraint.  RAM limits the effectiveness of how many applications you can have open.  The more RAM you have open the more applications you can run at the same time.  

 

I hope this helps

[Amanda Crisp]

I’m running Firestorm on an M1 Mac Mini with the 16g chip (I made myself wait for it) over a zippy-fast fiber network.

General performance with FS is quite good, but I was encountering some falloff when graphics went above “High” in a render-intense sim.

As I do a bit of photography, I generally use my RAM-crammed Intel iMac for shooting out “in the wilds of SL”, but the M1 has done well enough in a pinch and for “exploring and hanging out in SL”.

I switched to Mac about 2 years ago, so my opinion is not coming from an O.G. Mac-user 🙂 That said; I can’t envision ever going back to MicroSatan…..

 

[Ekon020897]

I'm using a Mini M1 from 2020, 16GB of RAM, 1TB, and a 250Mbps TV cable internet connection. I don't see any differences to my Intel I7 4770 processor, 32 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, ATI Radeon 7850. ok, my PC is seven years old since my last upgrade, I have to admit that.

[rayspecium]

Firestorm on Macbooks M1destroys battery, don't use.

Edited November 6, 2021 by rayspecium