- Aug. 4th 2022 2:42 pm PT

OBS is one of the most popular apps for livestreaming. Although the app has been available for macOS users for quite a while, the current version of OBS is only fully compatible with Intel Macs. Luckily, this is about to change. The platform this week released the first beta of OBS Studio 28, which not only adds new features but also runs natively on Apple Silicon Macs.

As shared by the app’s developers on its official website, the latest beta update of OBS Studio finally brings native support for the Apple Silicon platform. This means that users of Macs with the M1 and M2 chips will notice a significant performance boost when using OBS.

Apple Silicon Macs can run Intel apps without major issues in most cases, thanks to Rosetta technology. However, these apps can’t take advantage of the full performance of the ARM chips made by Apple. When an app has native Apple Silicon support, it not only runs faster but also consumes less power, which is great for MacBook users.

One thing to keep in mind is that, despite support for Apple Silicon Macs in the main OBS app, third-party plugins will also need to be updated to work with the M1 and M2 chips natively.

But of course, other new features and enhancements are coming with the OBS update. For instance, version 28 adds support for 10-bit HDR video, as well as support for the new ScreenCaptureKit API for high-performance screen capture on macOS. The update also significantly improves support for the Apple VT encoder.

Unfortunately, due to a new framework used in the app, OBS Studio 28 will drop support for some operating systems. This version no longer works with Windows 7 and 8, macOS 10.13 and 10.14, and Ubuntu 18.04. It’s also no longer compatible with 32-bit architecture.

At this point, it’s unclear when exactly OBS Studio 28 with native support for Apple Silicon Macs will be officially available to the public. In the meantime, you can now download the latest OBS beta on GitHub.

OBS Studio 28 Beta 1 is now available for testing! This will be a HUGE update including HDR support, Apple Silicon support, Qt 6, AMD encoder improvements, NVIDIA Background Removal, new theme, and much, much more.

We need your help with testing! Details: https://t.co/ziv7Xgn55f

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Filipe Espósito is a Brazilian tech Journalist who started covering Apple news on iHelp BR with some exclusive scoops — including the reveal of the new Apple Watch Series 5 models in titanium and ceramic. He joined 9to5Mac to share even more tech news around the world.

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