How can I configure GitHub Workflows to build mpv for macOS 13 arm64

[dragonman225]

I'm using an Apple Silicon Mac (M1) with macOS 13 and I'm trying to install mpv. The links provided on the mpv.io website, https://nightly.link/mpv-player/mpv/workflows/build/master and https://laboratory.stolendata.net/~djinn/mpv_osx/, provide arm64 builds only for macOS 14 and later. I tried Homebrew, although it has prebuilt arm64 binary for macOS 13, it installs unnecessary bloated dependencies such as llvm (~2GB!). I tried to fork mpv and change arch for macos-13 build.yml to arm (https://github.com/forkshub/mpv/blob/11df963a878d89721c705de3e8bc06cbcd3fd39a/.github/workflows/build.yml#L44-L45), like it's set for macos-14 and macos-15 (https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv/blob/master/.github/workflows/build.yml#L224-L228). It built successfully, but when I executed the binary, Activity Monitor showed it's Intel binary. I wonder what are the quirks about building with GitHub workflows and how can I fix it?

[dragonman225]

Found this in Homebrew

https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/blob/1521db4524b3aefc8313d5635d49340b64faab20/Formula/v/vapoursynth.rb#L33-L39

# std::to_chars requires at least MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET=13.3
# so it is possible to avoid LLVM dependency on Ventura but the
# bottle would have issues if system was on macOS 13.2 or older.
on_ventura :or_older do
  depends_on "llvm"
  fails_with :clang
end

My OS is 13.6.6 so in theory I don't need llvm. Then, I tried to install mpv with brew install --ignore-dependencies mpv, run mpv, and install actually needed dependencies by following printed errors, e.g.,

# Run mpv
mpv
# Printed error
dyld[773]: Library not loaded: /opt/homebrew/opt/libplacebo/lib/libplacebo.349.dylib
# Install libplacebo
brew install --ignore-dependencies libplacebo
# Run mpv again

When there were no more errors, I tried to play a file and it worked.

However, I think this is just a workaround and I'm still looking for a way to build a standalone package with macOS application bundles.

[Akemi]

you can just create a bundle afterwards with meson compile -C build macos-bundle. just edit the homebrew formula and add it or manually navigate into the homebrew mpv build directory and execute that command.

[Akemi]

i think you are misunderstanding how this works completely.

first of all nightly builds we provide are build for the macOS version and architecture it is build on (github runner). for details see https://github.com/actions/runner-images?tab=readme-ov-file#available-images.
macos-13 > macOS 13 intel
macos-14 > mac OS 14 ARM
macos-15 > macOS 15 ARM

changing "arch" doesn't do much besides changing the name of the resulting zip (https://github.com/forkshub/mpv/blob/11df963a878d89721c705de3e8bc06cbcd3fd39a/.github/workflows/build.yml#L100).

if you want to change the target version of the resulting binary you have to set the target for the c parts (MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET) and swift (--target), which also depends on the runner you use. that alone doesn't result in a working result, since in the worst case you also have to rebuild all dependencies for that target.

[dragonman225]

Thank you for the information.

So, according to the doc, I set the runner to macos-13-xlarge to use macOS 13 Arm64. Unfortunately, I tried several times but it stopped with a message related to billing — it seems like GitHub doesn't allow people to use "large" runners for free. I'll build locally with my own machine instead.

[Akemi]

yes, only the normal runners are free, anything else is subscription only.

on a side note, we still have "full featured CI builds with target 10.15" on our TODO list #13608