Hi, my wife and I usually share the same bike so we have a simple setup: 1 Wahoo Bike, 1 Fan, 1 AppleTV, 1 TV set, and 2 Zwift accounts to log into.
Now we’re moving to a bigger place and we’d like to ride together so we’re getting the second bike, but I’d like to know if there are any tried and true good practices for this type of setup. If possible I’d like to avoid the obvious duplication of everything, but I understand it might not be possible. I prefer the TV sets to the tablets, but we’re not close to options. We can also move to PCs (better graphics) if there are good options for small form factor ones.
In short, I have a blank slate and no clear view on the optimal way to set it up. I understand “optimal” is subjective, but it seems that this is a good place to come and ask for opinions.
Windows mini PCs are mostly very poor for Zwift because their integrated graphics do not perform well in the game and get a very low graphics profile. The best option for small form factor with good visuals and performance is the Mac Mini, even one that’s a few years old as long as it has an Apple Silicon CPU (M series).
I second the MacMini suggestion.
It’s small, relatively inexpensive, and gives great game performance.
You may be able to get a refurbished MacMini for a discount on Apple’s website.
Thank you guys, but since we’re talking about 2 bikes I understand that the MacMini suggestion requires 2 computers. In this case, as cheap as they are, wouldn’t 2 AppleTVs be still good and more affordable option? Not sure if I’m missing something.
I use a mini PC. Mine’s a Beelink SER6. I got it to emulate PS2 games in 4K, but it works fine with Zwift.
I don’t know anything about MacMinis, but MacBooks have never been gaming machines, so I’m not sure why a MacMini would be better than a windows machine.
If you’re using AppleTV right now and you’re happy with it, I’d say get another of those.
A mini PC like the Beelink SER6 is worse than a Mac Mini for Zwift. The Mac Mini will get a superior graphics profile with more visual detail. Even a 2021 M1 Mac Mini will look better than a new mini PC when running Zwift. Older Mac Minis like that can be easily sourced on eBay quite cheaply.
Get a Apple mini and compare to the ATV…most likely get another mini. ATV is still stuck on BASIC. Zwift is using an updated Graphics engine for the M-CPUs in the Mini (and laptops I believe but NOT for the iPads).
In the end you will have two mini’s and two 4K screens and be done for quite a while.
For small computers, the M4 Mac Mini is brilliant - it runs Zwift with great detail, I have mine at maximum settings (M4 Pro) and even tweak the scenery detail higher (though the config file) so I get more tree density, etc. It runs at 60fps all the time no matter what. They are pretty fast machines.
Apple TV would work, but you will probably need a couple of Apple TV accounts (one per machine). And the Apple TV has relatively poor graphics detail and clunky operation compared to a real computer with a keyboard and mouse.
As for screens, you might be able to get a couple of 4K TV screens connected via HDMI (they are usually pretty cheap) and wall mount them.
Then you might have a small cabinet below them for the Mac Minis and keyboards/mice. Just get something from IKEA that you can customise to be wide enough. That can also house other misc stuff that might be necessary. If the cabinet isn’t going to house very heavy stuff you might be able to even wall mount it. IKEA “Besta” is probably the best one:
You have so many different configurations and styles. You are looking for something as a “TV bench” or wall mounted cabinet. Maybe you already have something like that however and you can skip this.
A recent update enabled the Ultra graphics profile for some M series CPUs. A few of them remain on the High profile as before. 100% of Windows PCs with integrated graphics get the Basic profile. I don’t know if some of them have the capability to do better than that, but it doesn’t matter because Zwift have not enabled it. The only way to get better than Basic in a PC is with a discrete GPU that is on their unpublished list of blessed GPUs.
Zwift programmers ported the Game/App to Metal(?) for the M chips in a PC (not iPads)…which is a newer graphics engine. Windows machines are “stuck” on OpenGL which is ancient. Anyone remember the Voodoo DOS cards (and others) of the 1990’s? Same engine…
Away from Zwift - even my M2 MacBook Air is pretty fast at running the local instance of a fairly demanding enterprise application.
It’s not as fast as my hefty desktop workstation but considering it is a fairly inexpensive laptop it does great. It even runs Zwift well.
They can’t be upgraded after purchase so always spec more than you suspect you’ll need (ram and storage) just to future proof, but they are pretty good.
And the Apple TV has relatively poor graphics detail and clunky operation compared to a real computer with a keyboard and mouse.