Macbook pro m1 pro performance

Bugs and Support
1

I have a new 16" MBP m1 pro. Very fast, but performance for zwift is comparable to my old intel 2015 MBP.
See screenshot from zwiftpower, I would expect a much higher FPS. This was in a group ride with 400 people.

image
image2112×1494 321 KB

Is anyone experiencing the same?
Is there a way to improve this performance?

2

Edit: Three part answer.

  1. Zwift frame rate tanks when there are lots of other riders around (big group event, busy spawn point, with a popular Pace Partner). The system becomes CPU bound and the GPU is starved. Nothing can be done about this, beyond buying a faster/stronger CPU with better single thread performance.
  2. On Makuri Islands (particularly Neokyo) this behaviour occurs all the time even when there’s nobody else around. This means the resultant frame rate when it’s busy is even lower.
  3. Zwift on M1 presently runs via x86 emulation, meaning any performance improvements you may be experiencing elsewhere do not apply to Zwift.
3

That aside, I assume you have an SSD in this system. Simply because I can’t imagine Apple sell HDDs in their flagship devices any more. If so, the game shouldn’t take over a minute to load. That it did suggests something else is throttling your CPU, which would result in lower frame rates in CPU bound situations like a big group event.

1 Like
4

Thanks for you reply! I saw someone else posting their zwift stats and there the avg was about 60 fps. I will check it with a non busy route to see what my actual values are. The macbook uses ssd indeed, the game itself loading time I have nothing to complain about. Changing worlds could be better, but not a problem for me (I now know to switch on time :)).
I hope the M1 version of the game will come, but I am not reading much about this? Is it on the roadmap?

5

I rode again today, group ride with 200+ riders. Been riding in front group until dropped and continued solo afterwards until the last minutes I was caught by chasing group.
Much better average, also very clear where I was dropped :slight_smile:

image
image1920×1368 160 KB