macOS arm64 (lack of) support should be documented

[justin-f-perez]

URL(s) with the issue:

https://github.com/google/mediapipe/blob/master/docs/getting_started/python.md
https://github.com/google/mediapipe/blob/master/docs/getting_started/ios.md
https://github.com/google/mediapipe/blob/master/docs/getting_started/install.md#installing-on-macos

Description of issue (what needs changing):

On some paths through the Getting Started documentation, it's not clear that arm64 macs are unsupported at the moment. For example, the Android docs send you to install on mac which has you try- and fail- to build and run the C++ Hello World demo.

It seems arm64 macOS is unsupported, but that information isn't easy to find in the docs.

• "M1" site:mediapipe.dev
• "arm64" "darwin" site:mediapipe.dev
• "rosetta" site:mediapipe.dev
• "arm64" "mac"

Current state

This is a common and unexpected outcome for new developers

❯ git clone https://github.com/google/mediapipe.git && cd mediapipe
❯ bazel --version # or <anything> - the release doesn't exist. This always fails.
2021/11/13 18:45:31 Downloading https://releases.bazel.build/3.7.2/release/bazel-3.7.2-darwin-arm64...
2021/11/13 18:45:32 could not download Bazel: HTTP GET https://releases.bazel.build/3.7.2/release/bazel-3.7.2-darwin-arm64 failed with error 404

PRs adding M1 support but

MediaPipe with its TensorFlow dependence needs Bazel to build everything from scratch. I don't think bazel already supports M1 yet: bazelbuild/bazel#11628.
11 months ago #1514
and
tensorflow must upgrade first

Getting Started > Python docs

MediaPipe currently doesn't support arm macOS.
5 months ago

The wheels are for x86_64 only.
9 months ago

install on macos without conda

see this thread for how to install without conda

install on macos with conda

These instructions assume conda is already installed (e.g. via brew install --cask miniconda && conda init && exec zsh)

1. create environment.yml file:

name: mediapipe-x86
channels:
  - defaults
dependencies:
  - python=3.9
  - pip
  - pip:
    - mediapipe>=0.8.9
variables:
  CONDA_SUBDIR: osx-64

2. create env (installs dependencies, including python and mediapipe)

$ conda env create --file environment.yml
$ conda activate mediapipe-x86

# test installation
$ python3 -c 'print("this make take a few moments..."); import mediapipe; import cv2; print("ok");'

Installation > macOS docs

For example the following text could be added to the Installing on macOS section instructing users to attempt to build 'Hello world', "x86_64 only; macOS arm64 is currently unsupported. Please refer to the manufacturer documentation for running in x86_64 emulation mode."

[justin-f-perez]

Closing since I've moved on to other projects and won't be able to keep this issue up to date

[sureshdagooglecom]

Hi @justin-f-perez ,
We don't support to support MAC OS Arm64 in MediaPipe due to limited support we have but sharing this with internal team.

[justin-f-perez]

Hi @justin-f-perez ,
We don't support to support MAC OS Arm64 in MediaPipe due to limited support we have but sharing this with internal team.

many thanks. In retrospect, mediapipe works normally as long as you find a way to advertise as x86_64. I updated the last sentence of the issue. (To suggest referencing the manufacturer docs instead of "try again later")

overall problem isnt that mediapipe and other projects can't run on these machines- it's that they refuse to, because it appears to be an unsupported platform. If the user tricks the build tools into thinking they're running on x86_64, the emulator works well.

[albert239825]

Hello, I would just like to express my interest in this feature. I have an M1 Macbook Pro and I'm trying to figure out a method to use the mediapipe library in a python project. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[justin-f-perez]

@albert239825

# create the environment using x86_64 python3
❯ conda create --name=my_mediapipe_environment --override-channels --channel='conda-forge/osx-64' python

# below line causes 'conda activate <env name>' to export CONDA_SUBDIR=osx-64
# this causes conda to look exclusively for x86_64 packages while the environment
# is active (thus, 'conda install' you do while the environment is active is sure
# to use the same architecture as your python)
❯ conda env config vars set --name=my_mediapipe_environment CONDA_SUBDIR=osx-64

# activate the environment
❯ conda activate my_mediapipe_environment

# install meidapipe, it works!
❯ pip install mediapipe

# test import mediapipe just be sure
❯ python -c 'import mediapipe'

# NOTE: it does *actually* work beyond just importing

The alternative is to install an x86_64 python yourself and manually manage the environment. I don't recommend it. If you don't have conda, you can get it through homebrew via brew install miniconda

[ah3243]

@albert239825

# create the environment using x86_64 python3
❯ conda create --name=my_mediapipe_environment --override-channels --channel='conda-forge/osx-64' python

# below line causes 'conda activate <env name>' to export CONDA_SUBDIR=osx-64
# this causes conda to look exclusively for x86_64 packages while the environment
# is active (thus, 'conda install' you do while the environment is active is sure
# to use the same architecture as your python)
❯ conda env config vars set --name=my_mediapipe_environment CONDA_SUBDIR=osx-64

# activate the environment
❯ conda activate my_mediapipe_environment

# install meidapipe, it works!
❯ pip install mediapipe

# test import mediapipe just be sure
❯ python -c 'import mediapipe'

# NOTE: it does *actually* work beyond just importing

The alternative is to install an x86_64 python yourself and manually manage the environment. I don't recommend it. If you don't have conda, you can get it through homebrew via brew install miniconda

You have no idea how long I've been looking or trying different solutions for this. I kept and old macbook just to debug mediapipe applications. Incredible thank you!

[justin-f-perez]

Glad it helped! It looks like you may be able to install natively on M1 now too thanks to a community member building arm64 wheels under a different package name: #3277 I haven't tried this yet though