Introduction
When I first started setting up my applications like Emby, Ollama, and OpenWebUI on my Mac Studio using Docker, I encountered significant performance issues. The root of the problem was a lack of GPU support for Docker on macOS—a challenge that many developers face.
The Problem: No GPU Support in Docker on macOS
Docker on macOS doesn't have native GPU support, which led to terrible performance for applications like Emby, Ollana and OpenWebUI. This limitation wasn’t obvious at first, but after some investigation, I realized the core issue was that these containerized applications couldn't leverage my Mac Studio's powerful GPU.
Solutions Explored
After diagnosing the problem, I explored several alternatives:
- Native macOS Installations: For Emby and Ollama, switching to their native macOS versions resolved performance issues as they could now access the GPU directly.
- Using Homebrew for Python Applications:
- To run OpenWebUI without relying on Docker, I opted for installing a more updated version of Python using Homebrew.
- Once Python was installed via Homebrew, I installed OpenWebUI through pip:
Conclusion
By switching from Docker-based installations to native macOS applications and using Homebrew for Python-based tools, I was able to overcome the GPU support limitations on macOS. This approach not only resolved performance issues but also simplified my setup process.
This experience highlighted the importance of understanding platform-specific constraints when working with containerized applications and exploring alternative installation methods.