The project Asahi Linux it certainly needs no introduction: it is an open source project dedicated to bringing the Linux kernel to devices with ARM architecture, in particular Apple Silicon.
We know how scrupulous Apple is in keeping the code behind its operating systems, including macOS, secret. Thinking you can perform on the new ones Mac systems based on ARM-derived SoCs, an operating system optimized to exploit all its potential, initially seemed like a chimera. Yet the developers of Asahi Linux have not only achieved the feat but have recently unveiled the first driver compatible with Apple Silicon GPUs, the result of an intense and in-depth research activity reverse engineering.
YouTube limits the quality of videos played on Firefox with Asahi Linux systems
One of the developers responsible for the Asahi Linux project, Hector Martin, says he discovered a curious limitation apparently imposed by the engineers YouTube which severely limits streaming quality.
Through a series of tests and counter-tests, Martin found that YouTube uses one by default resolution you seem to 1080p for x86-64 devices while for ARM devices it is incredibly limited to just 240p. The developer hypothesizes that the restriction can be traced back to a now anachronistic prejudice linked to ARM SoCs which does not take into minimal consideration the raw power that these devices are capable of expressing today.
Using the browser Firefox on the Asahi Linux platform, therefore on a very modern Apple Mac system based on an ARM SoC engineered by Tim Cook’s company, YouTube mistakenly believes that it is a smart TV based on aarch64 (64-bit instruction set used in processors ARMv8-A) then lowers the resolution and quality of media streaming based on this (incorrect) rating.
Simply by modifying it user agent from Firefox to aarch64 to x86_64, YouTube “magically” adapts the quality of the video stream in an improving manner, allowing you to get up to the streaming 4K.
As a “litmus test”, Martin also installed Chromium on the same hardware based on Asahi Linux noting that the web browser, while working on an aarch64 system, “It pretends to be running on x86-64 platform” thus being able to enjoy video playback at 1080p by default, which can be increased up to 4K resolution.
After confirming his observations, Martin reported the situation to Mozilla and inserted additional code into Asahi Linux to work around the limitation imposed by YouTube.