Supported hardware

XBMC needs a 3D capable GPU graphics hardware controller for all rendering. The required 3D GPU chips are common today in most modern computers, and even some set-top boxes. XBMC runs well on what (by Intel ATOM standards) are relatively underpowered OpenGL 1.3 (with GLSL support), OpenGL ES 2.0 or Direct3D (DirectX) 9.0 capable systems that are IA-32/x86, x86-64, or ARM CPU based.

When software decoding of a Full HD 1080p high-definition video is performed by the system CPU, a dual-core 2 GHz or better CPU is required in order to allow for perfectly smooth playback without dropping frames or giving playback a jerky appearance. XBMC can however offload most of the video decoding process onto GPU graphics hardware controller that supports one of the following types of hardware-accelerated video decoding: Intel's VAAPI, Nvidia's VDPAU, AMD's XvBA, Microsoft's DXVA, Apple's VDADecoder/VideoToolBox, OpenMAX, and Broadcom Crystal HD Enhanced Media Accelerator. By taking advantage of such hardware-accelerated video decoding, XBMC can run well on most inexpensive, low-power systems which contain a modern GPU.

= Supported hardware by OS =

Android

 * Due to the nature of Android hardware it is hard to give exact requirements. The basic set of requirements include:
 * NEON compatible ARM processor (for example: Nvidia Tegra 1/2 probably will never be supported, while Tegra 3 and later will be fully supported.)
 * Android 4.0 or later is supported, but Android 4.4 and later is recommended.
 * Hardware decoding support in XBMC is likely a must for HD video playback (720p+). Don't expect this to work on any device until someone has specifically tested it and can confirm hardware decoding support for that device. For more details on hardware video decoding support, see Android hardware.
 * The main aim for the Android port is to initially target media-players/set-top-boxes/sticks that connect to a large screen television and uses a standard remote control as interface device, (that is the same market at HTPC). However expect tablet/phone/touch/mobile/etc support to eventually improve with time.

iOS


ATV2

 * To Install XBMC on ATV2 you must have a jailbroken Apple TV 2 running versions 4.1 to 5.3
 * XBMC only works on the second generation Apple TV (ATV2), which is the black version that outputs 720. XBMC does not work on the newer third generation Apple TV (ATV3) that outputs 1080, because there is no jailbreak for the ATV3.

iDevices
*To install XBMC for iOS you must have a jailbroken iDevice running iOS 4.0 through 7.0.6. (4.3 or higher recommended) 
 * For hardware: iPad (1,2,3,4), iPad Air, iPad Mini (1,2), iPhone (4, 4S, 5, 5c, 5S), iPod touch (4, 5).

Desktop

 * x86 (Intel/AMD-based) processor computer capable of booting to CD-ROM.
 * Intel Pentium 4, Intel Pentium M, AMD Athlon XP/64, AMD Opteron, or newer CPU (that support SSE).
 * Fast modern dual-core processor is required to decode H.264 videos in FullHD (1080p) unless you have hardware video decoding (see GPU requirements below).
 * Limited PPC support: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=173287
 * ATI/AMD, Intel, or NVIDIA (recommended) graphic controller which supports OpenGL 2.0 or later.
 * ATI Radeon R420 (X800) or newer supported, ATI Radeon R700 (HD 4000) or newer recommended.
 * Intel GMA 950 (945G) or newer supported, Intel GMA X4500HD (G45) or newer recommended.
 * NVIDIA GeForce 6-Series and newer supported, GeForce 8-Series and newer recommended.

ARM/embedded
It is very hard to generalize XBMC hardware requirements for Linux-based OSes on ARM hardware due to most of the work in this area still being early/on-going in development. OpenGL ES 2.0 is a must. For most ARM devices, hardware video decoding support will be needed for most HD videos (and possibly some SD videos). Some newer/faster ARM chips can decode some HD video using software video decoding.

Here are a few known Linux/ARM hardware devices that are known to work:
 * Raspberry Pi - Hardware video decoding for h.264, mpeg2, and VC-1. GUI is responsive on most light skins.
 * Various "Android" boxes - can run Linux and boot directly into XBMC. Hardware video decoding for most video codecs, GUI is very responsive on most skins. Running Linux/XBMC on these "Android boxes" will likely result in better performance than running Android/XBMC.
 * Pandaboard - GeeXboX is a good OS/XBMC distro for this platform. Limited support, as it is generally not a development target by Team XBMC.
 * CuBox - Limited support, as it is generally not a development target by Team XBMC.

Mac OS X
*XBMC v12 Frodo and later requires Mac OS X 10.6 and only runs on Intel Macs.


 * For the Apple TV 1 you will need to use a Linux-based OS to run XBMC v12 and later.


 * Apple TV 2 (black) does not run XBMC for Mac, it runs XBMC for iOS.

Windows
* OS minimum to run XBMC: Windows Vista.
 * OS recommended: Windows 7, which is required for hardware video decoding.
 * Windows Home Server and Windows Server are not supported but have been reported to work with some tweaks.
 * For end-users the recommended minimum requirement is a x86-based computer, with a graphic adapter that supports DirectX version 9.0c.
 * x86 (Intel/AMD-based) processor with SSE support.
 * Intel Pentium 4, Intel Pentium M, Intel Atom or better CPU.
 * AMD Athlon XP/64, AMD Opteron, or better CPU.
 * Fast modern (last few years) dual-core processor is required to decode H.264 videos in FullHD (1080p) without the assistance of a hardware video decoder.
 * ATI/AMD, Intel, or NVIDIA graphic controller.
 * ATI Radeon R420 (X800) or newer supported, ATI Radeon R700 (HD 4000) or newer recommended.
 * Intel GMA 950 (945G) or newer supported, Intel GMA X4500HD (G45) or newer recommended.
 * NVIDIA GeForce 6-Series and newer supported, GeForce 8-Series and newer recommended.