Supported hardware

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Kodi 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. Kodi 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. Kodi can however offload most of the video decoding process onto GPU and VPU hardware that supports one of the following types of hardware-accelerated video decoding: Android StageFright and MediaCodec API, Intel's VAAPI, Nvidia's VDPAU, AMD's XvBA, Microsoft's DXVA, Apple's VDADecoder/VideoToolBox, or OpenMAX. By taking advantage of such hardware-accelerated video decoding, Kodi can run well on many inexpensive and low-power systems which contain a modern GPU and VPU.

Supported hardware by OS

Android

Emblem-important-yellow.png NOTICE:
It is highly recommended for users to not make any purchases in anticipation of running Kodi on Android without first researching the device you want to buy. Before you do buy, make sure multiple people have verified that it works! If in doubt, do not buy that hardware!
  • Due to the fractured and diversified nature of Android hardware and operating system ecosystem it is very hard to give exact minimum requirements, so instead the basic set of requirements includes at least:
    • x86 (Intel) or NEON compatible ARM processor, (for example: Nvidia Tegra 3 and later are fully supported by Kodi, while Tegra 2 and older Tegra probably will never be supported because it lacks NEON compatibility).
    • Android 4.0 or later is supported, but Android 4.4 or later is recommended, and later is most often better.
    • Hardware decoding support in Kodi is likely a must for high definition video playback (720p or higher resolution). Do not expect this to work on any device until someone knowledgeable have specifically already 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 of Kodi is to foremost target media-players/set-top-boxes/sticks that connect to a large screen television and uses a standard remote control as its main interface device, (that is the same market as for HTPC). However expect the initial tablet/phone/touch/mobile/etc support to eventually improve with time.

iOS

ATV2

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

iDevices

  • To install Kodi for iOS you must have a jailbroken iDevice running iOS 4.0 through 8.1.2. (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).


Linux

Desktop

CPU x86 processor such as: Intel Pentium 4, Intel Pentium M, AMD Athlon XP/64, AMD Opteron, or newer CPU (that support SSE. Anything made in the last few years does.).
  • If your GPU/VPU does not support hardware video decoding then you will require a fast modern processor is required to decode some videos (H.264, VC-1, etc) in 1080p. Editor note: Hard to quantify this, but maybe we can get a rough benchmark score in here?
  • There is very limited Power PC (PPC) support: [Linux] How to install on Linux-ppc
RAM
  • Recommended: 1 to 2 GB or more
Graphics

Kodi will run on most graphics cards made in the last few years, including hardware video decoding support. This includes most cards from ATI/AMD, Intel, or NVIDIA which support OpenGL 2.0 or later.

ATI Intel Nvidia
Minimum without HW decoding: ATI Radeon RV710/M92 (HD 4300/4500) Note: These are uvd2.2 cards Intel GMA 950 (945G) Nvidia GeForce 6-Series
Minimum for HW decoding: ATI Radeon Cedar (Radeоn HD 5400 Series or newer Intel GMA X4500HD (G45) or newer Nvidia GeForce 8-Series or newer
Video decoding For hardware video decoding, which may be necessary on low-performance CPUs to playback 1080p content, make sure your GPU or VPU supports either VAAPI, VDPAU, or OpenMAX.

Note: Ubuntu 12.10 (or newer) users of ATI graphics cards are recommended to use a UVD 2.2 or higher graphics card for proper hardware video decoding support.

Drive space The Kodi binary generally takes up between 100 to 200 MB of space, depending on how it's compiled. Technically speaking, if your hardware supports netbooting, you don't even require a hard drive for either the OS or Kodi.
  • Minimum: 4 to 8GB
  • Recommended: 16GB or more
Depending on how big your video library is. Most of the space required for Kodi comes from the images/artwork cache, which can be adjusted: HOW-TO:Reduce disk space usage.

ARM/embedded

It is very hard to generalize Kodi 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:

  • Cubox-i - Official supported by OpenELEC, GeeXboX, Xbian
  • 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 Kodi. Hardware video decoding for most video codecs, GUI is very responsive on most skins. Running Linux/Kodi on these "Android boxes" will likely result in better performance than running Android/Kodi.
  • Pandaboard - GeeXboX is a good OS/Kodi distro for this platform. Limited support, as it is generally not a development target by Team Kodi. Editor note: need feedback on performance. A little snippet, like the one above for the R-Pi, will do

Mac OS X

  • Requires Mac OS X 10.6 and only runs on Intel Macs.

Windows

Note: Due to changes in code it may be possible that older hardware/videocards are no longer supported. If starting of Kodi fails then try upgrading to last available drivers (or beta drivers).

  • OS minimum to run Kodi: 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 .
    • SSE2 support
    • 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.