diff --git a/DOCS/man/options.rst b/DOCS/man/options.rst
index 9e62ce1f46..53d293eb4d 100644
--- a/DOCS/man/options.rst
+++ b/DOCS/man/options.rst
@@ -4881,6 +4881,15 @@ The following video options are currently all specific to ``--vo=gpu`` and
 
     OS X only.
 
+``--cocoa-cb-sw-renderer=<yes|no|auto>``
+    Use the Apple Software Renderer when using cocoa-cb (default: auto). If set
+    to ``no`` the software renderer is never used and instead fails when a the
+    usual pixel format could not be created, ``yes`` will always only use the
+    software renderer, and ``auto`` only falls back to the software renderer
+    when the usual pixel format couldn't be created.
+
+    OS X only.
+
 ``--macos-title-bar-style=<dark|ultradark|light|mediumlight|auto>``
     Sets the styling of the title bar (default: dark).
     OS X and cocoa-cb only
diff --git a/osdep/macosx_application.h b/osdep/macosx_application.h
index c04f479c5b..0301e49fcb 100644
--- a/osdep/macosx_application.h
+++ b/osdep/macosx_application.h
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 struct macos_opts {
     int macos_title_bar_style;
     int macos_fs_animation_duration;
+    int cocoa_cb_sw_renderer;
 };
 
 // multithreaded wrapper for mpv_main
diff --git a/osdep/macosx_application.m b/osdep/macosx_application.m
index 66daa45909..ca613e04f4 100644
--- a/osdep/macosx_application.m
+++ b/osdep/macosx_application.m
@@ -49,11 +49,14 @@ const struct m_sub_options macos_conf = {
         OPT_CHOICE_OR_INT("macos-fs-animation-duration",
                           macos_fs_animation_duration, 0, 0, 1000,
                           ({"default", -1})),
+        OPT_CHOICE("cocoa-cb-sw-renderer", cocoa_cb_sw_renderer, 0,
+                   ({"auto", -1}, {"no", 0}, {"yes", 1})),
         {0}
     },
     .size = sizeof(struct macos_opts),
     .defaults = &(const struct macos_opts){
         .macos_fs_animation_duration = -1,
+        .cocoa_cb_sw_renderer = -1,
     },
 };
 
diff --git a/video/out/cocoa-cb/video_layer.swift b/video/out/cocoa-cb/video_layer.swift
index b3893273b1..d6456abe9b 100644
--- a/video/out/cocoa-cb/video_layer.swift
+++ b/video/out/cocoa-cb/video_layer.swift
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ class VideoLayer: CAOpenGLLayer {
     var needsFlip: Bool = false
     var canDrawOffScreen: Bool = false
     var cglContext: CGLContextObj? = nil
+    var cglPixelFormat: CGLPixelFormatObj? = nil
     var surfaceSize: NSSize?
 
     enum Draw: Int { case normal = 1, atomic, atomicEnd }
@@ -62,7 +63,8 @@ class VideoLayer: CAOpenGLLayer {
         autoresizingMask = [.layerWidthSizable, .layerHeightSizable]
         backgroundColor = NSColor.black.cgColor
 
-        CGLCreateContext(copyCGLPixelFormat(forDisplayMask: 0), nil, &cglContext)
+        cglPixelFormat = copyCGLPixelFormat(forDisplayMask: 0)
+        CGLCreateContext(cglPixelFormat!, nil, &cglContext)
         var i: GLint = 1
         CGLSetParameter(cglContext!, kCGLCPSwapInterval, &i)
         CGLSetCurrentContext(cglContext!)
@@ -147,6 +149,8 @@ class VideoLayer: CAOpenGLLayer {
     }
 
     override func copyCGLPixelFormat(forDisplayMask mask: UInt32) -> CGLPixelFormatObj {
+        if cglPixelFormat != nil { return cglPixelFormat! }
+
         let glVersions: [CGLOpenGLProfile] = [
             kCGLOGLPVersion_3_2_Core,
             kCGLOGLPVersion_Legacy
@@ -157,6 +161,8 @@ class VideoLayer: CAOpenGLLayer {
         var npix: GLint = 0
 
         verLoop : for ver in glVersions {
+            if mpv.macOpts!.cocoa_cb_sw_renderer == 1 { break }
+
             var glAttributes: [CGLPixelFormatAttribute] = [
                 kCGLPFAOpenGLProfile, CGLPixelFormatAttribute(ver.rawValue),
                 kCGLPFAAccelerated,
@@ -177,9 +183,28 @@ class VideoLayer: CAOpenGLLayer {
             }
         }
 
+        if (err != kCGLNoError || pix == nil) && mpv.macOpts!.cocoa_cb_sw_renderer != 0 {
+            if mpv.macOpts!.cocoa_cb_sw_renderer == -1 {
+                let errS = String(cString: CGLErrorString(err))
+                mpv.sendWarning("Couldn't create hardware accelerated CGL " +
+                                "pixel format, falling back to software " +
+                                "renderer: \(errS) (\(err.rawValue))")
+            }
+
+            let glAttributes: [CGLPixelFormatAttribute] = [
+                kCGLPFAOpenGLProfile, CGLPixelFormatAttribute(kCGLOGLPVersion_3_2_Core.rawValue),
+                kCGLPFARendererID, CGLPixelFormatAttribute(UInt32(kCGLRendererGenericFloatID)),
+                kCGLPFADoubleBuffer,
+                kCGLPFABackingStore,
+                _CGLPixelFormatAttribute(rawValue: 0)
+            ]
+
+            err = CGLChoosePixelFormat(glAttributes, &pix, &npix)
+        }
+
         if err != kCGLNoError || pix == nil {
             let errS = String(cString: CGLErrorString(err))
-            mpv.sendError("Couldn't create CGL pixel format: \(errS) (\(err.rawValue))")
+            mpv.sendError("Couldn't create any CGL pixel format: \(errS) (\(err.rawValue))")
             exit(1)
         }
         return pix!
diff --git a/video/out/opengl/common.c b/video/out/opengl/common.c
index 4b0cbcc1c4..00692f0350 100644
--- a/video/out/opengl/common.c
+++ b/video/out/opengl/common.c
@@ -42,7 +42,8 @@ static bool is_software_gl(GL *gl)
            strcmp(renderer, "Software Rasterizer") == 0 ||
            strstr(renderer, "llvmpipe") ||
            strcmp(vendor, "Microsoft Corporation") == 0 ||
-           strcmp(renderer, "Mesa X11") == 0;
+           strcmp(renderer, "Mesa X11") == 0 ||
+           strcmp(renderer, "Apple Software Renderer") == 0;
 }
 
 static void GLAPIENTRY dummy_glBindFramebuffer(GLenum target, GLuint framebuffer)