DCP o Matic on Macbook Air or Pro

[Nomadenkino]

Hello everyone,

I am currently looking into buying a new MacBook and wanted to ask for your advice regarding 4K DCP playback in DCP-o-matic.

Does anyone have experience with whether a MacBook Air (specifically looking at the newer M-models) is sufficient for smooth 4K playback? I am a bit concerned about thermal throttling during longer playback sessions since the Air does not have a fan.

Also, what are your general experiences with MacBook Pros? Starting from which M-series chip (M1 Pro, M2 Pro, etc.) does 4K playback run reliably without dropping frames?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Best regards, Werner

[Carsten]

What do you plan to do with this notebook? Why do you think you need 4k playback?

My recent experience with the Macbook Air M4 suggests that you won't get 4k playback on any notebook.

[theirongiant]

Hello everyone,
Also, what are your general experiences with MacBook Pros? Starting from which M-series chip (M1 Pro, M2 Pro, etc.) does 4K playback run reliably without dropping frames?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Best regards, Werner

I tried playing a 4K DCP on a MacBook Pro M1, and it was just barely able to keep up. Any slight activity resulted in dropped frames. The CPU is the bottleneck. I solved this by setting the player to render at half resolution. That results in a very nice-looking 2K preview, and you'd have to look closely to spot the difference.

You *might* be able to play a 4K DCP on a newer MacBook with an M4 or M5, but if that's your only requirement, it's a lot of extra money when the alternative is to just play at half-res.