4K/60 YouTube - It can't handle it.

[lpolarityl]

So I got curious, can the 2018 MBA playback 4K/60FPS from YouTube? The answer is no. Technically, sure, it can play it. But its choppy and is really maxing out the processor. 4K/30FPS playback is fine, but 60FPS really makes the processor cry.

Here is the video I used for testing (Use Chrome to play it at 4K/60):

Attached is a screenshot of my internet speeds and also screenshots of a 4K/30FPS with system usage info and 4K/60 with system usage info. 4K/60 streaming is brutal on the processor. As for internet speeds, I'm more than sure 500MB service can stream 4K/60 video.

To be clear, this isn't a knock thread on the MBA. I don't really care if it can play back 4K/60 video. Was just simply curious. If you have a need to playback 4K/60 video... make sure you get something with a quad core. Now I'm curious how a 2017 13" MBP fairs in 4K/60 playback. I'm going to guess it would struggle as well.

 

[kreasonos]

Try it in Safari and report back please

 

[lpolarityl]

Try it in Safari and report back please

Safari doesn't support 4K YouTube playback (Thats why I mention to use Chrome).

 

[kreasonos]

Safari doesn't support 4K YouTube playback (Thats why I mention to use Chrome).

Post your system specs please

 

[lpolarityl]

Post your system specs please

2018 MBA, 256GB / 8GB variant.

 

[kreasonos]

Hmm, not sure why it isn’t maxing the ram because the system should work such that vram uses all the available ram when taxed.

 

[hans1972]

So I got curious, can the 2018 MBA playback 4K/60FPS from YouTube? The answer is no. Technically, sure, it can play it. But its choppy and is really maxing out the processor. 4K/30FPS playback is fine, but 60FPS really makes the processor cry.

Here is the video I used for testing (Use Chrome to play it at 4K/60):

The reason is that Youtube is using a format that is not supported by macOS. Try playing a 4K/60FPS in H.264 or H.265 format and you will get better results.

 

[lpolarityl]

Hmm, not sure why it isn’t maxing the ram because the system should work such that vram uses all the available ram when taxed.

Unfortunately, memory doesn't really play a big role

The reason is that Youtube is using a format that is not supported by macOS. Try playing a 4K/60FPS in H.264 or H.265 format and you will get better results.

Specifically talking about YouTube, they use VP9 codec. Safari doesn't support VP9, which is why you have to use Chrome. Does anyone know what Vimeo uses?

Because this 4K/60 fps vid on Vimeo uses way less processing power and looks fantastic:

 

[Gamer-Dad]

As I reported in the other forum, my 2018 MBP 13 i5/512/16 plays the video fine in Chrome at 4k60p.

 

[kreasonos]

I can’t wait to test this on my fiber optic network. I’ll report my findings.

 

[EugW]

Not a big surprise.

Ironically, the MacBook Air’s hardware is fully capable of hardware 4K VP9 decode with low CPU usage but Apple doesn’t allow it in macOS. I believe it’s due to Apple not wanting VP9 to gain even more support. ie. This behaviour is the result of an Apple vs Google format war.

OTOH, the even harder to decode 4K 10-bit HDR HEVC will work just fine on the 2018 MacBook Air. On my fanless 2017 Core m3 MacBook, a 60 FPS Sony Nature 4K 10-bit HDR HEVC plays perfectly with just 25% CPU usage.

 

[Camark08]

My MacBook pro 2017 13 tb fares pretty well with 4k videos actually. Gets a little hot but that's expected.

 

[EugW]

My MacBook pro 2017 13 tb fares pretty well with 4k videos actually. Gets a little hot but that's expected.

And it will kill battery life in Chrome.

Safari YouTube video will use much less battery life with hardware decoding, and the MBP not become anywhere near as hot, but it will be limited to 1440p in YouTube.

 

[ZipZap]

Unfortunately, memory doesn't really play a big role


Specifically talking about YouTube, they use VP9 codec. Safari doesn't support VP9, which is why you have to use Chrome. Does anyone know what Vimeo uses?

Because this 4K/60 fps vid on Vimeo uses way less processing power and looks fantastic:

I can't even play that video in 4K on my iMac 5K in Safari.

 

[EugW]

I can't even play that video in 4K on my iMac 5K in Safari.

YouTube Safari is limited to 1440p. No 4K option.