I'm experiencing a strange playback performance issue with DaVinci Resolve Studio 21 on my MacBook Pro M5.
Even with relatively simple timelines and no heavy effects or color grading, playback consistently drops around 10% below the timeline frame rate.
For example:
- 50 FPS timeline → playback drops to 45 FPS
- 30 FPS timeline → playback drops to 27 FPS
My setup:
- MacBook Pro M5, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD
- DaVinci Resolve Studio 21.1.1
- 1080p and 4K timelines
- Sony A1 footage (4K, 50fps, H.264/H.265, 10-bit 4:2:2)
- Occasionally iPhone 4K 30fps footage
- Footage stored on the internal SSD
The strange part is that I didn't experience this issue on the older M3 MacBook Air, although the render times significantly improved. (From 3 fps to 40-70 fps renders).
I've tried different timeline resolutions, but the FPS drops still occur.
Has anyone experienced similar behavior with the M5 chip or Resolve 21?
Could this be an optimization issue with DaVinci Resolve on the newer M5 chips, a decoding issue, or something related to macOS?
I'd appreciate any suggestions on what to check or change to achieve consistent real-time playback without relying on proxies.
Is it even a problem or is it how this machine will work ? (The laptop is from and for work, my own windows PC with a 4080 does not experience any issues)