I have been using Cubase 12.0.70 on macOS 13.6.1 on a 2018 Intel i7 Mac mini with a Iiyama 25” Display at 1920x1080 resolution - no problems.
Today I got a new display a Iiyama 27” 4K which I was hoping to run at 2560 x 1440 when using Cubase but it won’t playback, it stutters.
Cubase will only playback if I use what Apple call low resolution versions of different resolutions (which have blurred text) or the full 4K res of 3840x2160 which is much too small for my eyes. I can’t even use the 1920x1080 resolution I was using with my old display. Other apps seems to work fine at all resolutions.
Is there anything I can change in Cubase to get it to work, I have tried switching the graphic acceleration setting in Cubase on (I have it off) but it just maxes out the CPU performance.
With the 2018/2020 Intel Mini, you either get used to 4K, you buy a 2K monitor, or you buy an eGPU to offload the processing. Or you spend the money on a 5K display which will scale properly…
Drop it to 1080p it will probably be smooth as silk, but you’re downscaling 4K to 2K, and that’s not how Apple does it. It’s upscaling your display signal to 5K first, and then scaling it down to 2K (you can verify this yourself by looking in the System Profiler) and your CPU is taking the hit to do it.
The 630 GPU in those sucks when it comes to scaling, cost me $500 or so to get smooth performance out of a 4K monitor scaled to 2K. Don’t have that problem with the M2 Pro Mini though…
Many thanks for your reply, much appreciated. I think I understand, I had read about this before I bought the new display but I think I totally misunderstood!
1080p does not work even though Ventura chooses this as the default resolution, Cubase still stutters.
I don’t see any reference to 5K being scaled to 2K in System Profiler, just this:
Resolution: 3840×2160 (2160p/4K UHD 1 - Ultra High Definition)
UI Looks like: 1920 x 1080 @ 60.00Hz
It say this no matter which Screen res I choose.
If I understand correctly I have the following options:
Get used to 4K res - which is a no, with Cubase the UI is too small for my eyes but great for watching video/films.
Just get used to using “low res” versions of the resolutions.
Get a 2K display.
Get a 5K display.
You say the problem does not occur with a M2 Pro Mini, so I presume it won’t happen with a M2 Max Studio?
Part of the reason I bought a new monitor was to get a height adjustable display to use with a M2 MaxStudio I am intending to buy before the end of the year (I want to put the M2 Studio in front of me under the display)
If you scale it to 2560x1440 you will see something like this in the System Profiler:
Displays:
VP3268a-4K:
Resolution: 5120 x 2880 (5K/UHD+ - Ultra High Definition Plus)
UI Looks like: 2560 x 1440 @ 60.00Hz
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Rotation: Supported
The GPU in the M2 Pro seems to be able to handle the uneven scaling with minimal performance hit. I’ve never seen Cubase skip or stutter since getting it this summer. I didn’t have any issues on the Intel either, but as I mentioned, I actually bought a $350 eGPU and a Radeon RX to run my monitors with that. Now its just sitting here useless since the M2 can’t use it.
Ah OK I see that now. I am going to trial an app called BetterDisplay that some say can solve the blurred text issue. If it works I’ll buy it to get me through until I get the Mac Studio.
I used to have a Radeon RX 560 card that in my old cheese-grater Mac Pro, but I sold it last year!