Im planning to make new setup. On apple website, they said that MacBook Pro 16” can handle 3 x 4K displays. Does anybody have some experience with 3 x 4K displays on Millumin?
Apple website is advertising about what is technically possible : so yes it is possible.
But the real question is about running animations on these 3 displays. Not quite static applications such as FinalCut or a browser. Also, even if the GPU can handle 3 x 4K displays, it would also have to process the compositing (playing the movies, mising the layers, ...). So it is a lot of work, and this can make a huge difference.
As a reference, a MacBookPro 2018 (with a Radeon Pro 560X) can handle 2 x 4Kp60 displays with Millumin, and play 2 x 4Kp60 HAP movies. But this is the limit of the machine, it cannot do much (maybe a bit more with the improments of the latest beta using Metal, but do not expect a hug difference).
In comparison, the GPU of the MacBookPro 16'' is far more powerful (Radeon Pro 5300M, 5500M or 5600M). This benchmark for example shows that it is 2x more performant. So I guess this is good sign that it could support 3 x 4K displays and play content nicely in Millumin.
My advice : rent such a machine to run tests with your own content and outputs, so you could check if it fits your own needs. You may also wait a bit for new machines using Apple Silicon : this are very promissing processors, and pro machines may be announced in June.
I understand that my answer is not exactly the one you expect. We have a lot of different machines at our studio, but not this one in particular. At least, you have some hints, we hope to share more performances tests in the future, but you can find a few here.
Comments
Hello @fatih,
Apple website is advertising about what is technically possible : so yes it is possible.
But the real question is about running animations on these 3 displays. Not quite static applications such as FinalCut or a browser. Also, even if the GPU can handle 3 x 4K displays, it would also have to process the compositing (playing the movies, mising the layers, ...). So it is a lot of work, and this can make a huge difference.
As a reference, a MacBookPro 2018 (with a Radeon Pro 560X) can handle 2 x 4Kp60 displays with Millumin, and play 2 x 4Kp60 HAP movies. But this is the limit of the machine, it cannot do much (maybe a bit more with the improments of the latest beta using Metal, but do not expect a hug difference).
In comparison, the GPU of the MacBookPro 16'' is far more powerful (Radeon Pro 5300M, 5500M or 5600M). This benchmark for example shows that it is 2x more performant. So I guess this is good sign that it could support 3 x 4K displays and play content nicely in Millumin.
My advice : rent such a machine to run tests with your own content and outputs, so you could check if it fits your own needs. You may also wait a bit for new machines using Apple Silicon : this are very promissing processors, and pro machines may be announced in June.
I understand that my answer is not exactly the one you expect. We have a lot of different machines at our studio, but not this one in particular. At least, you have some hints, we hope to share more performances tests in the future, but you can find a few here.
Best. Philippe
Thank you so much Philippe,
Your answer is so helpful.