Macbook pro M3 Max problem with playing Youtube videos

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Level 1

9 points

Macbook pro M3 Max problem with playing Youtube videos

Hello

I have owned my brand new Macbook Pro 14" M3 Max for 2 weeks.

I have realized that there is a problem when playing video on Youtube. The image is not smooth, it looks like it's playing at a lower frame rate than the one supposed to play at. Playing the same video on another Mac I own (14" M1 Pro) doesn't show any problems, the image plays smoothly. Same thing if I play the same video on Safari on the 14" M3 Max Macbook pro.

So it seems like it is related to Chrome.

I have hardware acceleration turned on (if i turn it off it gets worse).

I have only 2 extensions installed (1Password and the Google drive launcher).

What could it be? Should I try to return it?

It makes no difference whether I play the video on its display or on another display plugged in.

Thanks

Posted on Feb 17, 2024 08:42 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

joeyerickson

Level 1

9 points

Feb 25, 2024 12:44 AM in response to PaoloGr

Howdy! I figured out a workaround!

So what worked for me after searching all around Reddit and other forums is this:

1. Go into YouTube's settings
2. Click on 'Playback and Performance'
3. Change the AV1 Settings to "Prefer AV1 for SD" ("Always prefer AV1" might work too? But Prefer AV1 for SD is what looked the best to me!)

And then your FPS for the YouTube videos should be back to normal!

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Answer 2

PaoloGr Author

Level 1

9 points

Feb 21, 2024 12:29 PM in response to Sashock

Yes same thing for me. Safari works fine, Chrome doesn't.

I haven't tried other services, but Netflix seems to work fine...

I had to switch to use Safari for now until I find a solution.

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Answer 3

Sashock

Level 1

8 points

Feb 21, 2024 12:17 PM in response to PaoloGr

I have the same exact issue...started happening after my Macbook updated. I have an M3 Max 48GB. It's so annoying!

60fps video's are completely fine but if it's 24/30fps it's extremely choppy. Looks more like 12fps.

Turning Hardware Acceleration fixes the 24/30fps sorta but now 60fps looks like garbage.

I thought I had the power saving feature on again in chrome but it's off. I noticed that with Amazon Prime when that happened. Fixed that now it's just YouTube. What's going on?!?!?!? In Safari it's completely fine but I'm not a fan of Safari.

Hopefully this will be fixed soon.

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Answer 4

Mar 6, 2024 12:39 AM in response to PaoloGr

Thanks @joeyerickson - I was worried I wasn't going to find a workaround to this issue. I have MacBook M3 Max so I was shocked at the slow play of YouTube videos in Chrome. It wasn't happening on my M1. Changing that playback setting seems to have fixed the problem.

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Answer 5

jmar2711

Level 1

8 points

Feb 24, 2024 11:45 PM in response to PaoloGr

I'm having the excat same issue. I only notice it when my 16" M3 Pro is unplugged from power. When it is charging everything seems buttery smooth and also on the Opera browser it works well. Only on battery it seems like 16fps. Works

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