Ableton Forum

I've got a 2020 13inch M1 Macbook Pro 16GB RAM with an LG 34inch Ultra wide monitor connected via an Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter with HDMI, which I'm using as my primary monitor and the MBP M1 as my secondary monitor.

The display settings for the Main display external monitor are: Use as: Main display, resolution: 3440 x 1440 (Default), color profile: LG HDR WQHD, Refresh rate: 60 Hertz, High Dynamic Range: Off, Rotation: Standard.

The display settings for the Built-In Display are: Use as: Extended display, resolution: 1440 x 900 (Default), True Tone: On, Color profile: Color LCD.

For most daily tasks performance is fine, but for more graphically intense uses, like running an audio spectrum analyzer (Vision 4X, SPAN) while making music in Ableton Live 12, the system takes a massive performance hit - but only when the analyzer is open on the Macbook Pro screen. Performance is fine if it's moved to my external monitor.

If the analyzer is open on my main external screen or I disconnect the external and use only the MBP, performance is fine. Why does performance take such a hit only on the secondary MBP screen? When open on the second screen (MBP) the whole system experiences significant lag. Clicking a button or sample, etc. in Ableton has about a 1 second delay and the analyzer itself struggles to render smoothly.

Ideally, I'd like to be able to use my MBP built-in display to constantly run visualizers like Vision4x, SPAN, and maybe some meters as well, while I keep my main external display for my workspace area, but so far this has not been possible and gets very frustrating.

I've read through tons of similar threads over the years on this but have not found any solid answer yet.
Is there a solution to this issue?
If not, is this more of an issue of the GPU not being powerful enough, even on these newer Macbook Pro models (M1, M2, M3, etc.)? Is this exclusive to notebooks or does this issue also occur on machines like the Mac Studio, that have no built-in display?

Any help figuring this out would be greatly appreciated!

I’m not sure how much this will help given your setup… but I’ll share my experience anyway, just in case.

I use a Mac Studio. I did not get the GPU update as the computer is to be used strictly as a DAW. I had issues for some time with my monitor going black on me for a few seconds. It was definitely annoying in those special moments when ‘in the groove’ and suddenly my display is gone for anywhere from 3 to around 10 seconds. It drove me nuts. I combed the web, like you probably have, and found all the ongoing display issues with Apple devices - and nothing useful from Apple. After trying various connections (HDMI, USBC, Thunderbolt, ‘DP to USBC’ and ‘DP to HDMI’ adapters)… I finally fixed it by lowering the Refresh rate of my display. In my case that’s 60 Hz, but the default is much higher. I was able to connect it via HDMI without issue and recently switched to using a DisplayPort to Thunderbolt adapter (so I could use a 2nd small 14” monitor on the HDMI port).

It has worked flawlessly since lowering the Refresh rate. So, if you can, I would recommend lowering it. Might not help for games or video, but definitely works for Live, Cubase, and Luna in my case.

Hope this helps

Maybe a stupid question, bit doesn't this monitor also have USB-C?