H265/HEVC on MacBook Pro 2016

[p-dog]

Did anyone catch this during the keynote?

1. "We're building in software encoder support into High Sierra for all Macs"
2. "Hardware acceleration of HEVC in the newest Macs"...

Hardware accelerated lists MacBook Pro 2016. I thought this is not possible in Skylake?

 

[Miltz]

I did and I'm excited about it.

 

[xmonkey]

I caught that too... very interesting. Pleasant surprise if so

 

[jun180]

Yes I heard this, I am not an expert on these codecs. Can anyone shed some light on this, and what it means for 4k video playback/editing?

 

[p-dog]

I think the key component that doesn't exist in Skylake and does properly on Kaby Lake is the DRM/licensing element, right? Anyone?

 

[Ries]

Did anyone catch this during the keynote?

1. "We're building in software encoder support into High Sierra for all Macs"
2. "Hardware acceleration of HEVC in the newest Macs"...

Hardware accelerated lists MacBook Pro 2016. I thought this is not possible in Skylake?

8-Bit is on skylake. 10-bit is only possbile using hybrid gpu/cpu code. The dGPU has 8/10-bit hardware support.

 

[sublunar]

H.265 is only available in hardware in the Kaby Lake CPUs. It's not present in the Skylake CPUs. Building a software encoder is ok but it'll be demanding in terms of CPU and therefore battery life in comparison to the same job in done with a native Kaby Lake CPU. I suppose a 15" 2016 Macbook Pro could have GPU assisted encoding.

 

[Miltz]

H.265 is only available in hardware in the Kaby Lake CPUs. It's not present in the Skylake CPUs. Building a software encoder is ok but it'll be demanding in terms of CPU and therefore battery life in comparison to the same job in done with a native Kaby Lake CPU. I suppose a 15" 2016 Macbook Pro could have GPU assisted encoding.

He said "HARDWARE" not software. Time will tell.

 

[xmonkey]

8-Bit is on skylake. 10-bit is only possbile using hybrid gpu/cpu code. The dGPU has 8/10-bit hardware support.

But the slide doesn't specify the 15" 2016 MBP so... ?

 

[Birkan]

Full hardware acceleration is probably only possible on 15 inch models with discrete AMD graphics. On the other hand 13 inch model probably only supports hybrid (software&hardware) decoding just like in Windows.

 

[havenyoung]

https://www.apple.com/macos/high-sierra-preview/
The footnote says:

1. A more powerful Mac will deliver better HEVC performance. The playback of 4K HEVC content requires a Mac with a sixth‑generation Intel Core processor or newer.

 

[Miltz]

https://www.apple.com/macos/high-sierra-preview/
The footnote says:

1. A more powerful Mac will deliver better HEVC performance. The playback of 4K HEVC content requires a Mac with a sixth‑generation Intel Core processor or newer.

WOOHOO! I just saw that too.

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

Did anyone catch this during the keynote?

1. "We're building in software encoder support into High Sierra for all Macs"
2. "Hardware acceleration of HEVC in the newest Macs"...

Hardware accelerated lists MacBook Pro 2016. I thought this is not possible in Skylake?

GPU decide/encode

 

[petsk]

"sixth‑generation Intel Core processor or newer."

So these are skylake CPUSs right? Meaning entry level Macbook 12" with the m3 2016, and newer. hm

 

[poorcody]

I saw that too... interesting. I'm guessing it goes like this:

Kaby Lake = native hardware decoder in CPU (best performance)
2016-Mac Book/Pro;2015-iMac = software encoder but using GPU optimization (middle performance)
Earlier Macs = pure software encoder (slowest performance)

?

 

[Super Xander]

I don't get it, what will this do for my normal using with my Mac and its experience?

 

[BoxsterRS]

What I got from the Keynote, I believe you can export faster to a more efficient file.

 

[Sterkenburg]

I believe the 2016 models are going to exploit the discrete GPU for decoding, as on paper those cards should be capable of doing so, but Sierra didn't support it.

I don't get it, what will this do for my normal using with my Mac and its experience?

If you aren't going to play 4K content with h265/HEVC encoding, nothing I guess

Granted, it will be an irrelevant addition for most people, but this and official eGPU support show that Apple is serious about keeping the 2016 machines relevant for a long time. And as the owner of a 2016 MBP, this is obviously something I'm very happy to see.

 

[mikeo007]

I believe the 2016 models are going to exploit the discrete GPU for decoding, as on paper those cards should be capable of doing so, but Sierra didn't support it.

It must be more than that. They have specifically listed models without discrete GPUs as getting this feature.

 

[Miltz]

It must be more than that. They have specifically listed models without discrete GPUs as getting this feature.

The MacBook listed doesn't have a GPU....

 

[Sterkenburg]

It must be more than that. They have specifically listed models without discrete GPUs as getting this feature.

Yes, I think they will also include some kind of software-based solution for laptops without a discrete card. Let's wait for more detailed info to appear, but I'm optimistic, I feel that lately Apple has been doing a good job on the OS side to improve the performance of the newest Macs.

 

[caramelpolice]

The most likely answer seems to me to be:

1) Software encoder/decoder for all Macs.
2) Full hardware support for 8-bit HEVC on Skylake.
3) Hybrid hardware acceleration + software support for 10-bit HEVC on Skylake (which provides enough performance to play back 10-bit 4K HEVC).
4) Full hardware support on 15" Skylake Pros (via dGPU) and Kaby Lake.

 

[dovvee]

FINALLY.

I'm excited about this. Right now, I run 10bit 4K HEVC videos in Windows via Bootcamp (MPC-HC) and it's buttery smooth, compared to the stuttering in Sierra.

I have a MBP 2016 15" AMD 460, so the dGPU does have support for it. I hope High Sierra takes full advantage of the dGPU for HW support.

 

[hawkeye_a]

Did anyone catch this during the keynote?

1. "We're building in software encoder support into High Sierra for all Macs"
2. "Hardware acceleration of HEVC in the newest Macs"...

Hardware accelerated lists MacBook Pro 2016. I thought this is not possible in Skylake?

Quite possibly the best announcement from yesterday IMHO.

I looked into it before buying my tMBP. To the best of my knowledge, with H265 Skylake seems to support 8-bit video encoding/decoding. Kaby supports 10-bit.

I ended up going with the 2016 tMBP, because neither the screen on the MacBookPros nor ThunderBolt3(via DP1.2 or HDMI2.0) support 10-bit video. (Not sure)

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Efficiency_Video_Coding#Implementations_and_products

CORRECTION: It has been brought to my attention that ThunderBolt3 via DisplayPort 1.2 supports 4k 30-bit color @ 60 Hz

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

The MacBook listed doesn't have a GPU....

Of course it does, otherwise you'd have a black screen.