Dropped frames madness! Both M4 Pro and M2 Max

I've been pulling my hair out trying to figure out why I'm getting dropped frames from my sequence.

I wanted a legit machine for my home. I picked up a M4 Mac Mini Pro. Installed premiere and I'm getting hundreds of dropped frames on playback. Footage was shot on an Arri 35 camera, Anamorphic, ProRes 4444, 23.98fps. So the video files are intense but my main machine, Mac Pro M2 Ultra and also my mobile machine, M1 Max laptop, both handle this sequence easily no dropped frames.

BUT on my M4 Mac Mini Pro it drops frames like crazy. I run the sequence and media off an SSD. I thought it might be my SSD but no, I tested on my other machines and they performed fine, no dropped frames.

I even went out and bought an M2 Max Mac Studio thinking it would solve but even that machine drops frames, less than the M4 Pro but still. What is happening?!

Apple nerds said the memory bandwidth could be the issue on the M4 Pro? Thats one of the reasons I picked up the Mac Studio M2 Max. But no ... dropped frames madness!

Someone please help. I want to keep the little Mac Mini M4 Pro as my at home edit bay.

Thanks!