2016 15" MBP UI Lag

[Ethosik]

Oh boy. "Some kind of lag.... Most people do not notice it but I do". Very scientific.

Yes. It is also very subjective. After getting used to a 144 hz monitor, I find ALL 60 Hz monitors to be "laggy"
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I went to a store yesterday and tried out one of the new 15" touchbar MBP, to see how much of an issue this was before buying one.

Opened five-six Safari windows and did a three-finger swipe up to see exposé - oh my the lag... It is even worse than I expected it to be after reading this thread.

I noped my way out of there. Gonna keep my 2015 for the time being. Not gonna pay that much for something that can't even cope with basic OS UI animations. I guess it will run OK when forcing the use of dGPU all the time. Still not good enough for that much money.

It depends on what you are viewing. Ad/video/image heavy websites? Those are more taxing than just text based websites. I experience this sometimes on my 2010 Mac Pro with a GTX 980. Also, I have had the Windows 10 Task View lag on a GTX 1080. A 1080!!!!

 

[jblagden]

Yes. It is also very subjective. After getting used to a 144 hz monitor, I find ALL 60 Hz monitors to be "laggy"
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It depends on what you are viewing. Ad/video/image heavy websites? Those are more taxing than just text based websites. I experience this sometimes on my 2010 Mac Pro with a GTX 980. Also, I have had the Windows 10 Task View lag on a GTX 1080. A 1080!!!!

The nice thing about headless Macs (Mac Mini, Mac Pro) is that you can pick your own monitor. So, if you have a Mini or a Mac Pro you can just buy a new monitor when a new innovation comes along like LED or 144 Hz. With an iMac on the other hand, you're stuck with whatever Apple put in, unless you're going to use an external monitor as your primary monitor, which you probably wouldn't with an iMac.

 

[monkeydax]

In my quick rundowns, the lags seem to be very specific to app, and the disabling of graphics switching doesn't really help. One very noticeable once that doesn't seem change is this - try opening Calendar (after it's closed Cmd+Q), and immediately double click on a date to create a new calendar entry - there will be a lag in that animation. Following that, click the time fields, and it will open up - again, lag there. Doesn't seem to be solved with disabling graphics switching, and not present on my previous late 2013 15" rMBP.

TL;DR - seems like the UI lags I'm facing are software problems, and not hardware problems.

 

[esaelias]

is not snappy as it should be

like it jerks when opening apps

and when zooming in and out?

any solutions?

 

[Sanpete]

Lots of discussion about this, including a thread right below yours as I type this.

Edit: looks like our posts got moved to the very thread!

 

[jblagden]

In my quick rundowns, the lags seem to be very specific to app, and the disabling of graphics switching doesn't really help. One very noticeable once that doesn't seem change is this - try opening Calendar (after it's closed Cmd+Q), and immediately double click on a date to create a new calendar entry - there will be a lag in that animation. Following that, click the time fields, and it will open up - again, lag there. Doesn't seem to be solved with disabling graphics switching, and not present on my previous late 2013 15" rMBP.

TL;DR - seems like the UI lags I'm facing are software problems, and not hardware problems.

Have you tried:
Resetting SMC?
Resetting PRAM?
Running First Aid on your boot drive in Disk Utility?

These solutions usually work for me.

 

[sn0warmy]

I just wanted to mention that my UI lag was getting progressively worse when switching between apps and spaces. In the end I discovered that Chrome and Firefox were the main culprits. Using one or both of them for long periods would really rack up RAM and CPU %. I've since stopped using both of those browsers and consolidated my work and personal web surfing into Safari.

It's been about a week since making this change (while keeping everything else consistent) and all of my UI lag has disappeared. The computer runs perfectly smooth with Excel, OneNote, Safari, Outlook, Spark Email, Slack, Google Music desktop app, Skype etc. My battery life has improved noticeably as well.

Just something to consider for those still getting lag issues.

 

[jblagden]

I just wanted to mention that my UI lag was getting progressively worse when switching between apps and spaces. In the end I discovered that Chrome and Firefox were the main culprits. Using one or both of them for long periods would really rack up RAM and CPU %. I've since stopped using both of those browsers and consolidated my work and personal web surfing into Safari.

It's been about a week since making this change (while keeping everything else consistent) and all of my UI lag has disappeared. The computer runs perfectly smooth with Excel, OneNote, Safari, Outlook, Spark Email, Slack, Google Music desktop app, Skype etc. My battery life has improved noticeably as well.

Just something to consider for those still getting lag issues.

Yeah, the only problem with open-source apps like Firefox is that they can be more power-hungry than closed-source apps, and especially Apple's apps. A great example of this is Thunderbird. When I first set up Thunderbird on my MacBook Pro, I couldn't believe how long it took to download and file away all of my emails. Though, I guess it might just be because I have a lot of emails on the server and I haven't set up an email client in a while - with the exception of recently setting up Thunderbird.

 

[monkeydax]

In my quick rundowns, the lags seem to be very specific to app, and the disabling of graphics switching doesn't really help. One very noticeable once that doesn't seem change is this - try opening Calendar (after it's closed Cmd+Q), and immediately double click on a date to create a new calendar entry - there will be a lag in that animation. Following that, click the time fields, and it will open up - again, lag there. Doesn't seem to be solved with disabling graphics switching, and not present on my previous late 2013 15" rMBP.

TL;DR - seems like the UI lags I'm facing are software problems, and not hardware problems.

Have you tried:
Resetting SMC?
Resetting PRAM?
Running First Aid on your boot drive in Disk Utility?

These solutions usually work for me.

Yeah definitely, tried those multiple times! Also, I did a clean install twice, once through Internet Recovery, once with a bootable flash drive. Still the same results. Anyone facing that same lag on the Calendar app?

 

[MrGuder]

System Preferences -> Energy saver.
You have the option there. Disable graphics swapping.

Ok thanks I'm going to try that tonight and see if there is still any lag in iTunes, I'll also try the calendar app too.

 

[Hieveryone]

Can users of the 2016 15" MBP confirm whether you experience UI Lag like this in Applications window similar to this video? Or comment on what other UI Lag you experience. Feel free to post your own videos too!

The video is private. Would love to see it.

 

[19george97]

Most lag I'm experiencing is in the Spotify & Terminal app (full screen mode).

Anyone contacted Apple Support about this?

 

[monkeydax]

The video is private. Would love to see it.

The guy who first put it up probably took it down. He was one of those extreme cases which most people did not experience the same thing.

 

[MrGuder]

So I disabled graphics swapping and I'm still getting lag in iTunes album view when clicking on the album for track listings, very choppy still. I also checked on the Calendar app and I also see the lag in the animation when creating a new calendar entry.

So turning off automatic switching for the graphics does not fix the lag for me. So does that mean it's software and not hardware?

 

[monkeydax]

So I disabled graphics swapping and I'm still getting lag in iTunes album view when clicking on the album for track listings, very choppy still. I also checked on the Calendar app and I also see the lag in the animation when creating a new calendar entry.

So turning off automatic switching for the graphics does not fix the lag for me. So does that mean it's software and not hardware?

Yeah that's exactly what I think! But I'm just surprised that the software can affect it that much since it was pretty much optimized in the previous generation already.

 

[MrGuder]

The one thing I noticed when I disabled auto graphics switching yesterday I decided to just leave it like that until my battery ran out and while the lag still remained in some of the apps, I could tell that just surfing the net that webpages loaded content much much quicker. I usually have several pages open and sometimes I'd get the spinning wheel when the box was checked for auto switching but once I turned it off, I never once got a spinning wheel.

I checked activity monitor and while nothing I had open was using the dGPU, I still had auto switching disabled so it was using the dGPU and I could feel the bottom of the laptop was a lot hotter than when just using the iGPU. This tells me that just using the dGPU runs smoother and faster than the iGPU.

Apple needs to get an update out for the iGPU as I don't think it's running as smooth as it could. The thing is I can't run on just the dGPU all the time as I only got about 5.5 hrs.

 

[Ethosik]

Just yesterday my 2010 Mac Pro with my GTX 980 lagged severely switching desktop spaces. This is not a hardware issue guys.

 

[jblagden]

Yeah definitely, tried those multiple times! Also, I did a clean install twice, once through Internet Recovery, once with a bootable flash drive. Still the same results. Anyone facing that same lag on the Calendar app?

Nope. Just out of curiosity, is your boot drive a hard drive or a Solid State Drive?

 

[monkeydax]

Nope. Just out of curiosity, is your boot drive a hard drive or a Solid State Drive?

This is on the new MBP, only SSD! and it's only a problem on the new MBP.

 

[jblagden]

This is on the new MBP, only SSD! and it's only a problem on the new MBP.

Makes me happy I stuck with my 2011 MacBook Pro and just upgraded the RAM, hard drive and swapped out the optical drive for a 2TB hard drive. I guess I'm not missing much.

 

[monkeydax]

Makes me happy I stuck with my 2011 MacBook Pro and just upgraded the RAM, hard drive and swapped out the optical drive for a 2TB hard drive. I guess I'm not missing much.

You'll definitely not even regret if you have the chance to move to a 2016-17 MBP. I'm sure of that. The difference will be night and day, with that new screen, speakers, touchID, and the list goes on..

 

[Blue Sun]

Does anyone know if resetting the NVRAM would fix some of the lag? Or would the lag only be corrected from software from Apple?

Apple are notorious for a laggy UI following new hardware and macOS version releases. It will get better with time (future updates), guaranteed.

 

[jblagden]

You'll definitely not even regret if you have the chance to move to a 2016-17 MBP. I'm sure of that. The difference will be night and day, with that new screen, speakers, touchID, and the list goes on..

To me, that stuff’s just cosmetic. I’m more interested in the functional difference. Have you tried replacing the battery in a Retina MacBook Pro? That thing is not made to be replaced - it’s glued in. It took me two hours and a couple of broken battery pack-ettes to get that thing replaced. The Retina MacBook Pros are not made to be repaired or upgraded. My 2011 MacBook Pro, on the other hand, is made to be upgraded and repaired.

 

[jblagden]

You'll definitely not even regret if you have the chance to move to a 2016-17 MBP. I'm sure of that. The difference will be night and day, with that new screen, speakers, touchID, and the list goes on..

To me, that stuff’s just cosmetic. I’m more interested in the functional difference. Have you tried replacing the battery in a Retina MacBook Pro? That thing is not made to be replaced - it’s glued in. It took me two hours and a couple of broken battery pack-ettes to get that thing replaced. The Retina MacBook Pros are not made to be repaired or upgraded. My 2011 MacBook Pro, on the other hand, is made to be upgraded and repaired.

 

[monkeydax]

To me, that stuff’s just cosmetic. I’m more interested in the functional difference. Have you tried replacing the battery in a Retina MacBook Pro? That thing is not made to be replaced - it’s glued in. It took me two hours and a couple of broken battery pack-ettes to get that thing replaced. The Retina MacBook Pros are not made to be repaired or upgraded. My 2011 MacBook Pro, on the other hand, is made to be upgraded and repaired.

Can't dente the repairability, but try it out, you'll most certainly notice a difference in the performance as well for sure.