New MacBook Pro 16" mouse pointer intermittent freezes when having external monitor connected

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Level 1

11 points

New MacBook Pro 16" mouse pointer intermittent freezes when having external monitor connected

Just finally upgraded from using an entry level macbook air 2013 and what an amazing machine. But there's one annoying problem with the new Macbook I don't know what do to about.

So when I have external monitors plugged in I get a mouse lag about every 3-5 seconds. The mouse pointer just freezes for maybe 100-200ms.

After checking the kernel logs it seems to correspond to this event:

/System/Library/Extensions/AMDRadeonX6000Framebuffer.kext/Contents/MacOS/AMDRadeonX6000Framebuffer

[3:0:0] [HDCP:2] runEvent() !!! Action is stall currentTime: 52039607731903, nextTime: 52039807727419, crtc: 2!

Since this seems to be a kernel extension error, I guess there's not much I can do? And neither the apple store if I take it to them?

Well anyway, any advice is appreciated :)

MacBook Pro 16", macOS 10.15

Posted on Dec 18, 2019 2:24 AM

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Answer 1

rose_10

Community Specialist

Dec 20, 2019 3:51 PM in response to kalle125

Hello kalle125,

I see that you're receiving some kernel extension errors on your Mac. I'd be happy to look into this with you.

Let's start by having you reset the NVRAM and then test to see if the issue remains. If needed, the article below will guide you through those steps.

Reset NVRAM or PRAM on your Mac

Also, does the issue remain if you test in another user account?

How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac

Let me know how this goes.

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Answer 2

Jan 7, 2020 7:38 AM in response to kalle125

Does this same issue occur when only ONE display is in use?

If it does not, it is possible you are "losing" the cursor on a different display than you expect. This can occur with a non-intuitive setup of the relative positions of displays:

.

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Answer 3

Jan 2, 2020 9:11 AM in response to kalle125

Cursor-position updating is a low priority task, and cursor lag is most often caused by too few spare CPU cycles to update the cursor position in the screen buffer. (Not by GPU problems in displaying the position.)

What does Activity Monitor say about your CPU usage? is it still in the single digits most of the time, or is something using far more?

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Answer 4

kalle125 Author

Level 1

11 points

Jan 7, 2020 7:27 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thanks for your reply Grant Bennet-Alder. The CPU and GPU utilisation are within normal levels around 2-15%. I honestly think this problem is just a very unoptimised and buggy kernel extension from Apple.

This wouldn't be the first case either, many different versions of MacOS have had issues with external monitors.

Unfortunately I think this is just another external monitor issue I'll have to wait 1-2 years before Apple releases a fix(knowing how long it have took before).

And as well, clean install or PRAM/NVRAM resets of the hardware has unfortunately not helped the issue. Neither has different monitors and adapters.

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Answer 5

Bkfries

Level 1

4 points

Feb 5, 2020 11:06 AM in response to kalle125

I have the same issue. MacBook Pro 16 with external monitor. os 10.15.3

I fixed it by unplugging the trackpad(usb), and let it connect via Bluetooth. Lag is gone. Reconnecting the usb/t cable is fine as well.

hope this help

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Answer 6

Dec 20, 2019 4:57 PM in response to kalle125

Are you running the most up-to-date version of MacOS?

"New machine" problems sometimes have already been seen, solved, and pushed out in the latest updates.

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Answer 7

kalle125 Author

Level 1

11 points

Jan 2, 2020 7:34 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Yes, I'm running latest macOS and I've even checked if any of the beta updates has any statements in the update changelogs about graphics but any information is scarce unfortunately.

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Answer 8

kalle125 Author

Level 1

11 points

Jan 7, 2020 7:41 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thanks for your reply, I have a normal setup of the displays next to each other. It also happens if I have the Mirror Displays setting turned on.

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New MacBook Pro 16" mouse pointer intermittent freezes when having external monitor connected

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