Intermittent severe Magic Keyboard lag

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66 points

Intermittent severe Magic Keyboard lag

My new MacBook Pro 16" really annoys me. I use it with a Magic Keyboard, and intermittently, there's an awful input lag. Every few minutes, the computer seems to stop listening to the keyboard; I stop typing, and then the letters turn up very slowly until almost all of them are in place (not all, there's always a few missing). This totally ruins my workflow, of course.

I have tried two different keyboards, same problem. No problem with these keyboards on my previous MacBook Pro.

Does anyone know what this is?

(I tried to select "Topic: Peripherals" for this post, but sadly, the Magic Keyboard is not listed under peripherals. "Only Magic Mouse and Trackpad". Hence "Topic: Bluetooth".)

MacBook Pro 16", macOS 10.15

Posted on Mar 24, 2020 7:59 AM

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Answer 1

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750 H2C Author

Level 1

66 points

Apr 6, 2020 2:42 AM in response to 750 H2C

And never mind what I just wrote about the keyboard being faulty. I just had the problem with my old keyboard too.

I think I have noticed that, for some reason, the "accent popup menu" appears just before the problem starts. The menu is supposed to appear after a prolonged depression of a key, but for me the menu appears – now and then – at quick strokes.

Not knowing whether the menu is an effect of the problem or if it is actually causing the problem, I have now disabled the menu since I never use it. It is possible by writing "defaults write NSGlobalDomain ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false" in the Terminal and then restarting (or maybe logging out is sufficient).

I will try this and see if it helps.

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Answer 2

sbc9607

Level 1

13 points

Sep 8, 2020 12:49 PM in response to 750 H2C

Simple fix, actually...

I just purchased a brand new 2020 iMac with the Magic Mouse keyboard. From day one, it lagged and sputtered after data input in Word, e-mail, messages, Safari and every other location that required keyboard input.

What worked:

I did turn the keyboard on and off and was able to successfully restore the normal input without the intermittent lag and jumping after input! How simple and effective! Don't waste a lot of time on such a simple fix. Simply, turn the keyboard off and on and see the input smoothness restored!

What didn't work:

After calling Apple support,

I was directed to turn the computer off, unplug the computer and restart. It did not work.
I also disconnected the bluetooth and had it rediscover. This did not work.

Last resort, probably not necessary:

Apple offered to replace the keyboard which is only three days old. Apple was good at expediting a replacement which seemed a little extreme.

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Answer 3

jseemann

Level 1

13 points

Apr 29, 2020 12:15 PM in response to Cyberke

For me with a Magic Keyboard, the fix was strangely turning off and then back on the magic keyboard itself. I tried all the other solutions (resetting NVRAM, turning off the accent popup, etc). Just flipping the switch on the keyboard off and then on again cleared it right up. Must be some buffer in the keyboard itself.

Hope that helps someone who finds this

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Answer 4

Apr 8, 2020 11:30 AM in response to 750 H2C

Having the same issue. Feels software related b/c I'm on a 2019 MBP and the issue is new (last week or 2). It is also happening w/ my Magic Keyboard w/ Numeric Pad. It's definitely worse at different times and with different apps but I agree your system is unusual when it happens. I suspect it was something in the last system update I did.

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Answer 5

mestor

Level 1

13 points

May 21, 2020 6:39 AM in response to ShyGuy69

To everyone having this problem the reason seems to be in the Bluetooth modules.

Here is a solution (maybe temporary) but you can repeat it every time you experience this issue.

In "System Preferences->BlueTooth" check the box "show in menu bar".

Hold shift and option and click bluetooth icon on menu bar. You will see a more detailed menu now with a new entry debug.

What I did was

1- Factory Rest all apple devices

2- Reset the Bluetooth module

3- Remove all devices.

4- Reconnect all devices.

That fixed the problem for me.

Hope it helps.

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Answer 6

750 H2C Author

Level 1

66 points

Mar 27, 2020 12:56 AM in response to 750 H2C

Update: It seems like this issue occurs in Apple Mail only, at least to the largest extent. I've been using Word for hours without any problems, but in Mail, the lagging starts almost immediately.

I haven't tried resetting SMC and NVRAM yet, will do.

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Answer 7

750 H2C Author

Level 1

66 points

Apr 2, 2020 2:02 AM in response to 750 H2C

I have gone through my peripherals, an it seems the culprit might be my Logitech Master MX 2 mouse, wireless via a small USB dongle. When I use an old cable mouse instead, I don't experience any lag at all.

I have used the Logitch mouse via a USB-C-to-"old USB" adapter. Hard to say whether the adapter, the mouse itself or the dongle is to blame. Regardless, things work fine after "de-Logitechisation".

Has anyone else experienced anything similar?

Note: still only, or at least mostly, in Apple's native apps like Mail, Notes and similar. Veeeery strange.

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Answer 8

750 H2C Author

Level 1

66 points

Apr 6, 2020 1:01 AM in response to 750 H2C

Never mind what I wrote about the mouse. The problem appears even with my 15-year-old cable mouse.

I have now concluded that the keyboard itself (Apple Magic Keyboard 2 with numerical keypad) is the reason for this strange behaviour. When I use my old keyboard (an older Magic keyboard without the numerical keypad) there is no lag. I will return the new keyboard as faulty.

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Answer 9

750 H2C Author

Level 1

66 points

Apr 9, 2020 4:23 AM in response to barry.cox

Barry, have you tried disabling the accent menu with the Terminal command above? Took care of the whole issue for me. Therefore, I marked that as the soultion to my problem (privilege of the TS). If it doesn't do the trick for you, there are obviously multiple reasons for this obstructive behaviour.

Note that disabling a function cannot really be regarded as a solution, but for me, never using accents (almost absent in Swedish), living without the function is not a limitation. Apple, if you're monitoring this, please check the behaviour of the "ApplePressAndHold" function.

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Answer 10

Mitch910

Level 1

4 points

May 6, 2020 5:48 PM in response to jseemann

I have the same problem and have done extensive testing and time wasting. I have tried 6 different keyboards including 3 wireless Logitech keyboards and one Apple bluetooth keyboard. The Logitech wireless also connect a Logitech mouse through the same dongle. For me, the mouse never fails. But the keyboard occasionally (sometime2-3 times an hour, some times 2-3 times a day) drops connection for maybe 30 seconds. When it reconnects, some keystrokes were lost from or never made it to the keyboard buffer. When I use a wired keyboard or the built in keyboard, this problem does not occur. I have sed these same keyboards on my Windows machine without issue. I have also reset SMC and NVRAM and completely wiped and reinstalled the OS...with no improvement.

I gave up and use a wired keyboard for 3 months. Thought I would try again today to see if Apple had fixed the issue. No such luck.

Hello Apple? Anyone tracking this issue?

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Answer 11

750 H2C Author

Level 1

66 points

May 7, 2020 4:30 AM in response to Mitch910

I have also reverted to a wired setup: I have connected my Magic Keyboard with the charge cable and disabled the Bluetooth connection. Haven't seen the issue since. So, there's something fishy with the wireless connection.

It's interesting to see that you're getting the same lag with a Logitech dongle. That suggests that the problem is "above" Apple's own Bluetooth connection, if I'm not totally wrong.

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Answer 12

750 H2C Author

Level 1

66 points

May 7, 2020 7:26 AM in response to 750 H2C

However, my Mac automatically sets up a new BT connection to the Magic keyboard after each wake up. Which I have to kill, to force the keyboard to communicate via wire only. Irritating.

I have tried to add the keyboard's MAC address to the "ignore" section of the Bluetooth.plist file via Terminal, but it won't bite.

I have also tried to edit (a copy of) the plist file via XCode, but that's not very easy for a non-programmer.

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Answer 13

May 8, 2020 2:04 AM in response to 750 H2C

I have the same issue - using a 2017 13" MacBook Pro with external Magic Keyboard and an external Apple Trackpad. However, it started a few days ago after I switched from a Logitech MX Anywhere 2S mouse to a spare Magic Mouse I had lying around. The keyboard lag made the computer almost unusable, and the trackpad also lagged but not so bad. However, upon switching back from the Magic Mouse 2 to the Logitech mouse all is back to normal. No lag at all on any of these devices. Ironic the problem appears for me when using only Apple peripherals.

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Answer 14

May 8, 2020 6:56 AM in response to HK Villan

I haven’t tried non-Apple keyboard or mouse yet, but will work on that.

Could be completely unrelated, but I’m also having issues w/ BT headphones on my MBP. I originally noticed a lot of static on Zoom calls with my AirPod Pro’s. I also recently tried some Sony headphones. Static made them both unusable w/ music or calls. Definitely feels like a broader set of BT bugs in some recent updates.

Pretty insane that you can’t connect an Apple KB, Mouse, or Headphones and have them work reliably with a new MBP.

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Answer 15

750 H2C Author

Level 1

66 points

May 11, 2020 12:24 PM in response to 750 H2C

I can confirm now that I have absolutely no lag issues at all when I connect the keyboard with its charging wire. So it is my BT connection that is shaky. Will talk to support (the computer is only a few weeks old).

I am happy to have identified the problem, but I am growing totally mad over the fact that the keyboard auto-connects (BT) every time I wake the computer from sleep. Haven't found any way at all to tell the computer to ignore the connection attempts.

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Intermittent severe Magic Keyboard lag

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