Choppy scroll on M1 Chip Macbook Air

Hi guys, if you are using a non-Apple mouse just like me.

I suggest you install one of the apps below.

Both of them are 100% free (at least when this post is written).

• Mos (I'm using this)
• Mac Mouse Fix (Download here on Github)

I hope all mouses will be supported for the smooth scrolling by apple soon in the future without having to install a third-party app.

I am so disappointed with my M1 AirBook Pro because of this that I am seriously contemplating returning it. Scrolling is choppy everywhere. Word documents, Safari... I am gonna give a call to Apple support and see what they say. This is unacceptable.

Solution (in steps)

1. system preferences
2. accessibility
3. pointer control
4. trackpad options (small button)
5. adjust scrolling speed to 'fast'
6. choose 'with inertia' in the drop down menu

This worked for me!

I bought a M1 MacBook Pro 2 weeks ago with 16 GB unified memory, it is running macOS 11.2.3 and Safari 14.0.3.

And webpage scrolling was choppy from Day 1. It happens on Apple's own websites. Or even on websites that do not have any ads.

Scrolling over text would be fine until the images in the page appear.

This issue exists in Chrome also but to a lesser extent.

The UI stuttering and sluggishness happens outside Safari too, like the Notification Center.

When connected to an external display, the stuttering would happen when moving windows.

I also reported a dozen other issues using the Feedback web page. https://www.apple.com/feedback/

After speaking to Support, I completely erased the drive and reinstalled macOS.

The issue exists even on a fresh install without any 3rd party extensions and apps.

The issue is noticeable even in Apple Music sometimes, when scrolling past songs and reaching other albums.

The transition between text and images seems to trigger the issue in Safari, Music etc..

Changing Accessibility > Pointer Control settings do not improve the issue.

I just now reported again in the Feedback webpage.

I urge everyone to report performance issues and other bugs, this is the only way to have issues addressed.

https://www.apple.com/feedback/macbookair.html

https://www.apple.com/feedback/macbookpro.html

Can't imagine how these basic issues exist on Apple Silicon considering DTKs and Big Sur were available since July 2020 and it was another 4 months till the M1 products released.

Good to know that a replacement has the same issues. Indeed the whole m1 / Big Sur (and Adobe) experience is very frustrating. This user mentioned the problem already in December 2020> https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252239061. Using the Magic Mouse 2 makes it even more horrible.

I've got my MBA 2 weeks ago. At first I didn't notice, as it felt perfectly smooth, especially after using windows 10 for years. But now I kinda notice at the beginning of each scroll the page kinda stutters a bit, like its loosing frames. I notice it the most in safari, especially when setting default page zoom like 125%. In chrome it is significantly less noticeable. In Pages or large pdf files I cannot tell if I see the lag. Maybe they need to release a new graphic driver version or something.

The same for me... I talked to the apple technicians and they too confirmed that they noticed it ... the problem is that it takes a lot of reports for apple to take it to heart ... The problem is that too many users are few in the macbook world conscious / aware / motivated to report

i would say dont return it because they are extremely powerful machines as it exported a 30gb 4k video file in 5 min . I know what you are talking about and i am also facing the same thing but i am sure that in a few updates its going to be fine , i mean its apple. right? lets all fill in the feedback ,i dont think it is a hardware issue at all , the problem is with the new big sur and optimising it , will be done very soon.

Same problem here. MBA M1 8GB / 256 GB - Safari stutters browsing the web. Less noticeable in chrome, but still there. Especially when there is lots of animations, Pinterest I.E.

Hope it gets fixed soon. Im on the trigger returning it.....

i totally agree with you. I have reported in the feedback section. As you said; basic issues 4 months after release, thats not a Apple product worthy.

The pointer speed change didnt fix my problem either. Good to see other users have the same problem. I do not have a faulty device then... (or, im not the only one).

This is extremely disappointing.

Apple prides itself over customer satisfaction and the basic action, everybody performs, on a daily basis is scrolling webpages, documents, etc.

The M1 devices might have great compute performance but it is a small fraction that is editing 4K videos and rendering 3D models.

Even developers spend a lot of time scrolling through code and forums.

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@jonasfromlarvik

How did you manage to get an engineer on the phone?

Yup, it is. He even said that I should return the device and get my money back because there was no solution yet.

I did not speak with an engineer myself, but the Senior Advisor spoke with them about the problems I was having and informed me.

I have a M1 MacBook Pro and it also stutters when I scroll on Safari, Chrome and some other apps as well. I don't know why so I seeked support from Apple and they said that it isn't a hardware issue. Does anyone else face the same problem ?

I'm having the same issue on my MacBook Air M1 (8/256). Safari jitters while scrolling, less apparent on Chrome, but it's still there. Resizing Chrome lags crazy as well. Called up Apple Support and after hours of troubleshooting, they offered a replacement, but I'm shocked and disappointed to find that the replacement unit has the same issue as well. This is so underwhelming considering that this was supposed to be my first Apple computer.

Surprisingly, not everybody is facing this. A friend of mine has the same configuration MacBook Air M1 and he says he hasn't faced any such thing. I'm not sure how to go ahead with this anymore. So very frustrating.