Ongoing mouse and keyboard stutter since upgrading to Big Sur

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Level 1

23 points

Ongoing mouse and keyboard stutter since upgrading to Big Sur

Hello everyone

I have a 2019 iMac with an 8 core Intel i9 processor, and 128Gb of RAM, with a Bluetooth Trackpad, Mouse and Keyboard.

It took me a while to upgrade to Big Sur, but when I eventually did, it did not take too long for me to notice a mouse lag, as well as keyboard lag.

A post suggested that if the following files be deleted, that would be the end of it

In the ~/Library/Preferences directory:

com.apple.AppleMultitouchMouse.plist
com.apple.AppleMultitouchTrackpad.plist
com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.mouse.plist
com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.trackpad.plist
com.apple.driver.AppleHIDMouse.plist

After deleting the files and rebooting the machine, things were okay again.

But the problem came back.

Again, I went through the procedure.

This fix would last for a few days (less than a week).

Again and again the issue returned.

Then last week, out of the blue, the keyboard completely froze, the entire mac locked up, and after a few seconds, rebooted.

This cycle would repeat over and over.

After booting into Recovery Mode and doing a Disk Utility Repair Disk on all the disks, it was fixed! So it seemed.

Today, less than a week since the Repair, the mouse has started stuttering again.

I never experienced these issues before Big Sur. There is clearly a Bluetooth problem that is causing this.

Could someone please help me sort this out for once and for all.

Thank you.

Posted on Aug 30, 2021 6:49 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

degapop Author

Level 1

23 points

Sep 22, 2021 12:55 AM in response to rkaufmann87

I can kick myself for not trying this simple solution earlier: deleting the bluetooth connections to the mouse and keyboard, and re-establishing fresh connections.

I am very certain that this will fix the issue.

I did take your advice and uninstalled the VPN. The issue came back with force. After googling again, there were posts that I had previously not seen that referred to the same Big Sur+mouse lag issue - one solution was refreshing the bluetooth connections.

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Answer 2

rkaufmann87

Level 10

144,060 points

Aug 30, 2021 7:14 AM in response to degapop

Please navigate to www.Etrecheck.com and download the free version of EtreCheck. Once you have you downloaded the app and installed it, please run the report and save it. This report will help us get a good idea what has been installed on your system and help us be able to diagnose what may be wrong.

When you have your report, you can attach it when you reply to this message and we can then review it and help you determine what is needed to get your system running well again.

For instructions on how to download your EtreCheck report and attach it to your reply to this message please click https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-250000211

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Answer 3

rkaufmann87

Level 10

144,060 points

Aug 30, 2021 7:50 AM in response to degapop

I see several issues that can be causing your problem. First is you have a third party VPN installed, please uninstall unless it is commercial grade AND was supplied by your employer.

The best antivirus, cleaning app, and overall maintenance app for Mac OS is Mac OS itself. All you need to do with Mac OS to keep it secure and running well is to keep it up-to-date and do periodic (about 1x per week) restarts. Other than that, leave it alone. Adding third party antivirus, cleaning, security and other types of maintenance apps to Mac OS adds no additional level of security. The only thing these apps do is have the opposite affect users want. They make Mac OS slow, unstable, generate odd behavior (much like you are experiencing) and make Mac OS appear buggy.

Please locate the developers uninstall instructions for CleanMyMac and follow to the letter. Then restart in Safe Mode per the directions in Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac and then restart normally.

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Answer 4

degapop Author

Level 1

23 points

Oct 18, 2021 11:23 PM in response to degapop

Last night I tried air-dropping images and movies from my iPhone to 'faulty' iMac. It failed. Everything looked in place, but on the iPhone it continued to show 'Waiting,..' And, the keyboard was lagging again. I did the switch off-switch on solution.

It then occurred to me that the bluetooth module is faulty. I searched for 'reset mac bluetooth' and found a post on how to achieve this:

option-shift click the bluetooth icon
reset the module
restart the mac

I've just tried the airdrop again - it worked.

Hopefully this is the solution that will fix the lagging mouse and keyboard issue.

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Answer 5

degapop Author

Level 1

23 points

Aug 30, 2021 8:37 AM in response to rkaufmann87

Thank you very much for your insight.

My mac was upgraded to Big Sur on the 10th of May.

I started the VPN subscription on the 27th of the same month.

I have disabled it for now, and will keep an eye on the mouse and keyboard performance.

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Answer 6

rkaufmann87

Level 10

144,060 points

Aug 30, 2021 8:56 AM in response to degapop

Please do not disable the VPN, that does no good at all. Please uninstall it. Leaving items like VPNs, cleaning apps, AV apps installed and disable is NOT the solution. Uninstalling per the developers instructions and then restarting in Safe Mode are the first steps.

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