macOS Monterey Memory Leak in Facetime

Question

Level 1

4 points

macOS Monterey Memory Leak in Facetime

I have found a major memory leak in FaceTime after upgrading to Monterey. If I use it for more than a certain amount of time it uses up all the memory on my MacBook Air with Apple silicon in it. It did not do this before the upgrade when it was running Big Sur. Is there any way of fixing this issue. I am at the point that I am considering wiping out the disk and starting over again with it.

Thanks for any help anyone can give me.

MacBook Air 11″, macOS 10.13

Posted on Nov 10, 2021 6:25 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

TMG319 Author

Level 1

4 points

Dec 14, 2021 10:14 AM in response to VikingOSX

Hi Viking,

I updated my OS to the new release 12.1 last night. I have tested FaceTime after the update and they seem to have solved the memory leak problem, I thought you would like to know. Thanks for your suggestion on sending the problem directly to FaceTime support. I gave them all the details, it may have helped them figure out what was happening.

Reply

Answer 2

dialabrain

Level 10

136,127 points

Nov 10, 2021 8:54 AM in response to TMG319

FWIW, one known cause of memory leaks in Monterey is changing the cursor color. If you have, try resetting it to black.

Reply

Answer 3

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,470 points

Nov 10, 2021 9:14 AM in response to TMG319

Well, you need FaceTime working as you expect. No one here knows if this is something that Apple is aware, and will fix in the next few Monterey releases. I too would consider reverting to Big Sur from its last Time Machine backup and let Monterey soak through a few point updates.

Consider sending direct feedback to the FaceTime Product team with the detail you provided above. They won't read about it in these public, user-supported communities.

Reply

Answer 4

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,470 points

Nov 10, 2021 8:36 AM in response to TMG319

If there is actually a memory leak in FaceTime, and on the outside chance that Apple knows about it at this early stage of Monterey releases, then it may be fixed by Apple in the next Monterey update (or not). There is absolutely nothing you can do to remedy this on your own, or by your fellow users here.

Is this a single one-on-one FaceTime call, or a conference involving many participants?

You don't mention if you purchased the M1 Air as the 8GB or 16 GB option, but the low-end configuration might simply be FaceTime exhausting the remaining RAM after Monterey feeds itself. Thus, it may not be a memory leak owing to available RAM and the answer to that second paragraph.

Reply

Answer 5

TMG319 Author

Level 1

4 points

Nov 10, 2021 8:55 AM in response to TMG319

Thanks for your reply. It is a one on one FaceTime call that has the memory leak and it is a MacBook Air with 8GB of RAM. The process that actually uses up all the memory is "callservicesd" and it starts off small and over the course of a half hour uses up all the memory and the computer freezes and has to be forced to shut down. I have the activity monitor going and tested it many times now and once a call is started the process grows linearly until no memory is left. I have tested it without any other programs open and it just gives it a little more time before the memory is filled.

I have been considering wiping out the drive and reinstalling Big Sur which does not have this problem. Using Big Sur I can keep 6 desktops open with six different programs and the memory pressure is still in the green when using FaceTime.

I appreciate your thoughts on this. The computer is a MacBook Air M1 2020 with 8GB of memory and used to work flawlessly before the upgrade to Monterey.

Reply

Answer 6

TMG319 Author

Level 1

4 points

Nov 10, 2021 8:57 AM in response to dialabrain

Thanks for the info on the cursor color. I have never changed it from black so that does not appear to be the problem.

Reply

Answer 7

dialabrain

Level 10

136,127 points

Nov 10, 2021 8:58 AM in response to TMG319

Welcome.

Reply

Answer 8

TMG319 Author

Level 1

4 points

Nov 10, 2021 9:19 AM in response to VikingOSX

Thank you for your excellent suggestion. I did not know that there was a direct feedback page for the product team and I will certainly send them a writeup of the problem.

Reply

Answer 9

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,470 points

Nov 10, 2021 9:21 AM in response to TMG319

You are welcome.

Reply

macOS Monterey Memory Leak in Facetime

Similar questions