Lag/CPU Usage Spike when Changing Volume when using AirPods

I had this same issue for a long time, whether headphones plugged in or bluetooth, with my AirPods and Beats. After reading all the comments, I thought it made most sense if it is the Mac trying to communicate with all the other bluetooth devices from the past; I deleted all these (some non apple bluetooth speakers, headphones etc), and voila the problem went away. One other thing I did, at around the same time (right before my problem resolved), which I don't really think was related, is that I used shift-option-volume button to fine-change volume.

Give this a try: boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and test to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.

NOTE 1: Safe Mode boot can take up to 3 - 5 minutes as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

NOTE 2: if you have a wireless keyboard with rechargeable batteries connect it with its charging cable before booting into Safe Mode. This makes it act as a wired keyboard as will insure a successful boot into Safe Mode.

I solved this problem by telling my Mac, in the Bluetooth preferences, to forget all audio devices; did the same with my phone and all other devices that pair with my headphones. Then I re-pared them and this solved the issue.

14.1.2, at least so far, seems to have fixed it for me.

For those looking for a non-reboot solution, I found this on reddit but I didn't see it in this thread here. I just ran "sudo killall -9 WindowServer" (via Utilities > Terminal for those not familiar) and it worked for me. Yeah it's almost like a reboot but not quite as severe. Zero CPU spike whatsoever when changing volume after running that command.

So restarts helps to fix this problem but it comes back when my mac goes sleep and wakes up.

Exact same situation here on two Macs (2020 M1 MBA, 2020 14" M1 MBP, both on latest Ventura) so I won't bother repeating the details, but I did want to report a workaround:

If I change volume using Raycast, it works fine. (I have a feeling this might also be true of Alfred and LaunchBar but I don't use those.)

So until Apple fixes their thing, there's a way to get your volume changes done safely.

I had the same problem with my Mac mini M1. This problem occurred during macOS Ventura and updating to Sonoma did not resolve it. But when I updated to Sonoma 14.2 the problem suddenly went away. I don't know why the problem went away, which is weird, but I am a little relieved.

Same issue here. M1 mac. Only solution is to restart computer and clear PRAM.

There is a perfect technical solution on the first page that very clearly states how the disconnect function of OSX is not properly releasing all resources and memory, causing lag spikes to occur if you've disconnect your headphones many times since last clean restart.

Happening to me for a long time. After googling and reading all the comments, I came to the conclusion that it happens for all Apple Silicone Macs, not only M1 or M2. And there is no evidence it does not occur on Intel Macs. It happens for multiple OS versions, not only in Ventura or Sonoma. Nothing except reboot helps, but even that only solves the issue temporarily. No SMC or PRAM reset helps. No Bluetooth connections are needed, but any Bluetooth device worsens the problem exponentially. It might be related to the Continuity feature of MacOS, like trying to sync the volume across your other devices or something like that.

It's indeed a ridiculous issue for the modern computer. It makes my M1 Mac performance comparable to a pre-Intel Mac, like PowerPC G5. Apple should honestly declare that Mac performance depends on your luck and is somewhere in the range of -1000% to 110% of prior Intel generation.

It's beginning to look like a "bug" with Sonoma and M2's. Tell Apple about the issue via Feedback - macOS - Apple.   The more reports the better.

Then it appears to be a Silicon issue. Let Apple know.

I've had this problem with the M1 Mac mini for over a year. A couple of times, I discussed with Apple Support this problem. They collected some logs, screenshots, and screen recordings. After that, they escalated the issue to the engineering department. They answered that the problem was based on the user account and advised me to re-install the OS.

The main problem is I've also M1 and M2 Macbook Airs with the same apps installed. I've no problem with them while using my AirPods Pro 2. I re-installed the OS on my Mac mini, but the problem persisted. I deleted all settings and content, and the result is that I'm still having this problem.

Since my primary job is video editing, working with Mac mini with AirPods is a serious problem. Unfortunately, Apple Support didn't help me properly.

This is simply unacceptable.

To clarify my issue, I don't use any bluetooth devices (never have). I do use audio programs heavily, including mainstage, quicktime and spotify. Just now I tried closing spotify and the volume glitching went away! Well, it still used 50% cpu across all cores, but it wasn't spiking and lagging like before. Then I reopened spotify and clicked play, and all the spiking and lagging came back whenever changing volume, across all cores. Could this whole thing be related to Spotify? I remember a while back Spotify had a bad resource consumption issue (which a newer version fixed) so I wouldn't doubt this. I haven't rebooted since Jan 7 (over 2 months ago), so for my volume NOT to spike when spotify was closed is very interesting. Update: definitely not just spotify. I closed spotify and opened mainstage and have the same popping and lagging when changing volume. But with spotify and quicktime closed (and only quicktime and browsers open) I can change the volume mercilessly without any cpu spike.

I experience the same, on a freshly installed MacMini M1 too. It is working for an hour or so, but - usually when I leave it on rest for a small while, screen locked and reopen - after a while it starts the lagging. Many of the applications and services which are potentially using mic/producing audio are spiking, and the whole machine lags seriously, until rebooting...

Also, it is not just with volume change, but when a notification hits in with sound, then everything lags again.

Besides then this, when we have reached the mentioned threshold in time, video playback (e.g. youtube, plex) lags periodically, eg. there is a noticeable glitch in the video playback in eg. every 30secs...

In the logs I did not yet found anything suspicious in the flood of warning messages...

Really annoying.