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MacBook Air M2 Typing Lag

I have a MacBook Air (M2, 2022) that I bought new a few months ago. If I go more than a few days without rebooting, the keyboard starts to lag. Basically, I will start typing, and nothing will appear, and then after a second or two, stuff starts to appear. I am by no means a speedy typer, but this laptop cannot keep up with my typing. The only solution I found was to reboot.


I switched to MacOS to get away with the constant need to reboot. I am on the latest version of the OS, with all updates installed. The only apps I have installed is Microsoft Office. But right now, it's just Finder and Chrome (3 tabs) that are running. No other application is running foreground or background.


What can I do to resolve this?


Thank you!

MacBook Air (M2, 2022)

Posted on Aug 5, 2023 3:06 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 24, 2024 5:07 AM

I have a similar issue on my Macbook Pro M2 Max.

There is nothing that makes it run slow, the only thing im working 99% of the time in is the terminal.

(Im a system/network administrator, so i don't use almost anything else as the terminal)


The issue definitively doesn't come from the Keyboard/Hardware, since all keys are definitively working without issues, or any special software, or any special settings in macos, my macbook is pretty vanilla.


The issue happens with brightness keys, other key combos, any keyboard input and surely while normal writing.


Lets say, as Example, we take a timerange of 5 minutes.

Once all 5 minutes, there is a random second, where macos is not recognizing Keyboard inputs,

So if i write in that time the text: bunnys bug got smashed

i get: bu bug got smsashed

It eated "unnys" and the last letter appeared again but in "sm's'ashed"


BTW, IT JUST HAPPENED HERE NOW, while i typed this.


It happens around all 5 minutes once, maybe all 2-3 minutes once.


This bug started to appear since macos 14.3 or 14.3.1 (i think since 14.3.1, since it nerves now extremely)


Cheers

8 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 24, 2024 5:07 AM in response to Invero

I have a similar issue on my Macbook Pro M2 Max.

There is nothing that makes it run slow, the only thing im working 99% of the time in is the terminal.

(Im a system/network administrator, so i don't use almost anything else as the terminal)


The issue definitively doesn't come from the Keyboard/Hardware, since all keys are definitively working without issues, or any special software, or any special settings in macos, my macbook is pretty vanilla.


The issue happens with brightness keys, other key combos, any keyboard input and surely while normal writing.


Lets say, as Example, we take a timerange of 5 minutes.

Once all 5 minutes, there is a random second, where macos is not recognizing Keyboard inputs,

So if i write in that time the text: bunnys bug got smashed

i get: bu bug got smsashed

It eated "unnys" and the last letter appeared again but in "sm's'ashed"


BTW, IT JUST HAPPENED HERE NOW, while i typed this.


It happens around all 5 minutes once, maybe all 2-3 minutes once.


This bug started to appear since macos 14.3 or 14.3.1 (i think since 14.3.1, since it nerves now extremely)


Cheers

Nov 29, 2023 1:16 AM in response to Jeff_W.

Found this post and it fixed the problem for me:


"I noticed that this problem wasn’t appearing while mac is charging. So i went to battery settings and there was an option that turns on low power mod. It was set on 'while powering from battery' or smth like that. Putting it on 'never' fixed it and now mac works incredibly well🙏🏻"


It's incredibly un-elegant of Apple to offer a seemingly sensible option which makes the entire laptop experience unbearable. And without any warnings about it even.

Apr 3, 2024 12:22 AM in response to Invero

This started happening to me too after an update in February. I am a college student and use the notes app everyday and it acts up the most when I'm tying stuff on there. I also go to the extent to make sure no apps are open in the background through force quit. it just makes it frustrating having to type long research essay's and having it skip letter or have that delay after typing. The M2 is a really fast processor and it just feels like this is an update issue that needs to be fixed.

Nov 29, 2023 2:07 PM in response to Invero

Chrome is the browser I hate to love and love to hate. I’m forced to use it for work (don’t ask) and I frequently quit and restart Chrome because it is such a memory hog. So that’s my first suggestion. My second is to spend a couple days withSafari to see if Chrome really is at the root of the problem.

Jun 18, 2024 11:29 AM in response to Invero

I own a 14" M3 Pro MacBook and have been dealing with this for at least 6 weeks (... maybe, hard to tell because it's so intermittent and it was happening with my knowing for awhile because it's so brief and rare).


A concrete testing method is needed here. What about Console utility (see below)?


REALLY JUST NEED A SOLID TESTING METHOD

A concrete testing solution would be the most helpful. I've been watching Activity Monitor way too much for weeks but I never see anything in CPU or Memory views. This doesn't seem like a viable method of finding what's happening regardless. Even if there was an indication in the graph, how would that help me locate the culprit? I know that it's possible to sort columns by the software process with highest hit, but there's a lag with what's actually happening and what's reported. Since the problem lasts less than a second, a lag of 5-15 seconds in the Activity Monitor reporting is next to useless.


CONSOLE?

What about using the Console utility? I know it shows logs and error reports and can capture realtime messages from what looks like everything the system is doing. This seems like the best approach because it's possible to get a readout immediately. Problem is it's a deluge of noise to an average user without dev knowledge on how to parse the data stream or even where to start. Do I have to monitor All Messages or Errors and Faults?


Are there simple instructions on how I might use and understand the results for just this typing lag problem via Console? Any other method of logging whatever's actually happening at the system level?


OTHER THINGS TRIED

I've removed external hardware (USB hub, ext drives, keyboard) and numerous background apps without success. I tried running on a second clean admin profile. Again hard to tell because I had to just tap keys forever in a text app to see if it would stop registering. I think it lagged once or twice but not sure.


TECH DEETS

I'm running latest macOS Sonoma 14.5 (23F79) and Safari 17.5.

MacBook Air M2 Typing Lag

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