Sequoia upgrade causes external mouse issues on external monitors?

Following the upgrade from Sonoma to Sequoia, my external mouse is drifting. This only happens with the cursor over the external monitors, which are connected through a docking station.


The computer: Macbook Air, with Apple M2 chip, 24 GB memory.


The mouse: Apple mouse, about 2021 vintage.


So far, I've tried:

  • Cleaning mouse optical area to ensure no debris is obscuring the sensor
  • Resetting pointers, including forgetting the mouse and reconnecting it
  • Rebooting machine
  • Changing pointer preferences for both trackpad and mouse
  • Reinstalling Sequoia


By "drifting" I mean that when the mouse is already moving, its movements are erratic, with a tendency towards the middle point of the two external monitors (it moves in different directions on different screens). The cursor does not move unless the mouse does, but a small up-and-down motion creates a significant side-to-side motion. There appears to be a slight bias for upward motion as well.


The only thing that changed causing this to happen was the upgrade from Sonoma to Sequoia.


Is anyone else having this issue? Thoughts on a solution? I'm tempted to do a clean install of Sonoma to roll back the upgrade, but that feels like going nuclear.

MacBook Air 15″, macOS 15.0

Posted on Sep 25, 2024 12:59 PM

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Posted on Jan 5, 2025 3:52 PM

I found turning off the pointer acceleration in the advanced mouse settings fixed the issue, I was using an apple mouse so no other issues and my external screen was already disconnected but it kept happening, a restart fixed it for awhile, but disabling the pointer acceleration seems to have fixed it. You may want to slow down the cursor speed until you get used to it 🤣

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Jan 5, 2025 3:52 PM in response to Alliumcepa

I found turning off the pointer acceleration in the advanced mouse settings fixed the issue, I was using an apple mouse so no other issues and my external screen was already disconnected but it kept happening, a restart fixed it for awhile, but disabling the pointer acceleration seems to have fixed it. You may want to slow down the cursor speed until you get used to it 🤣

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Oct 7, 2024 11:39 PM in response to ruben-52

Not for me. I'm still encountering issues. Sequoia 15.0.1. Apple Magic mouse A1657. Macbook Pro 2021 M1 Pro, external screen (Samsung) over USB-C.


The issue is that after some time mouse clicks are not registered anymore, or get stuck (getting into selection mode as a result). The issue then also is the same when using the internal trackpad


Going into sleep and starting again solves the issue temporarily

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Oct 14, 2024 7:03 AM in response to Alliumcepa

I had the same issue after upgrading to Sequoia. MacBook Air M2. Apple mouse, 2 external 4k Dell monitors attached via a Minisopuru dock. Only affecting one of my 4k monitors. The dock requires DisplayLink drivers. I had been suffering for a few weeks but then read the post saying it could be to do with DisplayLink. I just upgraded from DisplayLink v1.8 to v1.10 and it's fixed.

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Sep 26, 2024 1:02 PM in response to Alliumcepa

Edit:


As an update, I have tried with a trackpad and 3 other mice. The issue appears to be consistent across the bluetooth connection for pointers.

  • Wired mouse worked normally.
  • Wireless non-Apple mouse worked normally (USB connection)
  • Another Apple mouse had the same issue
  • Apple trackpad (external) has the same effect, but it's less pronounced than the mouse
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Oct 9, 2024 6:45 AM in response to Alliumcepa

I do have the same issue with my Logitech M70 Triathlon since upgrading to Sequoia.

Dragging around a window fast on any screen causes the mouse to "loose grip" or it may not "lock" on the window at all. The M720 can use bluetooth or the logitech unified dongle. Tried both connection methods, same issue.


Then I connected my HP Travel mouse from work with my M2 MacBook Pro - issue gone.


It may be driver issue for some pointing devices in Sequoia but obviously not all.

Until the issue is resolved, the Logitech M720 is not usable with my Mac.

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Feb 20, 2025 8:29 AM in response to wmott10034

I’ve been experiencing the same issue with two different Magic Mouses on my MacBook Pro M4. I also encountered this problem on my MacBook Pro M1 before I acquired the new machine a couple of weeks ago. I’m currently running macOS 15.3.11, and the problem persists. The problems started immediately after upgrading to macOS 15.


The solutions I’ve tried that work include powering the mouse on and off, running a script that kills Bluetoothd, or disconnecting the Wi-Fi. I’m puzzled by the Wi-Fi issue since I’m using 5 GHz Wi-Fi, not 2.4 GHz. As a network design engineer with 30 years of experience, I don’t believe it’s a Wi-Fi-related problem, especially since my Mac mini, which is physically positioned next to my MacBook Pro M4, doesn’t have any issues.


Furthermore, I’ve had an Elgato dock for seven years without any problems and switched to a Caldigits TS4 dock, but I still encounter the same issue. My setup consists of two 4K 60 Hz monitors. If I disconnect my laptop, the problem disappears from the dock, suggesting that it’s related to an external configuration setup.


I’ve tried disconnecting all my USB devices one by one, but I couldn’t narrow down the issue. This is extremely frustrating.


Turning off pointer acceleration is not an option because moving a mouse without point acceleration is actually terrible. It eliminates the granular control for slow movements and also lacks the quick response.


I have two older Magic Mice that use batteries, and I’m planning to try one of those and see what happens. I’ll report back on my experience. I’ve already opened a case with Apple and sent in a feedback case. Unfortunately, Apple no longer responds to feedback cases since the Sonoma update. I’m not sure why I used to receive great responses from them. I’m informed that they still read them, so I’ll continue using the feedback app to update the case. In addition to updating my case with Apple support since I have a brand-new Mac, I’ve also enrolled in AppleCare Support.

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Oct 5, 2024 2:56 PM in response to Alliumcepa

I have this problem too, Apple please fix ASAP. I’m on a MacBook Pro 1MX using a Benq monitor supplying power and connected over usb-c. I have to restart the computer to resolve the problem. Problem seems to occur upon waking. Note, problem still occurs if I unplug the monitor then wake the laptop. Problem: left click ceases to function. Right click still works, sometimes left click is stuck selecting, -I was stuck resizing a window.

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Dec 19, 2024 3:11 AM in response to Alliumcepa

In my case, I have a bluetooth mouse and a wired mouse, both from Logitech. In both cases the glitch is happening. Also, I have a single external monitor, and I don't use any extra software to manage the monitors, so I guess the issue come from the OS update

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Oct 3, 2024 4:31 AM in response to mminassian

My monitor has 3 input options:

  • USB C
  • DisplayPort
  • HDMI


My Macbook has 2 output options: (MacBook Pro - M1 Pro, 2021)

  • USB C
  • HDMI


I tested 3 cables to try and see if the mouse lag would disappear.

  • USB C output to USB C input -> did not work, issue continued to exist
  • USB C output to DisplayPort input -> solved the issue, mouse does not lag anymore
  • HDMI output to HDMI input -> solved the issue, mouse does not lag anymore


Hope this helps.

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Sequoia upgrade causes external mouse issues on external monitors?

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