Macbook Pro M1 laggy and irresponsive after Sequoia 15.5 update.

FYI, Available storage space is not synonymous with Free space on macOS. Unfortunately macOS shows the very misleading "Available" storage value every where, but the more important & accurate Free space value is only shown in Disk Utility and System Profiler (aka System Information).

If you completely run out of Free storage space on an APFS volume, then bad things happen such as no longer being able to delete any files to make more room due to how the APFS file system work (Apple neglected to configure a safety buffer to prevent it).

I would look at any cloud based file syncing services. A quick test would be to turn off WiFi to see if that resolves the drive filling up & running out of Free space.

You can also try looking at the "Storage" pane of Activity Monitor to see what app or process is writing the most data (this may not always work or help, but worth a look).

Also many times issues after an update/upgrade are due to issues with third party software. Many times third party apps need to be updated to newer versions compatible with OS update. Apps which interfere with the normal operation of macOS at a low level are usually the culprits. Apps such as anti-virus apps, cleaning/optimizer apps, and third party security software....none of which are needed on a Mac. Uninstall these types of app and make sure your other apps are completely up to date.

gimoh wrote:

Hello, I just updated to Sequoia 15.5 my MBP M1. There were no issues at all before the update. From that time the M1 is laggy on everything: browsing, finding, and opening apps. Plus: double tap on the magic pad for opening files is no longer available.

Plus: my disk utility goes from 40Gb available to less than 2Gb without ANY apparent reason. I tried everything: erasing caches, restarting, double checking disk space, checking activity monitor. No fix. Please help. Thanks in advance.

"40Gb available to less than 2Gb"

Not sure exactly what you are saying here— is this your overall free storage(?)

SSD likes to have 15-20% free storage at all times— do some general housecleaning to free uop spaace if your storage is choked full.

Command i opens the Information pane for the big picture—

I experience the same performance lag! Except I have 80gig of storage left after the OS update. Also I'm running an M1 Macbook pro with 8 gig ram. Thought this machine could handle the punch. Not so much. Apple clearly brings out updates for the once purchasing the latest models. Pethetic!

I have a MBP 14 inch with M1-Max, 64 GB of Ram and since that update to Sequoia my camera is laggy a lot, sometimes I miss what people are saying, my image freeze. I have a 1GB Internet connection at home, more at the office. I really think that Apple made it on purpose so I can jump on a M4 chip MBP. Sadly, it will not happen. I will wait for the next version of MacOS and hope this bug will be gone.

It feels like I installed a Beta OS on my machine that isn't complete.