After updating to MacOS 27 when I click on the menu bar, the menu takes about 1-2 seconds for the menu to show. If I move the mouse before it shows, it opens the menu that the pointer is over, not the original menu I clicked on. Anyone else having this issue or know what could be wrong?
Mac Studio (M3 Ultra, 2025)
That's a symptom of a slow Mac.
Runaway processes and low free storage space are common reasons for Macs to run slow / beachball.
It is possible there are processes running in the background that are using significant resources. Check Activity Monitor, CPU tab (sort by % CPU) and Memory tab (sort by Memory) to see what's running hard.
Activity Monitor User Guide for Mac - Apple Support
Confirm that you have sufficient free space on your internal storage. The absolute minimum is ~20-25 GB free space, and as a rule of thumb you should aim to have 15-20% of your total internal storage as free space. Terminology is important here – free space is not the same thing as available space. The one that matters is Free space, but what macOS shows in most places is Available space. Available space includes both free space and ‘purgeable’ space, the latter comprises system caches, snapshots and other data that macOS can delete if it decides more free space is needed. However, there is no way the user can force those data to be purged.
The place to check how much Free space you have is in Disk Utility (in Applications > Utilities), by selecting the main container disk below the drive itself (you may need to select View menu > Show all devices to see it). For example, on my M4 MacBook Pro, the Storage settings pane and Get Info on the internal drive show 1.24 TB of Available space, whereas Disk Utility shows there is 1.15 TB of actual Free space, 90 GB less than ‘available’. Although 90 GB is a small fraction of my 2 TB internal storage, that would not be the case with 256 GB or 512 GB of internal storage.
Note that you can also see the Free space in the System Report (System Settings > General > About > System Report button, at the bottom > Storage).
Some steps to take to safely free up space:
Free up storage space on Mac - Apple Support
Optimize storage space on your Mac - Apple Support
How to free up ‘System Data’ and other st… - Apple Community
If nothing in the above reveals an obvious culprit, then appropriate troubleshooting steps are Safe Mode and creating a new user account to test.
See if the problem is present when you boot in safe mode. That process performs some system cleanup and clears caches, and also disables 3rd party extensions that may cause problems.
Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support
If that does not correct the issue, test in a new user account. A newly-created user account will have all settings at default, and if the issue does not occur in that new account then it provides guidance on what may need to be changed to correct the issue.
Add a user or group on Mac - Apple Support
Once the testing is complete, the new account can easily be deleted.
Delete a user or group on Mac – Apple Support
If you have 3rd party ‘protection’ software installed, that may be the problem. That includes:
Such 3rd party system ‘helpers’, ‘cleaners’ and ‘protectors’ do more harm than good. In fact, such products are completely unnecessary for macOS and the only ‘good’ (if you want to call it that) they do is to put money in the developers’ pockets. Cleaners and protectors cause compatibility issues, often after macOS updates. Commercial VPNs claim to hide your browsing activity from websites, and while that may be true those VPN providers just sell your browsing data to others. For the user, all of these types of software offer only harm…and if that is limited to harm to your bank account, then count yourself lucky. If you have installed such software, follow the developer’s instructions to completely uninstall it (note that some developers fail to provide instructions and their software installs can be pervasive, meaning the only way to truly remove it is to erase your Mac, reinstall macOS then restore your user files from a backup).
It might help to download and run EtreCheck, written by a long-time forum member. The free version is fine. Post the full report using the Additional Text button. No personal information is revealed.
That's a symptom of a slow Mac.
Runaway processes and low free storage space are common reasons for Macs to run slow / beachball.
It is possible there are processes running in the background that are using significant resources. Check Activity Monitor, CPU tab (sort by % CPU) and Memory tab (sort by Memory) to see what's running hard.
Activity Monitor User Guide for Mac - Apple Support
Confirm that you have sufficient free space on your internal storage. The absolute minimum is ~20-25 GB free space, and as a rule of thumb you should aim to have 15-20% of your total internal storage as free space. Terminology is important here – free space is not the same thing as available space. The one that matters is Free space, but what macOS shows in most places is Available space. Available space includes both free space and ‘purgeable’ space, the latter comprises system caches, snapshots and other data that macOS can delete if it decides more free space is needed. However, there is no way the user can force those data to be purged.
The place to check how much Free space you have is in Disk Utility (in Applications > Utilities), by selecting the main container disk below the drive itself (you may need to select View menu > Show all devices to see it). For example, on my M4 MacBook Pro, the Storage settings pane and Get Info on the internal drive show 1.24 TB of Available space, whereas Disk Utility shows there is 1.15 TB of actual Free space, 90 GB less than ‘available’. Although 90 GB is a small fraction of my 2 TB internal storage, that would not be the case with 256 GB or 512 GB of internal storage.
Note that you can also see the Free space in the System Report (System Settings > General > About > System Report button, at the bottom > Storage).
Some steps to take to safely free up space:
Free up storage space on Mac - Apple Support
Optimize storage space on your Mac - Apple Support
How to free up ‘System Data’ and other st… - Apple Community
If nothing in the above reveals an obvious culprit, then appropriate troubleshooting steps are Safe Mode and creating a new user account to test.
See if the problem is present when you boot in safe mode. That process performs some system cleanup and clears caches, and also disables 3rd party extensions that may cause problems.
Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support
If that does not correct the issue, test in a new user account. A newly-created user account will have all settings at default, and if the issue does not occur in that new account then it provides guidance on what may need to be changed to correct the issue.
Add a user or group on Mac - Apple Support
Once the testing is complete, the new account can easily be deleted.
Delete a user or group on Mac – Apple Support
If you have 3rd party ‘protection’ software installed, that may be the problem. That includes:
Such 3rd party system ‘helpers’, ‘cleaners’ and ‘protectors’ do more harm than good. In fact, such products are completely unnecessary for macOS and the only ‘good’ (if you want to call it that) they do is to put money in the developers’ pockets. Cleaners and protectors cause compatibility issues, often after macOS updates. Commercial VPNs claim to hide your browsing activity from websites, and while that may be true those VPN providers just sell your browsing data to others. For the user, all of these types of software offer only harm…and if that is limited to harm to your bank account, then count yourself lucky. If you have installed such software, follow the developer’s instructions to completely uninstall it (note that some developers fail to provide instructions and their software installs can be pervasive, meaning the only way to truly remove it is to erase your Mac, reinstall macOS then restore your user files from a backup).
It might help to download and run EtreCheck, written by a long-time forum member. The free version is fine. Post the full report using the Additional Text button. No personal information is revealed.
A 1–2 second delay after clicking a menu-bar item, followed by a different menu opening if the pointer is moved during the delay, is worth troubleshooting. The symptom alone does not establish the cause.
Determine whether the delay affects all types of menu-bar menus.
Test the Apple menu, an application's menus, and one or two status-menu items such as Control Center or another icon on the right side of the menu bar.
Apple treats these as different parts of the menu bar, so this comparison can help establish whether the behaviour is general or limited to particular items. (Apple Support)
If the problem continues, temporarily remove non-essential menu-bar items and quit third-party utilities that interact with the menu bar, mouse, keyboard, windows, or displays.
Also check System Settings >> General >> Login Items & Extensions for third-party background items and extensions. Apple: Change Login Items & Extensions settings on Mac
If the delay remains, test the Mac in Safe Mode.
On your Apple-silicon Mac, shut it down, hold the power button until Loading startup options appears, select the startup disk, hold Shift, and choose Continue in Safe Mode.
Apple says Safe Mode can help determine whether software that loads during startup is contributing to a problem. Apple: Start up your Mac in safe mode
If the problem disappears in Safe Mode, that provides evidence that software loaded during normal startup may be involved.
If it continues, testing with a new macOS user account can help determine whether the behaviour is specific to the current user account.
If the problem occurs with different menu types, remains after third-party software is excluded, and also occurs in Safe Mode, I would report it to Apple with the exact macOS 27 version and the reproducible behaviour: clicking a menu, waiting 1–2 seconds, and moving the pointer during the delay causes a different menu to open.
What you describe is a specific menu-bar responsiveness problem, not a general problem with your Mac being slow.
You have a Mac Studio with an M3 Ultra, 96 GB of RAM, and more than 500 GB of free storage, and this was the only function you observed running slowly.
After upgrading to macOS 27, clicking a menu-bar item could take about 1–2 seconds before the menu appeared. If you moved the pointer during that delay, a different menu could open.
You first observed the problem after upgrading to macOS 27. Apple Support initially attributed it to Spotlight indexing and advised you to allow time for indexing to complete. You did so, but the problem remained. You subsequently tested Safe Mode, reinstalled macOS, tried another user account, removed login items and extensions, and worked through additional troubleshooting with Apple Support over several days. None of those steps resolved the problem.
You eventually erased the Mac and performed a clean installation. After that, the menu-bar delay was no longer present.
This distinction is important because Apple treats reinstalling macOS and erasing the Mac before reinstalling macOS as different procedures.
A normal reinstallation is intended to preserve your apps and personal data, whereas erasing the Mac removes the existing system and data before macOS is installed again. Apple: How to reinstall macOS
Migration Assistant is also relevant. Apple states that it can transfer applications, user accounts, documents, and settings from another Mac or a Time Machine backup. Apple: Transfer to a new Mac with Migration Assistant
If a clean installation were followed by migration from a backup made while the original problem already existed, some part of that previous environment could potentially be transferred back. That would not be the same diagnostic test as using the clean installation without restoring the previous environment. Whether migration would actually reproduce the problem cannot be determined because the original cause is unknown.
Your testing does not identify the exact cause, but it does establish useful boundaries. The problem remained after Spotlight indexing, in Safe Mode, with another user account, after a macOS reinstallation, and with login items and extensions removed. It was no longer present after the Mac was erased and macOS was installed cleanly.
Those results do not prove that macOS 27 itself was the cause. They also do not provide evidence that your Mac was generally underperforming. They show that the problem was specific to the menu-bar behaviour you experienced and that the clean installation was followed by its disappearance.
Apple's initial explanation that Spotlight indexing was responsible was not supported by the outcome, because the problem remained after indexing had completed. After the other troubleshooting steps also failed, the clean installation became the step after which the problem was no longer present.
The most precise conclusion is that you encountered a specific menu-bar responsiveness problem after upgrading to macOS 27. You spent several days working through Apple's troubleshooting process, including reinstalling macOS and isolating user-level software and settings, without resolving it. Erasing the Mac and performing a clean installation was followed by the disappearance of the problem. The exact underlying cause remains unknown.
It is understandable that having to erase and rebuild the Mac after an operating-system upgrade would be frustrating, particularly when the other troubleshooting steps had already been exhausted.
The evidence does not establish precisely what caused the problem, but it also does not support reducing your experience to simply having a “slow Mac.”
I did contact Apple. Told me it was Spotlight indexing and to give it a couple days. Did that no help. Did safe mode. Did a re-install of the OS. Tried a different user. Turned off all my login items, extensions, etc. Tried a ton of other settings, which felt irrelevant to me, but did all the steps they asked and nothing worked. Finally gave up on Apple help and had to wipe my computer clean and do a new install. Now it's fine again. Not the first time I've had to do a clean install after an update. It's a pain to do, as you know. I spent nearly a week on this. My machine is plenty fast. I did everything right. It's annoying I had to go through all this. There's plenty of other issues I've found with this OS too, but this was the big one.
Still? I had to do a clean install, nothing else worked.
Update:
The "MenuBarAgent" process takes ~60% of the CPU whenever menu bar is being used.
Definitely something bad is happening. Killing it doesn't solve the problem, as it restarts and takes a lot of CPU again.
After several (useless) phone calls with Apple support, I finally gave up and did a full clean install. This fixed the issue completely, until about a week later and I'm now having the same issues again. I didn't install anything new since it was working, and it never had this issue before I updated my OS, so it can't be anything on my end at this point. I'm running far less apps and extensions than I did before too.
elektrobank wrote:
What kind of response is this? My Mac isn't slow. I have a Mac Studio with 96GB of RAM and over 500GB of free disk space. This is the only thing that runs slowly, and it happened right after updating. It's clearly a problem with MacOS 27.
I experience nothing of the sort after upgrading my 16" M4 Pro MBP to macOS 27 Golden Gate. Clicking on the Menu Bar (menu on the left or icon on the right) produces an essentially instantaneous menu or other appropriate action.
You can choose to blame macOS 27 and live with the delays, or you can choose to try troubleshooting steps, or you can contact Apple for support.
Hi,
Just because you didn't experience the issue doesn't mean it isn't there.
I too experienced this just after upgrading to macOS 27 golden gate. This is definitely an OS issue and need to be looked at. These troubleshooting steps just waste people's time and don't do anything.
What kind of response is this? My Mac isn't slow. I have a Mac Studio with 96GB of RAM and over 500GB of free disk space. This is the only thing that runs slowly, and it happened right after updating. It's clearly a problem with MacOS 27.
lprimak wrote:
This is definitely an OS issue and need to be looked at. These troubleshooting steps just waste people's time and don't do anything.
If it’s definitely an OS issue, why do I not experience it? Why is this issue not frequently reported on these forums?
If you are experiencing the issue, you have two choices. One, you can try troubleshooting that issue, and steps to do so we’re provided. The results of those steps would determine the subsequent steps. Two, you can blame Apple and wait for them to fix it. Either way, good luck with your issue(s).
Still unhelpful. Denial is not a solution. What is this, microsoft in 1995? "deny, deflect, blame the user?" Really?
It is an OS issue, and it's been widely reported now. Just because you are not affected, it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. You may be in the minority. The troubleshooting steps are a waste of time for those who are affected.
lprimak wrote:
Still unhelpful. Denial is not a solution. What is this, microsoft in 1995? "deny, deflect, blame the user?" Really?
It is an OS issue, and it's been widely reported now. Just because you are not affected, it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. You may be in the minority. The troubleshooting steps are a waste of time for those who are affected.
Ok, well…you know best. Clearly Apple didn’t test the software, and I guess no one with similar hardware was a beta tester to notice this glaring, pervasive issue. Clearly it is Apple’s fault and can’t possibly have anything to do with a ln incompatible 3rd party extension you’re running. I mean, that’s been shown by others to be the cause of the specific issues they were having with Finder glitching, keyboard hesitancy and other issues after they followed those time-wasting steps that led to their problems being solved. But that’s not the case, here. Mmmmmkay. As I said, good luck with your issues. Hope Apple fixes your Mac.
Unhelpful
Unhelpful
Show menu opening in MacOS 27
