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gifanaprd Author

Level 1

13 points

macOS 27 Mission Control freezes for ~1 second when switching Spaces, animation is missing

Hi everyone,

After updating to macOS 27.0 (Build 26A428), Mission Control/Spaces has become noticeably laggy on my MacBook Pro.

When I swipe up with three fingers to open Mission Control and click another Desktop Space or full-screen application at the top, the screen freezes for approximately 1 second and then immediately switches to the selected Space.

The normal Space transition animation is completely missing/skipped. It feels like macOS freezes for a moment and then simply "teleports" to the next Space.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Swipe up with three fingers to open Mission Control.

2. Click another Desktop Space/full-screen application.

3. Observe the transition.

Expected:

A smooth animated transition between Spaces.

Actual:

~1 second freeze/frame → instant switch → no transition animation.

I'm running:

MacBook Pro M5

macOS 27.0

Build 26A428

I've already restarted the Mac, restarted Dock, and checked Reduce Motion/animation settings. The issue persists.

Is anyone else experiencing this on macOS 27?

Posted on Sep 15, 2026 9:49 AM

Top-ranking reply

neuroanatomist

Level 9

72,871 points

Posted on Sep 15, 2026 10:12 AM

The behavior that I observe on macOS 27 is the same as on macOS 26. Three-finger swipe up, click on another Space, and the other Space immediately opens with a 'zoom into then out from top-center' animation.

It may be system specific, I have Golden Gate running on a 16" M4 Pro MBP, and I see the 'normal' behavior as I describe on both the internal display and when running in clamshell mode.

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

Those steps will help to isolate the problem.

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23 replies

dermadoc

Level 1

18 points

Sep 17, 2026 2:26 PM in response to gifanaprd

same and worse! My macbook pro m4 base model really slowed down after golden gate 27.0 update. The smooth experience I previously had is now gone! I tried to contact apple support, they suggested to wait for few days but now 2 days have been past without any improvement. safari ui is constantly hiding the top side of the page, apps on the doc don't start, app changes are clunky and even going to the desktop is hard from mission control, clicking to an empty area doesn't work anymore...

tyskey

Level 1

121 points

Sep 18, 2026 2:12 AM in response to gifanaprd

I'm experiencing exactly the same symptoms on my M5 MacBook Air. This is causing me a lot of trouble and my productivity has dropped significantly. I'm really struggling and I'd like this to be fixed as soon as possible.

Sep 22, 2026 12:39 PM in response to gifanaprd

I've the same problem. In my case, the zoom in and zoom out animation plays correctly, but as you say, with a noticeable delay. And also I feel the "App" laggy (I mean the window where you can see every app you have), like it's not as fluent as it was.

I'm using a macbook air M4 with MacOS 27.0

Sep 28, 2026 9:49 AM in response to gifanaprd

Similar problem here on M4 MBPro with 24Gb RAM. Glitch space switching: the 'desktop' space thumbnail auto-activates on 3-finger up-swipe and the wrong preview is shown in the main window. Down-swipe then returns to the original desktop (with major flicker), but sometimes switches to a completley different desktop :-( I've sent a video clip to Apple Feedback.

Sep 16, 2026 8:41 AM in response to gifanaprd

Me too. I have MacBook Air M4 and this I what I have observed after upgrading to macOS Golden Gate https://youtu.be/MexBwqnKHsU

Flupster

Level 1

5 points

Sep 21, 2026 5:10 AM in response to gifanaprd

Same here, since macOS 27. Mission Control is very laggy. Be nice to get this fixed or find a workaround.

tyskey

Level 1

121 points

Sep 28, 2026 2:23 PM in response to gifanaprd

Unfortunately, it appears that the issue has not been resolved in version 27.0.1...

I hope a fix will be available soon!

enterdv

Level 1

14 points

Sep 29, 2026 9:36 PM in response to Reuben_C

I already had those options turned off, and the problem was still there. I tried turning them on and off, but it didn't help, the problem persists.

macOS 27 Mission Control freezes for ~1 second when switching Spaces, animation is missing