MacBook Pro M3 keyboard input stops working or delays

Question

MacBook Pro M3 keyboard input stops working or delays

MBP M3 2024 keyboard input stops working -- has happened 3 times since 26.2

General:

MacBookPro M3, 2024
Happened on 26.* and now on Golden Gate
AppleCare replaced the keyboard once, thinking hardware failure
No ghost BLE, event injection, etc.
Happens in safe boot

Symptoms:

Text events repeat indefinitely
OR Text events show delay by 4-5 seconds between event registering
Key strokes do show up faster if there is a mouse event between each key stroke
Trackpad works

Stuff I've done:

Happens in safe mode
Bluetooth is disable (similar issues were solved by disabling BT for some folks)
Accessibility setting (key repeat, delay, etc.) are all disabled

Any ideas?

Posted on Sep 23, 2026 4:48 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

leroydouglas

Level 10

207,356 points

Sep 24, 2026 9:56 AM in response to assanawaylonis

assanawaylonis wrote:

• MBP M3 2024 keyboard input stops working -- has happened 3 times since 26.2

General:

MacBookPro M3, 2024

• Happened on 26.* and now on Golden Gate

• AppleCare replaced the keyboard once, thinking hardware failure

• No ghost BLE, event injection, etc.

• Happens in safe boot

•

Symptoms:

Text events repeat indefinitely

• OR Text events show delay by 4-5 seconds between event registering

• Key strokes do show up faster if there is a mouse event between each key stroke

• Trackpad works

•

Stuff I've done:

Happens in safe mode

• Bluetooth is disable (similar issues were solved by disabling BT for some folks)

• Accessibility setting (key repeat, delay, etc.) are all disabled

Any ideas?

Hard to answer that question, however

—Test issue in another user (or guest user) account Change Users & Groups settings on Mac - Apple Support

This will tell you if it a universal issue or isolated to your user/admin account.

unplug all non-essential peripherals when testing

Uninstall all third party apps that are Cleaners/Optimizers/VPN/Anti-Virus

all known to cause issues on the macOS

If you still have an issue— take it back in

In or out of warranty you can get a free over the counter 'Apple Service Diagnostics' test /assessment

Make an appointment for a "hardware issue"

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

Outside the USA

Contact Apple Support - Apple Support

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Answer 2

Sep 24, 2026 7:36 PM in response to leroydouglas

Quick update: I *think* it was Adobe Auto Updater that was causing this. It was the only "Intel" software installed in system library (/Library/Software Support). Since the issue happened twice before I installed GG, I don't know if its Intel-ness had anything to do with this or not. But after deleting it I reinstalled GG and everything seems fine now. I did reinstall GG yesterday and the problem persisted, so deleting Adobe might have done the trick. Who knows!

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Answer 3

Sep 24, 2026 1:37 PM in response to leroydouglas

Thanks Leroy. Yes, I have tested in a different user, so the issue is global to the OS. And the Genius Bar already ran their diag test and absence of any issues, decided to physically swap out the keyboard. I strongly doubt that two different keyboards have the same issue.

Other things I've tried is running top while ssh'ed in, to see if anything weird is happening or not. Console has typical crash logs, but nothing keyboard or event related.

One other interesting thing I noticed is that once the keyboard event is in an infinite loop, say in Terminal, if I insert a mouse/trackpad event, it interrupts the key input. I don't know what to make of that. I know MacOS changed how event handling is implemented...

Will keep on digging into this.

Reply

Answer 4

leroydouglas

Level 10

207,356 points

Sep 24, 2026 8:05 PM in response to assanawaylonis

assanawaylonis wrote:

Quick update: I *think* it was Adobe Auto Updater that was causing this. It was the only "Intel" software installed in system library (/Library/Software Support). Since the issue happened twice before I installed GG, I don't know if its Intel-ness had anything to do with this or not. But after deleting it I reinstalled GG and everything seems fine now. I did reinstall GG yesterday and the problem persisted, so deleting Adobe might have done the trick. Who knows!

Good computing assanawaylonis! Appreciate the insight.

Reply