Mountain Lion UI Lag on rMBP !!! (Let's Make this thread serious and hope for a fix)

Same issue here on a late 2013 rMBP....It seems to afflict all retina models. Really hoping this is a driver issue. Sad that Apple has lost it's attention to detail. iOS7 is a prime example of this. Try changing orientation from an open message on a brand new iPad Air and you'll experience the same choppy animation that we're experiencing on our rMBP's.

I Found My Macbook Pro 2010 running on ML model have all the issue listed on this Forum,

on Activity monitor System using high Cpu usage, but there is no intensive application running...

This must be kernel issue , After Some Time googling over the web i found This Solution Work For Me

"1. Go to About this mac under the apple in the upper left and click on More info

2. Click on system report

3. make a note of what it says after Model Identifier

4. go to your master drive – System -Library – Extensions – IOPlatformPluginFamily.kext -Contents – Plugins – ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin.kext – Contents – Resources – find the name from step 3 and move it to a folder that you can find again if needed.

3. Restart and you’re done

I hope this helps. "

Original Link

kudos

Just upgraded to ML yesterday on my Retina 15” MBP. So far i am so happy with the UI. Full Screen Switching is smooth. All lags issue is totally gone. Even if using Intel HD4000 Integrated Graphic.

I went to the apple store and got my MBP replaced. As I restored my new MBP from the backup at first it all was smooth, then after an hour or so I closed the lid and put it into sleep. After opening it again I went on google maps and did some searches and since then it's lagging again. I'm not sure if it's maps that caused the laggin to come back again or something else. I also removed all files as you said from the Resources location and restarted. Still no difference. But I must say some times it works smooth but realy not very often. So my problem is still not solved.

Hi PAULOOZA,

You summed up it perfectly when you stateted "Steve Jobs would have noticed". He would have for sure noticed and seeing this stuttering and lag on a Apple computer would have made him cry!! It's a disgrace that Apple has not addressed this issue - especially since this is most likely due to poor SW implementation and could be fixed if Apple would just invest some effort to it.

As a background: I have suffered from lag, stuttering and Safari crashes ever since I bought my early 2013 rMBP with 3.0Ghz Intel Core 7. At one point Safari failed to open websites and rebooting did not help - Safari just completely DIED on me. Luckily I was able to find instructions on the web explaining how to re-install Safari. After that I was again able to access webpages but stuttering and lag persisted. I have installed ML and all the updates offered by Apple (apart from Mavericks). I know Mavericks might improve the Safari performance in scaled mode but apparently it will result in even more lag when swithing between windows. That sounds terrifying - I cannot tolerate any more lag than I already have.. (see http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1657499)

To give you idea how bad the lag is: Safari on my rMBP scrolls websites slower than my ancient PC running on Windows XP with 2GB of RAM - I bought that PC in January 2006 and it is giving me better user experience than my 2013 Retina MacBook!

It really seems that Microsoft has overtaken Apple when it comes to SW quality and performance. Recently I used Boot Camp Assistant to install Windows 7 on my rMBP (I didn't even want to install Windows but I had to in order to connect to some external robotics controllers). As soon as I finished installation I was shocked: Windows 7 not only supports the full native resolution of Retina (2560 x 1600) but to my amazement the UI is running super smooth at full Retina resolution. Compare this to Mountain Lion which cannot run the UI properly on a 1680 x 1050 resolution. How pathetic is that!? My MacBook now runs better with Windows!

To make things worse Internet Explorer also runs super smooth at the native Retina resolution (2560 x 1600) and websites with heavy flash content scroll lightning fast. So it seems my rMBP harware is more than capable of delivering smooth UI and graphics. Provided that I run Windows on it! With Mountain Lion this +2000€ laptop just stutters and lags.

Apple: Steve would cry if he was alive.. Can't you respect his memory and legacy and get this issue fixed?

Amazing to see 84+ pages of comments with 115,000 views of a thread that I found thinking I must be having an unusual problem on the top of the line made to order highest Haswell CPU available 15" retina late 2013 MacBook Pro with 16GB RAM 1TB SSD... with latest Mavericks.

Regularly I find myself hitting Command-N 2-3 times to open a new Safari window, because one doesn't open immediately... And then 3 will open up. The top most 2013 model is actually frustratingly slower than the mid-2010 MBP 15 I had to replace because of its defective logic board (known defect).

Other areas of lag are noticeable. Yes, indeed, Steve Jobs would cry (as his biography mentions he did regularly anyway ;-) ) but he would rightfully yell, scream, throw a tantrum and fire whoever is responsible for almost every new Apple product I have bought in the last 4 years having a known defect. Sad decline in a company I once held as an example of quality for others to follow.

Imran

Can't confirm.

After following this thread for quite some time, I finally decided to attend Genius Bar - and to share my experience with you.

I have two major issues: the UI lag and WiFi disconnects while using BT (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4113552?start=0&tstart=0) - both are unacceptable to me.

I told the employee about both and he did have a look at it, but told me that he can't see any UI lag, as he considers this normal behavior. Even used multiple applications as example, i.e. PhotoShop, InDesign, Word, Excel (which are the ones I use most) and told him I got the same problems in both scales and 'best for retina' mode and with other applications as well.

While being there, I talked to two Genius Bar employees plus the manager - while all of them said they're going to try to fix the WiFi stuff, none of them clearly acknowledged the lag. Either it was the programs fault or literally anything else but Apple. Even when I stated that I was using the very same software with my old 2011 MBP 15" and had zero problems and that I wouldn't complain if there wasn't a problem, they just didn't want to see it.

End of story: I'm not amused how this problem is handled (or rather not handled) and how they're trying to make me feel like it's my fault.

I'll get a call today or tomorrow when they've checked my laptop and they'll discuss my options with me. If they choose to further ignore my (our) issue and / or can't deliver a solution, I'll make a video and call Apple Care (in my experience they really try to help us out and don't say the standard Apple marketing BS the Genius Bar people do at times).

Keep you posted. Cheers!

My best guess is that this is something that Apple tells the genius bar and the Apple reps to say. They are only doing what they're told. Apple is ignoring the issue not the Genius Bar. I have discussed this issue with multiple Apple reps and they admit they see the problem with the UI lag, and their response is they are not sure when Apple will have that fixed. When I return my MacBook Pro they were not surprised and were well aware of the UI lag issue. They have said it has improved a lot since the first generation retina MacBook Pro 15 inch, but it's still an issue.

Acting like it's not a problem does not a solution Apple!!!!. Please listen to our posts and do something about this. I returned my MacBook Pro because of this issue, so ignoring the problem only frustrates us more.

I am a consultant and I recommend systems to my clients. This problem is preventing tens and tens of MacBook Pros from being sold from your store. Once this problem is resolved you will sell more MacBook Pros through my company. I hope that matters to Apple.

As I've stated many posts ago, I have gone through many lengths with Apple to resolve this issue with a definitive solution. From 3 logicboard swaps, to a replaced unit, to even direct contact with an Apple engineer, there seems to be an underlying conspiracy that Apple has foreknowledge of this lagging issue with the Retina MacBooks. With much frustration I sold my rMBP and opted for a top-of-the-line MacBook Air. I can attest there are absolutely no lag problems whatsoever with the Air. And although I have seen improved performance of Mavericks on the latest Iris Graphics based MacBooks, I can clearly see that the lag, the largo blocking and stuttered window resizing is still present, and not on my HD4000 based MBA. The only ray of light that I can put on this forum is that the new owner of my rMBP has gone in to the Genius Bar and had Apple to replace the LG based screen to a Samsung screen. The result was dramatic, no more lag or Lego blocking.

I will cut/paste this post again in 3 months :)

I had a rMBP late 2013 with a Samsung screen and it was lagging. I showed the lag to a genius at the Genius Bar and he swaped it and gave me a new rMBP.

I just looked up the screen manufacturer of my new one and it says LG and it's lagging (so in my case it doesn't matter witch display Samsung or LG still lagging). I realy don't know what to do but to just accept it. It's really a shame to apple. I'm a computer engineer student and other students with windows have asked me why my MBP is so slow. It's just embarrassing when you look at the great specs of this notebook, such lag shouldn't be there at all! I mean everything else works great and fast but this UI lag just gives a bad user experience.

Fix it apple!

I kinda still hope that we're overlooking something here. Reason why I got a rMBP is because they offered me a replacement for my 2011 MBP15, which had to be repaired over and over again. That said, I don't see myself working with a MBA, mainly because of display resolution and because I need a discrete graphics card. Which would make a replacement for my rMBP pointless as well, except they'd give me the one with discrete graphics.

But BTT: my unit got a Samsung screen and for me it appears to be the same as for romanrast: it doesn't matter if it's a Samsung or LG one. Which makes me wonder because you and some other people report the lag getting much better after a screen replacement - are there different problems that may lead to similar symptoms? Point is: it's great this fixes it for some, but the ones with Samsung screens shouldn't even have problems in the first place.

And just another question to Wayne Chin: do you recall what the apple engineer said on this topic or aren't you allowed to talk about this?

I've had 2 new samsung screens and my issues are not resolved. I take back what I said earlier about switching to Mavericks doing something positive -- my machine is behaving just like before, which is to say awfully. Very laggy and super frustrating. Don't know what happened, but both safari and chrome seemed to work a little better after the upgrade, but they're both back to "normal" now, which is to say totally subpar.

My power adapter just recently failed, so I went the the genius bar and they ran all the standard tests and my machine passed all of them. So according to apple there's nothing wrong with this expensive hunk of junk. BAH!

I'll be honest, the answers that the Apple senior advisor and engineer didn't sound any different than what the Genius Bar technician sounded or offered as a solution. I felt as though I was we're speaking to a government official shrouding the truth in secrecy, because I was never given a straight answer. All my screenshots, all the videos I posted on YouTube, every time I compared my lagging rMBP with a butter smooth floor model didn't seem to matter, all of my evidence seem to have been pushed aside. The only improvements I ever saw were testing beta versions of Mavericks and swapping out the LG screen for a Samsung one. I've sold my rMBP since.

Even though I don't like what you said (as in: it doesn't ease my mind): Thank you for describing it in so much detail!

Apple didn't call me back yet, so I don't really know if they were able to do sth. about it or not. When I'm going there to pick it up I'm going to take a friend of mine with me for the sake of the psychological effect - so the Genius Bar reps / the manager can't turn me down and tell me they don't see anything.

If they keep saying the stuff we all heard multiple times, a few things will happen (and I will make this crystal clear to them): I will check my options to place guest articles on several IT news sites about the issue itself and the absolutely ridiculous way Apple is handling it - in fact, writing these mails is what I'm doing right after this. Plus I'll get in touch with consumer protection in my country since the product is not as advertised. And still call Apple Care to climb up the food chain a bit. The one thing Apple really cares about is its image which makes it their weak spot as well.

Remember: as long as we're discussing here, it stays here. People who don't know about this problem will not search for it and when they got their own device they may or may not see the lag. At the Genius Bar they can turn us down. But if we take it out to small but well known sites this might force Apple to acknowledge the issue. I'm not saying that it will have any or a huge impact as I can't promise this, but at least I want to put up a good fight here. If they behave like a government official, it's fair to treat them this way: dig out the dirt, make it public and hope for it to get viral.

@Krusty: Apple Hardware Test shows the same for my device. But most of all it's a quick hardware sanity check, it doesn't do any in depth checking as far as I know. Yet I believe they can't even give us a solution except all new all shiny hardware. I've read an article on AnandTech the other day where they describe how they do they scaling on the rMBPs. While in "best for retina" mode the image is rendered at 2880x1800 (or w/e it is exactly), on scaled modes like the 1920x1080 one I tend to use, the HD4000 has to push 3840x2400 images. In the best case at 30+ FPS. That said, the HD4000 isn't even capable of doing the 2880x1800 resolution in a fluent way at all times. Plus because of the way some applications (I.e. browsers w/o hardware acceleration) work this puts a lot of strain on the CPU as well, which is no where as good at drawing UI elements. AnandTech states that in programs with high quality assets (like InDesign for me), "the CPU has to decode images at 4x the resolution it is used to."

All this brings me to a simple point: they build a laptop which they advertised in my country with 'Power bis zum letzten Pixel' (powerful to the last pixel) but simply cannot deliver. The hardware they use is nowhere as powerful as it should be to drive this resolution efficiently. Which explains why the late 2013 models have less problems, as the Iris Pro is way more powerful as the HD4000, but still lacks performance when it comes to high resolutions. Even the GT650M isn't powerful enough to drive these resolutions (exc. "best for retina"), the new one might be.

Here's the link to the whole article: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6023/the-nextgen-macbook-pro-with-retina-display-r eview/8

You may agree or disagree with the above, but it's the best explanation I've come up with so far.