Mouse cursor lags with external monitor

I've noticed another way to stop the lag (until the next time the monitor sleeps) -- unplug the mini display port connector and plug it back.

Can't believe this has been an issue for years...

I changed my display sleep from "Never" to 3 minutes and it took care of the issue. Mid 2012 MBPr.

Hello, I have this exact same issue, on my Dell U2713H. Using a brand new 13" Retina MacBook Pro.

When I connect the external monitor, mouse pointer becomes jumpy, on both the external screen and on my MacBook Pro's built-in display.

Like some other ppl in this thread, I can make it go away temporarily by entering the monitors menus and moving around some in them. When I exit the menu the jumpiness is gone. When the MBP falls asleep and I wake it up again, the problem is back (most times anyway).

I never see this behaviour when I connect my gaming PC running Windows 7 to the monitor. Neither did my old MacBook Pro mid 2010 have this issue.

Hi Björn Nilsson,

What's ur Macbook pro's spec? Is it the new 2013 Haswell system with HD5000 graphics?

Can u verify if the problem happens when running bootcamp?

Let's see if we can collect more info on what monitor/macbook this problem will appear on.

Hi,

mDP to DP cable connected to laptop and screen (screen turned on, using it via DVI): lag

mDP to DP cable connected only to laptot: no lag

I was thinking this might have to do with the Thunderbolt 2/Displayport 1.2 socket and the way it is handled in OS X, since my previous Macbook Air (mid 2012) has Thunderbolt 1 (Displayport 1.1) socket and it is working fine. Then again, reading this thread it looks like also Thunderbolt 1 equipped devices are having the same symptoms so maybe it is not directly caused by the later port ...

I'll need to try a dual link DVI adapter to get 2560x1440 resolution. At the moment I'm guessing it will work fine, but would of course rather have it work with the mDP <-> DP cable ...

Cheers, Sami

Same problem here with Retina MBP13 HD 5000 connected via Dell cable miniDP to DP and u2713H.

Had to apply fix from http://embdev.net/topic/284710 to fix unsharpening. (maybe this fix introduces bug?)

each time after mac goes to sleep mouse pointer starts to lag.

If I go to monitors menu and enable DP 1.2 lag vanishes until next sleep...

with lag or without it I see mouse pointer trail on monitor.. it is not present on Mac screen...

do you also have white trail on pointer?

So all of you sound incredibly more knowledgeable in computers than I am..so I apologize if this is a stupid comment. But I had the same issue with my mouse/keyboard lagging on my external monitor (acer I found buried away in my basement). I also was unable to view streamed videos because they would skip. However one night while I was trying to fix the problem I remembered that I changed my desktop background settings (on my monitor) to slide through a bunch of photos I have (every 5 seconds)…I guess it kind of makes sense why it worked, but I changed it to just show one picture all the time and it fixed the problem immediately. I don’t have any mouse lag or typing lag any more and the videos stream fine…not sure if this helps.

Again this conversation is way out of my league but I figured I say something

OK... so after a day, the mouse went unstable three more times.

The trigger to fail ( for me at least ) is often when I remove and replace the LTop onto the monitor cables.
I.E. head to a meeting with the LYop and return and hook up the monitors to the tow DP ports.

One common fix was to change either of the displays from 1.2 -> 1.2 OR 1.2 -> 1.1

No reboot restart or reboot required.

Go figure

KTH 2014 02 27

I took, have this issue, even after 10.9.3

I have tested the following conditions

Condition 1

Macbook Pro Retina, late 2013 (10.9.3) in clamshell or open, with 1 or 2 external displays

Samsung SyncMaster S27B350 connected either HDMI, or thunderbolt to HDMI (adaptor is Apple, PNY, or generic, I've tried them all)

Logitech M705 mouse (wireless) -OR- Apple mouse

Result - Mouse skips erratically

Condition 2

#1 but with wired Microsoft Mouse (5 year old mouse, not sure on the model)

Result - mouse is smooth, but freezes for 1 second every 30 seconds or so

Condition 3

Macbook (10.9.3) in clamshell or open, with 1 or 2 external displays

Apple thunderbolt display(s)

Condition 4

#3 but with wired Microsoft Mouse (5 year old mouse, not sure on the model)

Result - seems to be ok

Condition 5

Macbook (10.9.3) in clamshell or open, with 1 or 2 external displays

1 Acer monitor through HMDI, 1 x-star monitor (connected using this since monitor requires Dual Link DVI)

Also, mouse is connected through USB hub

Result - seems to be ok

(I think this is surprising, and is the reason I didn't bring it up before, as this is my home setup. I think it's significant because the X-star monitor has no logic board in it. It's literally a display with only a single valid input, a DUAL-LINK DVI)

Condition 6

Macbook pro with no external display and any mouse

Result - Always ok

Condition 7

Any external displays with built-in trackpad

Result - seems to be ok, but harder to tell

I have the exact same problem as you describe, two monitors connected.

"Solutions" so far

Tried every possible solution. I'm only able to make the mouse stop lagging/freezing by disconnecting and having only one active monitor (or mirror) but as soon as I go more than one (dual or more, extended display) the problem comes back.

So it's obviously has something to do with the graphics card or drivers. I'm very scared this might be a hardware problem. 😢

Only temporary fix is to restart, but if you put it to sleep or change the display setup the problem will come back.

OS X or not?

10.9.4 did not fix this problem, just the same as it was in 10.9.3.

I don't know if this problem was on earlier OS X releases, since I just got these two monitors.I really hope this is software related...

Hey guys,

I'm having the same issue.

I'm running mid-2014 MBP 13", the 2.6G/8G model, with 10.10.2. External display is ViewSonic VA2431wm.

I'm using miniDSP-HDMI cable. Didn't try to use HDMI-HDMI cable.

Issue occurs both for trackpad and apple magic mouse.

Unlike Hannes0586, the guy before me, lag not disappear no matter plugging in the display before or after connecting the mouse. I think the order doesn't matter because the trackpad also has the same issue.

The put-mac-in-sleep-for-10-second solution in page 1 seems work for me. But I do hope Apple can solve this issue completely.

I have a 2014 13" MBP Retina connected to two Dell U2413 monitors via Display port to miniDP at work, and just recently started getting some mouse lag. My solution which has worked 100% so far after 1 month is to plug in the monitors and the USB connection (keyboard/mouse going to the monitor's USB hub), then turn off one of the monitors, wait for the screens to refresh to two screens, then turning it back on again. Lag gone. Still inconvenient, yes, but I'd rather do this for 10-15 seconds than have to deal with a mouse lag/skip all day.

Hi, seems I know the reason and have working solution. I had same problem on my Macbook Pro 13, and seems the reason is a HDMI conflict with USB mouse radio transmitter.

The solution helped to is is just to use USB on the other side from HDMI port.

Anyone can confirm this works? Interesting is it cable related or port related problem?

Have you connected power (charger) to macbook or are you using it on battery? I have not noticed problem while on charger (or sleep timeout is too long)

Turn off 'Enhanced' setting in the monitor's own display options. It's not going to make it perfect, but it fixes the jaggedness...