Macbook Pro Retina 13" late 2013 (Haswell) UI Lag

What is your processor and what is the resolution of your screen? Because I have a 13" Retina MBP too and the lag is terrible.

nakano.mma wrote:

A " certified apple tech" ? He went to an apple school or something?

Presumably yes, if the certification was this:

Apple Certified Macintosh Technician (ACMT) Certification

Hey, I am using the first version of the Retina MacBook. So I have a 2.5GHz processor, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, and the Intel HD4000. Screen resolution is 2560x1600, but I have it set to the "best for display" (retina) option. Also, I believe the manufacture of the display is LG (00000610). However, since this problem is happening with so many different people with different display manufacturers, I don't think that's part of the problem. For instance, @Wayne Chin above seemed to have better preformance after replacing his LG display for a Samsung, wheras I got mine refurbished with an LG display already, and that seems to be amazing! Also, I would not consider the "window resizing lag" to really be a problem. I normally keep Safari in full screen, and even when it isn't, I don't rescale it every time I load a website. And if I did, it be a small movement that wouldn't be affected by the lag (from my experience).

Indeed I went to "Apple School". I've got three certifications. Anyways, I've spoken to two different engineers last year regarding my first gen 15" rMBP. How can this be a software issue when scroll lag or lag of any kind exhibits screen anomalies. My first suspicion is that there must be a special chipset for each type of screen being used, otherwise I absolutely cannot explain why a simple screen swap solved everything. But if it IS software, then it needs to be addressed in the machine's firmware, a firmware fix for rMBP's with LG and a separate firmware fix for Samsung screens. I refuse to drop this theory. Some of you may ask, why haven't I followed this through with Apple? Because I sold my 15" and purchased the latest 13" rMBP i7. I have no lag at the moment whatsoever.

Then I guess all I can do is wait for that hopefully in-the-works firmware.

I'm looking at this thread growing and as an owner of late 2013 13' I wonder are you all complaint about the lag when running the screen in Retina mode or you have problems in a standard DPI?

I have a lag in general when running my late 2013 13' in Retina mode and so I disabled it!

Now I can run highest resolution of 25XX smoothly without a single lag anywhere.

The difference between Retina and standard DPI is barely visible and so I'm waiting for a resolution without any pain.

Can you please confirm?

Omg are you kidding me? The difference between Retina mode and the other is just devastating. ENORMOUS DIFFERENCE. Screen looks even worse than on non-retina display. I use DisplayMenu and when turned of Retina mode lag was slightly better but was still there (e.g. resizing windows).

I have both Air and Retina 2013 late. Air is smooth as butter - I mean NO LAG AT ALL even resizing windows.

I'm sorry I use a resolution of 2048 as I like a small laptop with huge amount of screen/work space (I use mine in work and home and huge resolution is why I bought this laptop) Retina at this resolution is impossible. In short, there's no lag plus quality without Retina is great at high resolution. In low resolution Retina might makes difference but in high? I have to be blind as I don't see your HUGE difference.

Well OK if you use that high resolution then there is not a massive difference. But:

1. Not alot of people uses that high res on such a small screen.

2. I still have lag even at max res non retina.

3. There should be no lag IMHO because it is not fair for Pro usesr over Air users.

I agree but just trying to give people an alternative as I doubt that this will be resolved even though I will be awaiting.

I do not have lags with non Retina modes and Retina mode 1280.

Retina mode 1680 lags and annoys me.

My tip: disable retina mode and use high resolution like 1680 or 2048 and enjoy!

I don't get it why we all should look for workarounds on laptos with at least $1,600 price tag?

It should work perfectly out of the box. It is definitely another Apple's fail they haven't admitted it yet.

To be honest in my case (MBPr 13" 256gb Late 13) it has been improved after the 10.9.3 update even though there's still some minor lags. We should all complain to apple customer service just to let them know that there's a problem. They won't help that much but at least they'll start thinking that something is wrong and maybe do something about it.

In my opinion the problem comes from videocard drivers. They're not optimized very well.

I've had this issue since day one, but on an early 2013 model. Frustrating beyond belief.

Only works good in non-HiDPI modes. Have tried clean installs, restores with Time Machine, clearing PRAM. Everything except bringing it into the Genius Bar so they can have my screen replaced by an inferior Samsung screen (have a LG panel).

My old 2011 17" MacBook Pro "feels" like it is leagues faster than the rMBP.

Has anyone gotten through to speak to an actual Apple Engineer? I've spoken to one engineer with no real answer at the time, other than to wait for future firmware updates, which tells me this is more of a hardware issue than software. I urge anyone to call AppleCare before your warranty expires, and escalate the matter to an engineer. These threads have been going on far too long without a solution. Make sure, if they ask you to submit your logs, to follow their instructions closely, so that they can precisely record what is actually happening with your machine at the time of lag.

Hey Wayne, I know it looks like a hardware issue, but I'm running the earliest 13" retina model with an HD4000, and everything is as smooth as can be. How can it be hardware if it's not present on all models? With something like antennegate, the issue was there on every model. However, I'm personally fine.. 🙂 But I did have the issue when I first got the computer this winter, which is why I'm on this thread, so I totally understand how it feels.. somehow it's slowly gotten better for me.

Perhaps youre right. I'm currently running a 13" rMBP 2.8 i7 on 10.9.3, with absolutely no lag or lego block scrolling whatsoever. When I installed Yosemite, everything fell apart. The classic lags, lego blocks and jagged scrolling. Everything I remembered about my laggy 15" rMBP reprised. Thankfully I was able to reinstall Mavericks on my 13" rMBP and thankfully everything was restored, including lagless performance, smooth and perfect scrolling.