Sluggish and Jerky scrolling on Macbook Pro (Retina)

The Problem

Over the past few months or perhaps longer, I have noticed poor performance with scrolling and responsiveness of my Mac when browsing the web and performing normal functions. It was often sluggish or jerky. At its worst, it was like watching a slide show when scrolling. The problem mostly represented itself when using web browsers, and worst of all in Google Chrome. No application was completely immune, but some performed better than others. Sounds like a Software issue right ? I had attempted small and drastic things to try to solve the issue. After I completely re-formatted and re-installed Mavericks on my Mac, and the problem persisted. Ugh... Contacted support, and they ran me through the usual PRAM reset and reboot stuff, but no real solution was found.

I finally found an obsecure document that suggested that it may actually be a hardware issue.

I determined that the issue was not due to poor performance of the OS, Software or general CPU/MEM utilization as I had been assuming for months. After some extensive troubleshooting I determined that the Trackpad was in fact the issue. Through recording Trackpad coordinates and troubleshooting the scrolling process, it was apparent that "when scrolling" the Trackpad was sending "sluggish/jerky" data to the OS.

The Fix

After I found this, It was simple to find a lesser-known fix for the Mac which consists of Resetting the SMC. The SMC is the controller for the Low-Level hardware (Trackpad included). It is the general interface between much of the hardware in your Operating System. How it was "corrupted" or made to perform badly is anyone's guess.

I ended up resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) which made a drastic difference for the better.

Process for resetting the SMC:

For the MacBook Pro Retina Laptop (Non-removeable Battery)

• Shutdown your Mac, ensuring that you Power it off completely.
• Connect the Power Cord if not already connected.
• On the Built-in Keyboard (Left Side) Press the Following Sequence:

  CONTROL-SHIFT-OPTION once pressed, Press and Hold the POWER button (Hold for several seconds)

• Release the keys at the same time.
• Repeat (if you want, I did)
• Then Press the Power Button to restart the computer.
• Hopefully Enjoy smooth scrolling and TrackPad movement.

To reset the SMC on other Mac Models, Refer to the Apple Support Doc: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3964

It Works Mostly

I still find that on occasion the issue re-surfaces for a short time, and is generally assiciated with high utilization of CPU. But in all, it's like having my brand new Mac back.

NOTE: Please be sure that you troubleshoot and determine that this is the most likely issue. Resetting the SMC is a LOW-RISK process, but Apple recommends that you only do it if absolutely necessary.

I Hope this helps someone else out. After the countless hours of troubleshooting I have done on this, and in finding the ultimate solution, I felt compelled to write it up on the forums for others to find. Enjoy.

--YIHateApple