Lag in Typing in Yosemite's Mail w/ External Apple Keyboard

Since upgrading to Yosemite I have been having a very annoying problem with delayed typing response in Mail when I have my external USB Apple keyboard (current model with numeric pad). It is a sporadic issue. Typing will be responsive, then there are 2-4 second delays in response. I have only witnessed the issue with Mail and when using the external keyboard. Problem does not occur in other programs or when using my MacBook Pro's built in keyboard. Nor did the problem exist prior to upgrading to Yosemite.


My equipment is a late 2013 MacBook Pro Retina. When on my desk, I have it connected to a 23" Apple Display (original LCD), USB Apple Keyboard, Logitech cordless Trackman, and a Drobo firewire external drive.


Has anyone else witnessed this issue? Or have an suggestions on correcting?


Thank you in advance!

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10), Mail

Posted on Nov 1, 2014 5:46 PM

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588 replies

Jan 27, 2015 6:01 PM in response to fisherKing

I got an email from the senior support agent I've been working with to try the 10.10.2 update, and just did so, restarted, and responded to his email with NO LAG. At all.


Given the couple of other reports here of it having no effect, I'm a bit skeptical of this being a true fix. But I'm crossing my fingers.


Except while I'm typing.


I'll be interested to hear if this update helps others.

Erick

Jan 27, 2015 8:14 PM in response to Erick Mikiten

Updated to 10.10.2. Same thing. Still there. For the record, Mail went from version 8.1 (1993) to 8.2 (2070.6) so it did get a rev but apparently for issues I'm not having.


I've switched to PostBox. I can't stand it any more and if someone asked me if I would pay $10 to make it go away, I'd do it in a second so it's worth it. I'll keep subscribed to this thread to see if the problem ever goes away but for now, I've addressed it.

Jan 28, 2015 5:38 AM in response to fisherKing

For those of you interested in Postbox, I have used it off and on for several years and it works great. Easy to import your existing Apple Mail info and settings. Postbox is basically a fancier version of the old Thunderbird that has been around for years. My understanding (which could always be wrong) is that Postbox augments the basic Thunderbird framework with extra features and tools. It is easy to use, stable, and ---- does not have keyboard lag!


You can switch to PB now, the switch back to Apple Mail at a later time when it is fixed. I've done this a couple of times. Obviously there are a few of the Apple Mail features that will be missing, but all the basics are there. I have my iCloud mail, two IMAP accounts (from hosted servers) and three Gmail accounts all feeding into my PB.


Phil

Jan 28, 2015 5:48 AM in response to Andrew-StL

Two things. Something else to try, and a Postbox trivia question.


Stuff to try: kill Mission Control (untick every box in System Preferences -> Mission Control), reduce transparency (tick the "reduce transparency" box in System Preferences -> Accessibility), turn off LCD font smoothing (untick the box at the bottom of System Preferences -> General). These are really aimed at improving performance overall, but one of these might help us too.


Postbox Trivia Question: Does it use the same physical mail folders that the Mail.app uses, or does it import the mail into its own database? I could answer this question on my own by installing and trying an install, but I thought I'd see if there's an easy answer out there first. Thanks in advance.


EDIT: This applies only to POP users who, like me, have giant piles of old mail stored locally -- IMAP would be a breeze, since the mail is on the server and all Postbox would be doing is acting as a window into those folders.

Jan 28, 2015 5:58 AM in response to OConnorStP

Re: Postbox storage question.


I'm not sure about POP messages, but the IMAP folders are the same library folders as Apple Mail. I would assume that POP storage would be the same, but can't guarantee it. I guess the only way to be sure is to give it a try (after a full backup, or course <smile>.


Here is what "Postbox" has to say on the topic: http://support.postbox-inc.com/hc/en-us/articles/202197680-Postbox-Profile-Data.


Good luck! Maybe by version 10.10.3 or 10.10.4 the problem will be fixed.

Jan 28, 2015 6:08 AM in response to pdavis42

Ah! Thanks pdavis... That's the clue I needed. It's bad news for me, 'cause Postbox is making a copy of all that mail and stashing it away in their own directory, rather than using the Mail.app folders directly. Probably not a big deal for most folks, since IMAP has long since become the standard way to handle mail, it's only us old POP fossils that will be affected.

Jan 28, 2015 12:20 PM in response to Digitalclips

Add me to the list of those affected by this annoyance. I use a 2012 Retina MBP with built-in keyboard only. I started noticing the lag several weeks ago. I thought turning off spell checker solved the issue but it hasn't. Nor has turning off Handoff or any other setting that I've tried. I too momentarily see the beachball when the lag occurs, and then the typed characters appear. I filed a bug report with Apple. In the meantime, I'm trying out a trial of Postbox.

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Lag in Typing in Yosemite's Mail w/ External Apple Keyboard

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