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

Same problem with mid-2011 MBPro but with built-in keyboard.

With so many people having the same problem, I've given up trouble-shooting and hope for a fix from Apple in the next Yosemite update.

In the meantime, I'm writing my emails in TextEdit.

If I am replying to an email, I copy/paste the text into the original email as a reply.

If I am writing a new email, I highlight the text, go to TextEdit's Services Menu, select "New E-mail with Selection" that creates the new email. If you don't use Services, you can almost as easily copy the new text, go to Mail, open a New Mail and paste the content there.

much as i want this issue resolved, i would never go back. i LIKE yosemite; overall, fast, stable. AND i like the look...

Using TextEdit is a great workaround. When I bought my 5k retina iMac, I thought my computer problems would go away since I was using an old 2007 iMac, that was dying. I also agree with fisherKing that the new OS is quite nice. Since my new machine came with this OS already installed, I'm sticking with it and hope the next update comes sooner than later.

I just realised that this issue is now over eight weeks old.

It is clear from earlier posts that Apple know about it but pretty disappointing that it has not been fixed yet.

Earlier, it was annoying but manageable - now Mail is virtually unusable so I think that somehow the problem has deteriorated.

One more thing to eliminate:

I saw this comment on MacInTouch, and tested the setting to see if it affects the Mail typing bug. No luck. The typing lag still occurs with Use smart quotes and dashes off.

(I have seen the misplaced cursor while typing in a phpBB forum in Safari.)

MacInTouch Reader

A reader noted,

I have encountered an extremely strange (and annoying) bug; I can't tell if it is a bug in Yosemite, Webkit, or Safari. It is limited to certain websites. The Bogleheads forum is one of them. It also occurs sometimes when text editing in the Xojo IDE (formerly REALBasic).

The insertion point becomes misplaced.

I'm not sure what the origin of bug is, but it is a bug. My spouse has experienced it in Mail. What seems to work is to turn off smart quotes and smart dashes. System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Text. Uncheck "Use smart quotes and dashes." At least that worked for my spouse. I have never used smart quotes.

 

I found this answer in the Apple discussion forums.

I concur; I mentioned in an earlier post (or maybe on the thread I started around the same time as this one) that I also have the lag on some websites. I haven't been able to determine the sites' frameworks as I hadn't considered there to be a reason to discriminate until now.

hard to imagine the relationship, but...for some months, i've had one site that i regularly visit that loads impossibly slow. the email lag (for me) only started about 2 1/2 weeks ago...

either way, a lot of frustration dealing with this (especially the email lag).

It's the Handoff feature.  Uncheck Handoff in general settings at the bottom of the screen and the lag will go away.  You won't be able to use Handoff....if that's important to you, but at least the lag will go away.

uncheck handoff in general settings.  Will deactivate handoff, but will eliminate the lag in email.

Unfortunately, I'm seeing the lag and I already have Handoff turned off. So that's not the only cause.

What about older Macs which are incompatible with Handoff because they don't have Bluetooth 4 (like my Early 2009 MBP 17) and others, such as some 2011 Macs?

There is no Handoff setting to deselect.

here as well, no handoff to deselect...

Tried that some time back. Didn't fix the problem.

I also thought it looked like Handoff, given the frequent in and out-going activity.

Is there anyone here who has this issue NOT using an iPhone? Has anyone tried disabling Handoff on the PHONE (in Settings > General > Handoff & Suggested Apps)?

I concur - there are many of us who have this issue who do not see the "Handoff" option on our Macs (they're too old to support the Bluetooth 4.0 LE required for Handoff), but I wonder if it is a bug related to the Handoff feature when an iPhone is in the mix?

I just turned Handoff off on my iPhone. It's too early to tell but I'll update as I've typed a bit more.

Kirk out

Update: Have been in continued discussions with a Senior Advisor about this issue. They have witnessed the lagging during a screen share session.

At their request, I have sent Capture Data files, a QT screen capture (tons of misbehavior that I annotated in the sample email that was recorded), and Activity Monitor System Diagnostics files.

Let's cross our fingers.

BTW, turning off Handoff doesn't change anything for me. My new MBP is handoff-capable, but my "old" iPhone 5 is not. Would have been a great if the the computer was looking for a handoff device and couldn't find one.

Question: Looks like lots of people with this problem are using laptops. Anyone having this problem on an iMac or Mac Pro?