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User profile for user: b.stones
b.stones Author
User level: Level 1
83 points

iMac 27-inch (Late 2015) Dock/Mission Control animations stutter

Hi everyone,


I have a Late 2015 iMac Retina 5K with a 1 TB 7200-rpm HDD running OS X El Capitan. I purchased it last month.


I have noticed the animations that take place when opening apps in the Dock, launching Mission Control or opening the Applications stack on the Dock sometimes stutter. It doesn't make a difference as to whether I'm running lots of applications or very few - and even when I have many things running, there doesn't seem to be a pattern when it occurs. I just don't understand how a computer with a quad-core processor and decent graphics can have animations that stutter when doing basic tasks like launching Mission Control or opening apps on the Dock. Is this really the price of having a spinning hard drive? I've had Macs before with mechanical hard drives and I've never experienced anything as bad as this. Memory pressure and CPU utilisation is always OK - I've been monitoring it closely.


While overall performance seems fine, every so often the UI on screen seems to stutter and it really makes the computer feel slower than it really is. Is there anything I can do to remedy this? This can't surely be the limits of a 7200-rpm hard drive. I realise SSDs are faster but surely not to the point where a mechanical drive just makes your computer slow in general.


Here are the logs from EtreCheck, if it helps:


EtreCheck version: 3.1 (331)

Report generated 2016-11-02 20:21:13

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime 1:47

Performance: Excellent


Click the [Support] links for help with non-Apple products.

Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.


Problem: Computer is too slow


Hardware Information: ⓘ

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015)

[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]

iMac - model: iMac17,1

1 3.2 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-6500) CPU: 4-core

8 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

BANK 0/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1867 MHz ok

BANK 0/DIMM1

Empty

BANK 1/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1867 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM1

Empty

Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported

Wireless: Unknown

Video Information: ⓘ

AMD Radeon R9 M380 - VRAM: 2048 MB

iMac 5120 x 2880


System Software: ⓘ

OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 (15G1108) - Time since boot: less than an hour


Disk Information: ⓘ

APPLE HDD ST1000DM003 disk0 : (1 TB) (Rotational)

[Show SMART report]

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 999.35 GB (935.08 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB


USB Information: ⓘ

TOSHIBA External USB 3.0 2 TB

EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Macintosh Backup Disk (disk1s2) /Volumes/Macintosh Backup Disk : 2.00 TB (1.93 TB free)

7.92 GB

EFI (disk3s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Install macOS Sierra (disk3s2) /Volumes/Install macOS Sierra : 7.57 GB (2.63 GB free)

Broadcom Corp. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

Lexar USB Flash Drive 8 GB

Pen Drive (disk2s1) /Volumes/Pen Drive : 8.00 GB (4.07 GB free)


Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus


Configuration files: ⓘ

/etc/hosts - Count: 11


Gatekeeper: ⓘ

Mac App Store and identified developers


Kernel Extensions: ⓘ

/Library/Application Support/VirtualBox

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv (5.1.8 - 2016-10-25) [Support]

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetAdp (5.1.8 - 2016-10-25) [Support]

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetFlt (5.1.8 - 2016-10-25) [Support]

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB (5.1.8 - 2016-10-25) [Support]


/System/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] com.fitbit.galileo.FitbitUSBCable (1.0 - SDK 10.10 - 2016-11-01) [Support]


System Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] 8 Apple tasks

[loaded] 163 Apple tasks

[running] 68 Apple tasks


System Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[not loaded] 47 Apple tasks

[loaded] 156 Apple tasks

[running] 88 Apple tasks


User Login Items: ⓘ

BetterTouchTool Application (/Applications/BetterTouchTool.app)


Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

FlashPlayer-10.6: 23.0.0.205 - SDK 10.9 (2016-10-30) [Support]

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2016-10-25)

Flash Player: 23.0.0.205 - SDK 10.9 (2016-10-30) [Support]

JavaAppletPlugin: Java 8 Update 111 build 14 (2016-10-28) Check version

Default Browser: 601 - SDK 10.11 (2016-07-09)


3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ

Flash Player (2016-10-23) [Support]

Java (2016-09-22) [Support]


Time Machine: ⓘ

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: NO - Auto backup turned off

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 999.35 GB Disk used: 64.26 GB

Destinations:

Macintosh Backup Disk [Local]

Total size: 2.00 TB

Total number of backups: 3

Oldest backup: 25/10/2016, 20:50

Last backup: 01/11/2016, 00:15

Size of backup disk: Adequate

Backup size 2.00 TB > (Disk used 64.26 GB X 3)


Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ

6% universalAccessAuthWarn

4% WindowServer

4% clementine-tagreader(4)

4% mdworker(17)

3% kernel_task


Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ

1.42 GB phpstorm

1.06 GB firefox

805 MB kernel_task

647 MB plugin-container

303 MB mdworker(17)


Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ

2.07 GB Available RAM

85 MB Free RAM

5.93 GB Used RAM

1.99 GB Cached files

0 B Swap Used


Diagnostics Information: ⓘ

Nov 2, 2016, 08:14:15 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/phpstorm_2016-11-02-201415_[redacted].cpu_resou rce.diag [Details]

/Applications/PhpStorm.app/Contents/MacOS/phpstorm

Nov 2, 2016, 07:45:49 PM Self test - passed

Nov 2, 2016, 02:13:17 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/galileod_2016-11-02-141317_[redacted].crash

/Library/Application Support/Fitbit Connect/galileod

Nov 2, 2016, 12:54:32 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/galileod_2016-11-02-125432_[redacted].crash

Nov 2, 2016, 07:48:40 AM ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/nsurlsessiond_2016-11-02-074840_[redacted].cra sh

/usr/libexec/nsurlsessiond

Nov 1, 2016, 07:24:47 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Skype_2016-11-01-192447_[redacted].hang

/Applications/Skype.app/Contents/MacOS/Skype

Oct 30, 2016, 11:40:18 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Skype_2016-10-30-234018_[redacted].hang


Thanks!

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015), OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Nov 2, 2016 4:16 PM

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User profile for user: b.stones
b.stones Author
User level: Level 1
83 points

Posted on Feb 12, 2017 2:45 AM

Hello,


After much investigation, it turns out the GPU is running out of vRAM when the animation stalls occur. Put simply, it's being caused by the amount of pixels the GPU needs to animate. With the Retina display, a full screen window is 14 million pixels alone - combine this with lots of other large windows and it can overwhelm the capacity of the GPU. Therefore, I have found maximising windows has a significant effect on how frequently animation stalls occur - if I have lots of applications open but keep their windows unmaximised, animation stalls may not occur at all.


I did submit a complaint about this to Apple, and to my surprise an engineer had contacted me shortly afterwards asking me to forward over some sysdiagnose logs and a video recording of the problem so that they could investigate. After waiting several months, the engineer told me they see some use cases that can benefit from further optimisation, but confirmed the problem is ultimately caused by the system running out of vRAM.


I don't know about you but I am certainly wondering why Apple decided to use a GPU that could easily be overwhelmed by the Retina display, but at least this issue comes to some kind of close and I am reassured knowing it is not an underlying hardware problem.


I should also mention I recently went to my local Apple Authorised Service Provider as I had a separate issue with my iMac which required hardware service. When I went to collect my machine, I tested an iMac they had on display as they also happen to be an Apple Authorised Reseller and I noticed the same animation stalls under the same conditions on the machine I tested.

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User profile for user: b.stones
b.stones Author
User level: Level 1
83 points

Feb 12, 2017 2:45 AM in response to norm123

Hello,


After much investigation, it turns out the GPU is running out of vRAM when the animation stalls occur. Put simply, it's being caused by the amount of pixels the GPU needs to animate. With the Retina display, a full screen window is 14 million pixels alone - combine this with lots of other large windows and it can overwhelm the capacity of the GPU. Therefore, I have found maximising windows has a significant effect on how frequently animation stalls occur - if I have lots of applications open but keep their windows unmaximised, animation stalls may not occur at all.


I did submit a complaint about this to Apple, and to my surprise an engineer had contacted me shortly afterwards asking me to forward over some sysdiagnose logs and a video recording of the problem so that they could investigate. After waiting several months, the engineer told me they see some use cases that can benefit from further optimisation, but confirmed the problem is ultimately caused by the system running out of vRAM.


I don't know about you but I am certainly wondering why Apple decided to use a GPU that could easily be overwhelmed by the Retina display, but at least this issue comes to some kind of close and I am reassured knowing it is not an underlying hardware problem.


I should also mention I recently went to my local Apple Authorised Service Provider as I had a separate issue with my iMac which required hardware service. When I went to collect my machine, I tested an iMac they had on display as they also happen to be an Apple Authorised Reseller and I noticed the same animation stalls under the same conditions on the machine I tested.

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User profile for user: dialabrain
dialabrain
User level: Level 10
122,549 points

Feb 12, 2017 3:25 AM in response to b.stones

b.stones wrote:


After waiting several months, the engineer told me they see some use cases that can benefit from further optimisation, but confirmed the problem is ultimately caused by the system running out of vRAM.


I don't know about you but I am certainly wondering why Apple decided to use a GPU that could easily be overwhelmed by the Retina display, but at least this issue comes to some kind of close and I am reassured knowing it is not an underlying hardware problem.

FWIW, no matter how much vRAM one has or how much RAM one has it's always possible to exceed the capabilities of the system. Until there are computers with infinite RAM and vRAM that will always be the case.


My iMac has an AMD Radeon R9 M395X w/4096MB vRAM. I don't run many apps simultaneously but if I did I imagine I would run out of vRAM eventually.

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User profile for user: b.stones
b.stones Author
User level: Level 1
83 points

Feb 12, 2017 8:36 AM in response to dialabrain

I understand, but it is far too easy for an iMac with a Retina display to run out of vRAM than it is for an iMac without - and I know this from personal experience. I think it is reasonable to expect Apple to have placed more powerful GPUs in their Retina iMacs to better support the Retina display. This might have come at a cost, so perhaps they have made this trade off in order to offer a Retina display on all of their iMacs at current price points.


It's not that the GPU is slow or inefficient, the R9 M380 is actually a very good mobile graphics processor and offers good gaming performance, and is otherwise perfectly suitable for the 27-inch iMac. The problem is it cannot smoothly handle what I consider to be common operating system features with reasonable usage patterns for this class of machine. And this is something I expect Apple to have addressed as the systems integrator. I shouldn't even need to know about this.

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User profile for user: norm123
norm123
User level: Community Specialist

Nov 3, 2016 3:49 PM in response to b.stones

Hi b.stones,


If you are experiencing some lag issues when opening apps on your Mac, try removing any peripherals that you may have connected then starting up into safe mode. Try safe mode if your Mac doesn‘t finish starting up​

What is safe mode?

Safe mode (sometimes called safe boot) is a way to start up your Mac so that it performs certain checks and prevents some software from automatically loading or opening. Starting your Mac in safe mode does the following:

  • Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed
  • Loads only required kernel extensions
  • Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically
  • Disables user-installed fonts
  • Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

Together, these changes can help resolve or isolate issues related to your startup disk.



Once in safe mode, please check to see if you have any login or startup items that could be running in the background. OS X El Capitan: If you think you have incompatible login items


You can finally perform the SMC reset to boost the overall system performance. Once the Mac starts backup, plug up your peripherals and test the system's performance. Reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac

Indicators that your SMC might need to be reset

After you perform normal troubleshooting, these symptoms may indicate that an SMC reset could be necessary:

  • The computer fans run at high speed, though the computer is not experiencing heavy usage and is properly ventilated.
  • The keyboard backlight behaves incorrectly on Mac computers that have this feature.
  • The status indicator light (SIL) behaves incorrectly on Mac computers that have this feature.
  • Battery indicator lights, if present, behave incorrectly on Mac notebooks that have a non-removable battery.
  • The display backlight doesn't respond correctly to ambient light changes on Mac computers that have this feature.
  • The computer doesn't respond to the power button when pressed.
  • A Mac notebook computer doesn't respond properly when you close or open the lid.
  • The computer sleeps or shuts down unexpectedly.
  • The battery doesn't charge properly.
  • The MagSafe power adapter LED doesn't indicate the correct activity.
  • The computer is performing unusually slowly, though it isn't experiencing abnormally high CPU utilization.
  • Application icons may bounce in the Dock for an extended amount of time when opened.
  • Applications may not function correctly, or they may stop responding after being opened.
  • A computer that supports target display mode does not switch into or out of target display mode as expected, or it switches into or out of target display mode at unexpected times.
  • The illumination around the I/O ports on a Mac Pro (Late 2013) does not activate when you move the computer.

Please let us know if these procedures resolves the issue. Thanks for using Apple Support Communities to post your question. Have a nice day.
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iMac 27-inch (Late 2015) Dock/Mission Control animations stutter

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