Level 1

22 points

WindowServer memory leak

Looks like this problem is coming back in High Sierra.

I have a late 2013 MacBook Pro Retina, freshly installed High Sierra after resetting SMC, PRAM, at most 6 apps open at the same time, after 16 hours, this WindowServer process is taking almost 1GB RAM! Notice how much has been compressed. Several days ago, I have been using the High Sierra GM for about a week without rebooting/logging out, and I noticed this WindowServer process took 8GB RAM!

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11)

Posted on Sep 27, 2017 8:50 AM

53 replies

luyi7338

Level 1

4 points

Oct 2, 2017 12:06 PM in response to welsonsun

I have the same problem in my mbp 2012 mid retina.

WindowServer takes me 6GB after 10+ hrs. The screenshot was taken in 5hrs after reboot.

wyred-sg

Level 1

4 points

Oct 16, 2017 6:09 PM in response to welsonsun

I'm on a MacBook Pro Retina 13-inch, Early 2015 model with a 1440p Dell monitor attached and I'm at almost 32GB of memory used after 10 days.

Oct 3, 2017 11:19 AM in response to welsonsun

I'm sending reports via https://bugreport.apple.com/web/

Jake993

Level 1

4 points

Sep 30, 2017 10:48 AM in response to wealthandnecessity

Could it be because of using an external display?

I don't think so, I never plugged an external monitor to this machine with High Sierra and I still see this issue.

CongGao

Level 1

4 points

Oct 2, 2017 8:26 AM in response to welsonsun

Adjust the resolution to the default, windowserver memory is ok,but set [more],windowserver memory leak.

Jake993

Level 1

4 points

Oct 2, 2017 10:36 AM in response to welsonsun

FWIW I tried and reported the issue to Apple.

welsonsun Author

Level 1

22 points

Oct 2, 2017 11:20 AM in response to Jake993

Thanks for doing this! BTW, how do you report an issue to Apple?

Oct 2, 2017 11:25 AM in response to Morgon-

The scaled resolution using more RAM is only a bug if that RAM doesn’t get released afterwards.

welsonsun Author

Level 1

22 points

Oct 2, 2017 1:03 PM in response to luyi7338

Try setting your resolution to something other than the "maximum resolution", see if that helps.

Morgon-

Level 1

18 points

Oct 2, 2017 1:41 PM in response to welsonsun

One single report (so far) on MacRumors suggests 10.13.1 *may* fix this. I intend on installing the public beta later this evening and will report back.

CongGao

Level 1

4 points

Oct 3, 2017 7:41 AM in response to Morgon-

Thanks,Hope 10.13.1 can fix this bug.

welsonsun Author

Level 1

22 points

Oct 3, 2017 10:00 AM in response to Morgon-

Good to hear! Are you testing 10.13.1 with retina display resolution set to "max"?

CongGao

Level 1

4 points

Oct 3, 2017 7:18 PM in response to wealthandnecessity

Well,wait 10.13.1 released.

Oct 6, 2017 4:58 PM in response to welsonsun

Same issue here, regardless of what i am doing.
No change between using Safari or Chrome. 21Gb ram used by WindowServer on a 2014 MBP 15" and no apps open.

DjTaym

Level 1

39 points

Oct 10, 2017 3:36 PM in response to Morgon-

I have the same issue on my work MBP 2016 13'. I use two external monitors 24 and 27 inch with and the MORE resolution settings. Kernel_task and WindowsServer is the TOP 2 consuming processes.

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WindowServer memory leak