Some 2015 13" MacBook Pro Users Complain About UI Lag - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Some 2015 13" MacBook Pro Users Complain About UI Lag

by

A limited but growing number of 2015 MacBook Pro users have turned to the MacRumors discussion forums with complaints about user interface lag on OS X Yosemite. The lag results in slow or choppy animations and graphics across multiple areas of OS X, including opening Mission Control or Launchpad, launching full-size applications, resizing windows and scrolling through web pages.


A pair of threads related to the issue have received close to 200 replies and 20,000 views within the discussion forums, with some users that previously experienced UI lag offering advice on how to resolve the problem. One potential solution involves resetting the Mac's PRAM, while temporary workarounds listed include increasing contrast and reducing transparency under the Accessibility menu in System Preferences.

Forum Discussion Threads

  1. " 2015 Macbook Pro's Intel Iris 6100 is so choppy in Yosemite" posted by cookies!
  2. "2015 rMBP problems: 5-6 hours of battery life & major UI lag" posted by Youhoney

It is worth noting that new Macs may experience slower performance after booting up for the first few times as the computer indexes. It is also recommended that affected users perform a clean installation of OS X Yosemite to ensure that the issues are not the result of restoring from a backup. But the issues persist for some, with MacRumors forum member "cookies!" claiming that his 2015 MacBook Pro has "the most significant lag" of "any laptop on Yosemite" he's ever used.

"I know that Retina displays are taxing on GPUs, but the Intel 6000 series seems incapable of driving this display without extreme choppiness in Yosemite for a number of actions— Mission Control, switching between windows, opening new windows, etc," reads a post in the MacRumors forums. "This is the most significant lag I've experienced on any laptop on Yosemite. My old 2010 Macbook Pro 13" doesn't lag this bad on Yosemite."

While complaints of user interface lag have resurfaced following Apple's release of the 2015 MacBook Pro, similar issues have been reported in the Apple Support Communities, Reddit, Stack Exchange and MacRumors discussion forums by owners of 13" and 15" mid-2012 through mid-2014 Retina MacBook Pro models. The problems appear to be mainly limited to notebooks running OS X Yosemite.

Top Rated Comments

143 months ago
The answer is to turn on Reduce Transparency under Accessibility.

After that, I've had no more lag on my rMBP 2012 . . .

Looks ugly though. One of the most important aspects of Yosemite's design was transparency and yet even the top laptops in Apple's range (i.e. quad i7 & dedicated GPU) can't handle it? That's ridiculous. It's like getting a ferrari and saying "just drive below 60mph otherwise it gets really unstable."
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
143 months ago
i don't get it HD5100 is more capable than HD6100 ?

More likely shoddy drivers. Or interaction with the drivers.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Avenged110 Avatar
143 months ago
UI lag? I thought it was called Yosemite...
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Miguel Cunha Avatar
143 months ago
Lightroom on Yosemite vs Lightroom on Windows 8.1 (same computer via bootcamp) is light and day.

You meant "night and day", right?
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
143 months ago
Funny. My 3 years old original 15 Retina Macbook Pro is still waiting for a miracle update that will finally make it work like it's supposed to. It's still laggy, safari falls apart all the time, using scaled resolution makes it really unresponsive and many apps are just way too slow. Lightroom on Yosemite vs Lightroom on Windows 8.1 (same computer via bootcamp) is light and day. I really can't imagine what using the new macbook is going to be like...
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
snorkelman Avatar
143 months ago
Looks ugly though. One of the most important aspects of Yosemite's design was transparency and yet even the top laptops in Apple's range (i.e. quad i7 & dedicated GPU) can't handle it?"
Always found it laggy on 2012 rMBP regardless of those settings - opening folders on the desktop is one that's embarrassingly clunky

my current use of yosemite amounts to:

Open lid on late 2012 rMBP
download and install latest build
open a few folders on desktop
shake head
close lid
stick back in drawer till next build gets released
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

imac video apple feature

Apple Released Yet Another New Product Today

Friday March 20, 2026 2:39 pm PDT by
Apple has unveiled a whopping nine new products so far this March, including an iPhone 17e, iPad Air models with the M4 chip, MacBook Air models with the M5 chip, MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, the all-new MacBook Neo, an updated Studio Display, a higher-end Studio Display XDR, AirPods Max 2, and now the Nike Powerbeats Pro 2. iPhone 17e features the same overall design as...
ios 26 4 pastel

iOS 26.4: Top 10 New Features Coming to Your iPhone

Friday March 20, 2026 2:44 pm PDT by
iOS 26.4 isn't the major update with new Siri features that we hoped for, but there are some useful quality of life improvements, and a little bit of fun with an AI playlist generator and new emoji characters. Playlist Playground - Apple Music has a Playlist Playground option that lets you generate playlists from text-based descriptions. You can include moods, feelings, activities, or...
iPhone 18 Pro Deep Red Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Wednesday March 18, 2026 7:39 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not expected to launch for another six months or so, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. It was initially reported that the iPhone 18 Pro models would have fully under-screen Face ID, with only a front camera visible in the top-left corner of the screen. However, the latest rumors indicate that only one Face ID component...
Related Apple News: Business | Reviews | Buyers Guide | South Africa | Lifestyle