My MacBook Air M2 (16 GB RAM, macOS) experiences extreme lag when display screen sharing in video conferencing apps (Microsoft Groups and Zoom). The lag is seen to assembly individuals and makes display screen sharing unusable for prolonged durations.
Surroundings:
- MacBook Air M2, 16 GB RAM
- macOS (newest model)
- Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), 186 Mbps down / 302 Mbps up
- Situation happens with: Groups desktop app, Groups in Safari, Zoom
- A colleague on Home windows with slower web (124 Mbps) has no lag on the identical platforms
- I am on the lookout for software-side options since changing the {hardware} is not a right away possibility.
Noticed habits throughout display screen sharing:
WindowServerCPU spikes to 80-90%kernel_taskCPU rises to 30-50%- Exercise Monitor reveals progressive CPU throttling over time
- Lag worsens the longer display screen sharing continues
What I’ve already tried:
- Sharing a single window as an alternative of total display screen
- Reducing built-in show decision
- Disconnecting exterior monitor
- Disabling digital camera throughout display screen sharing
- Closing all non-essential apps and background processes
- Enabling Scale back movement and Scale back transparency (Accessibility > Show)
- Disabling Highlight indexing briefly (
sudo mdutil -a -i off) - Eradicating CPU-heavy background processes (
duetexpertd,mds_stores,BackgroundShortcutRunner) - Upgrading router from 802.11ac to 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6)
- Reinstalling each Groups and Zoom
My evaluation:
The MacBook Air M2’s fanless passive-cooling design seems unable to dissipate warmth quick sufficient through the sustained CPU load of steady display screen seize (WindowServer) + video encoding. kernel_task throttles CPU to handle thermals, inflicting the seen lag.
Are there any macOS-level settings, Terminal configurations, or third-party instruments that may scale back WindowServer’s CPU utilization throughout display screen sharing, or in any other case mitigate thermal throttling on a fanless MacBook Air M2?
