Catalina Windowed (non-fullscreen) Performance

Support Mac Technical Support
1

Since the Catalina upgrade, I’ve noticed and can reproduce after reboot a substantial performance penalty while in windowed mode. In fullscreen mode there is no problem, but once set to windowed mode in any size or setting, the FPS and responsiveness takes a dive.

I’m seeing about 30 FPS and noticeable response delay where I should normally see 60 FPS smooth and responsive (which I do in fullscreen mode).

It’s probably a GPU driver bug or some such, but figured I should report it, regardless.

The info dump is as follows:

Software:

System Software Overview:

  System Version: macOS 10.15 (19A583)
  Kernel Version: Darwin 19.0.0
  Time since boot: 2:18

Hardware:

Hardware Overview:

  Model Name: MacBook Pro
  Model Identifier: MacBookPro15,1
  Processor Name: 6-Core Intel Core i7
  Processor Speed: 2.6 GHz
  Number of Processors: 1
  Total Number of Cores: 6
  L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
  L3 Cache: 9 MB
  Hyper-Threading Technology: Enabled
  Memory: 16 GB
  Boot ROM Version: 1037.0.78.0.0 (iBridge: 17.16.10572.0.0,0)

Graphics/Displays:

Intel UHD Graphics 630:

  Chipset Model: Intel UHD Graphics 630
  Type: GPU
  Bus: Built-In
  VRAM (Dynamic, Max): 1536 MB
  Vendor: Intel
  Device ID: 0x3e9b
  Revision ID: 0x0000
  Automatic Graphics Switching: Supported
  gMux Version: 5.0.0
  Metal: Supported, feature set macOS GPUFamily2 v1

Radeon Pro 560X:

  Chipset Model: Radeon Pro 560X
  Type: GPU
  Bus: PCIe
  PCIe Lane Width: x8
  VRAM (Total): 4 GB
  Vendor: AMD (0x1002)
  Device ID: 0x67ef
  Revision ID: 0x00c2
  ROM Revision: 113-C980AL-075
  VBIOS Version: 113-C97501U-005
  EFI Driver Version: 01.01.075
  Automatic Graphics Switching: Supported
  gMux Version: 5.0.0
  Metal: Supported, feature set macOS GPUFamily2 v1
  Displays:
    Color LCD:
      Display Type: Built-In Retina LCD
      Resolution: 2880 x 1800 Retina
      Framebuffer Depth: 24-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
      Mirror: Off
      Online: Yes
      Rotation: Supported
      Automatically Adjust Brightness: No

Radeon RX Vega 56:

  Chipset Model: Radeon RX Vega 56
  Type: External GPU
  PCIe Lane Width: x16
  VRAM (Total): 8 GB
  Vendor: AMD (0x1002)
  Device ID: 0x687f
  Revision ID: 0x00c3
  Automatic Graphics Switching: Supported
  gMux Version: 5.0.0
  Metal: Supported, feature set macOS GPUFamily2 v1
  GPU is Removable: Yes
  Displays:
    DELL U2718Q:
      Resolution: 5120 x 2880 (5K/UHD+ - Ultra High Definition Plus)
      UI Looks like: 2560 x 1440 @ 60 Hz
      Framebuffer Depth: 30-Bit Color (ARGB2101010)
      Display Serial Number: 4K8X785R143L
      Main Display: Yes
      Mirror: Off
      Online: Yes
      Rotation: Supported
      Automatically Adjust Brightness: No
      Connection Type: DisplayPort

Other:

	Input Source ID: com.apple.keylayout.US
	Keyboard Layout: ANSI
1 Like
2

I’m also seeing major input lag since I’ve upgraded. However, I don’ have a plain fullscreen option, my game only gives me two options to play in - Windowed and Fullscreen (Windowed). I’m also having FPS issues with the game now too. I have an older MacBook Pro 15’ from 2014, but it still runs the game fine. Not anymore . . .

Anyway, my mouse scrolling is laggy, the mouse tracking is laggy, and keyboard inputs are laggy. I’ve restarted my game, then the computer, then the game again. No avail. This is a WoW only issue I’m finding.

1 Like
3

Howdy!

We have seen input issues for users who have upgraded to Catelina. The current workaround that seems to help is going to Energy Saver preference and disabling “Automatic Graphic switching”. Please try this.

Thank you!

4

I can confirm that this does not fix my current issue with windowed mode. It’s the same issue as posted here: Catalina Killed Window Mode

I also verified that my eGPU is the GPU currently in-use and under load when this issue occurs, and switching to fullscreen (windowed) immediately resolves the issue.

It’s something to do with windowed mode in Catalina. The eGPU isn’t even taxed when the framerate drops.

5

is there actually an option for full screen mode, no window?

6

The two choices are Windowed and Fullscreen (Windowed)

Windowed has the issue
Fulllscreen (Windowed) works fine

7

The old “exclusive fullscreen” mode? Nope. They nuked it. Thus, the issues that persist to this day, including focus stealing causing workarounds for disabilities to stop functioning properly (or at all).

The performance aspect is being looked into though. They’re not sitting on their hands with regard to that aspect.

8

I’m getting full screen. I thought it was the Windows players who lost it.

9

You’re not getting exclusive fullscreen. It just looks like it because the game is rendering into a borderless fullscreen window.

They took support for exclusive fullscreen out of WoW’s common graphics codebase because implementating it with DirectX 12 was too much work, as was segregating it so that it could be supported in DX11 and Metal even if it wasn’t in DX12.