Mac Studio M1 Pro factory default - WoW only third party app. (no firewall, vpn etc)
Had WoW installed and running macOS Ventura for the past couple of weeks - works very well.
Installed Sonoma and game is unplayable in full screen mode 1-2 fps. Works fine in windowed mode.
- Ensured the battle.net app is not running
- Manually turning Game Mode off made no difference
- Manually changing the Graphics API to Metal or Metal Legacy made no difference.
- All WoW settings are Default
No other background tasks installed or running, all settings at default.
| Model Name: |
Mac Studio |
| Model Identifier: |
Mac13,1 |
| Model Number: |
(CTO model with 32c GPU) 64G Ram |
| Chip: |
Apple M1 Max |
| Total Number of Cores: |
10 (8 performance and 2 efficiency) |
| Memory: |
64 GB |
| System Firmware Version: |
10151.1.1 |
| OS Loader Version: |
10151.1.1 |
Additionally, same exact issue on a MacBook Pro 16" M1 Pro. Full screen WoW is unplayable, windowed mode is fine.
Obviously the issue is tied to Sonoma - any suggestions?
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I have similar issue on another Mac running Sonoma as well, and getting Kernel Panics.
Seiyru your issue is not similar. you’re getting a kernel panic from 3rd party driver that’s not compatible with sonoma.
Jaycyn, i’m unable to reproduce this on my M1 Max macbook pro and i’ve been using sonoma for months. I use full screen mode all the time on retail wow and wow classic. so i don’t think issue is tied to sonoma alone but something else in play. So it has to be another componant we’re missing. maybe a specific external display/driver or another factor unique to your setup
Thanks for the feedback. I know duplication is 90% of troubleshooting.
I pulled a brand new MacStudio M2 out of the box, installed Sonoma and WoW, and ran into the exact same issue. After going through everything, I can duplicate the issue:
The cause?
A second external monitor plugged into the HDMI port.
In all three cases, MacStudio with Apple Studio Display + LG 27" Display, the game is unplayable. A different model LG was plugged into the MacBook Pro 16" and at then the Studio M2 with Apple Studio Display and a Samsung external display.
Quite amazing really - as soon as the HDMI Cable from the 2nd display was unplugged from the Mac, the game snapped back to life. Same result on all three Macs.
So… as a test, my wifes Studio has an Apple Studio display and an external display, 27" via HDMI but is running Ventura. She’s been playing consistently with no issues. We updated her to Sonoma and the exact same thing - game unplayable. Unplugged the display and it immediately corrected the issue.
I tried using the external display via the Apple Multi-Port AV Adapter (thunderbolt on mac side, HDMI on the the other but it doesn’t seem to work) so I will try a third party one and report back.
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Glad we found the extra factor. i had a feeling it’d be something like that.
btw, of note. I have 3 external monitors. 2 using thunderbolt ports and one using HDMI 2.0 port. both your test macs though have an HDMI 2.1 port so that’s a distinct hardware difference.
@Jaycyn I have a new theory. humor me and turn on “Displays have separate spaces”
I realize i’ve used that for my 3 displays for ages. there could be a syncing issue with metal vsync and displays mismatching in sonoma because without this option enabled all displays are a single full screen space.
if this is already enabled than nevermind 
@Who
I humored you and that option was off (it’s off by default).
Turning it on, restarting has corrected the issue and seems to be the workaround.
Thanks - really good catch.
For reference: If you have multiple displays and WoW is choppy and not fluid In macOS Sonoma 14
Go to the Apple menu->System Settings
and then in the Settings, left hand column, select Desktop & Dock
Then on the right in the Mission Control Section, toggle Displays have separate Spaces to the ON position. Be sure to log out/in or restart.
4 Likes
Sigh. I SO wanted this to be my answer, too, but it’s not.
2020 Mac Mini Intel, eGPU. Worked great under Ventura, updated today to Sonoma, and was greeted with 2-3 fps. I did notice, based on your experiments, that it DOES work just fine in Windowed and only has an issue in Windowed Fullscreen, so thanks for that at least. However, the Displays have Separate Spaces was already toggled on. I never set it, so maybe it’s on by default now?
Any other ideas, anyone?
Thanks.
It’s a known issue that if you’re on an intel mac, avoid sonoma at all cost. There is no work around for the issue.
Oh, thanks. Sadly, wasn’t known to me :/. Looks like I’ll be downgrading back to Ventura.
Hoping Apple releases an M3 Mini or Studio soonish, which should solve all my lingering Intel problems.