To add to those above, I’m on a 2019 iMac (not an M1) and experiencing halved FPS (20-30) since patch in Shadowlands zones. Turning particle density off did not help, turning V-sync off created a lot of additional problems, so that is still on. I have little to no issues in other zones currently. I keep graphics quality at 3 to allow for 100% resolution scale and typically get 60FPS with FPS locked to 60 foreground 30 background and V-sync enabled. Ardenweald and a few other areas were already pretty intensive due to the environmental effects, but now I am dropping by half in all Shadowlands zones a good bit of the time. It was not like this prior to the patch. I’m trying to pinpoint the issue further, because there are certain places where I can turn 180 degrees and the FPS shoots up to 60 again. It’s especially bad in the covenant sanctums, but other areas I will be facing something and it drops, then I turn 180 degrees and run the other way and it’s fine again. For example, if I’m at the adventure table at the Night Fae sanctum facing the sanctum in any position between the two, it drops by half, but if I turn away from the sanctum it goes back to 60. Similar issues were occurring in Bastion in various locations. It makes me think something changed with the way a particular asset is rendered in the game.
| Model Name: |
iMac |
| OS: |
Catalina 10.15.7 |
| Model Identifier: |
iMac19,1 |
| Processor Name: |
8-Core Intel Core i9 |
| Processor Speed: |
3.6 GHz |
| Number of Processors: |
1 |
| Total Number of Cores: |
8 |
| Memory: |
16 GB |
| Graphics: |
Radeon Pro Vega 48 |
3 Likes
+1 on significant performance dip after 9.05 for a none m1 mac
I have an MBP 2016, was consistently running at 40-50 fps, but now sit around 13-17. I had to leave a mythic+ I was talking because I couldn’t see the game.
Disabled all add-ons; problem persisted.
Reduced settings to 1, same problem.
Mbp 2106 15”, 16gb RAM, Radeon 460 4 GB, macos big sur, Intel i7 2.6 ghz quad core.
Some help?
4 Likes
Same issue continuing on non-M1 iMac 27"
From smooth 60 to now 40s after patch.
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CPU throttling
Notice much higher temperature since patch after 10 mins of play. Could be why we are seeing fps drop. I’m on non-M1 (iMac 27"), so guys check your temps as well.
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It’s not that. The computer is cooled correctly and has always been. The change is from patch 9.0.5 or since Big Sur 11.2.3 - or both (we now have the wrong settings under “Advanced options” : “Apple M1 (low power)”.
Pls Blizzard ?
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Yah I actually updated wow before I updated my computer and I experienced an extreme drop in frame rate both prior to updating my computer and after updating my computer.
Mac Mini M1 16GB running Big Sur 11.2.3.
Also having this issue. I already lowered graphics settings a lot to make things playable, but Spires of Ascension in particular is giving me a headache. Depending on where I am looking I get either 60 or 30 FPS (again, with minimum settings, 1080p).
Don’t know if it’s Mac-specific, since a lot of threads are mentioning similar issues on PCs. Also, they seem to be experiencing it with much higher specs, so I guess it’s a very nasty bug.
So I found something interesting while investigating this a bit more on Elysian Hold. When looking south I was always getting locked to 30 fps, while getting 59-60 looking north. Just because I had run out of ideas I decided to try disabling V-Sync and what do you know now I get 58-60 FPS while looking south.
I am guessing something in the V-Sync code is broken. Maybe it thinks it won’t be able to make it close to 60FPS and then locks you to 30FPS which would in theory get you a better experience in most cases. But the threshold is probably quite off, as 58 FPS is quite acceptable and much better than 30.
I need to try this out on Spires of Ascension now, hoping it will work there too…
2 Likes
That’s interesting. I noticed mine seemed to be looking North a lot of times (particularly in Ardenweald) vs South, and if I turned the other direction it was fine, but it wasn’t entirely consistent each time. I saw someone on another PC tech support thread talking about having issues facing one direction and not another, which was intriguing since I seemed to experience the same thing. They potentially tied it to anima conductor streams flowing to certain areas maybe being the issue, but I noticed just running by certain assets may also be triggering it. I have no lag in the Glitterfall Basin area with anima flowing there, but a lot of lag entering the Star Lake amphiteater with anima stream, so it seems that may not be consistent with my findings, either. Or maybe facing the big tornado-looking void off in the distance? Or running past a big tree trunk? It’s really hard to pinpoint. 
If I turn off v-sync on mine it’s a tearing nightmare, so not an option. Hopefully they figure out what is causing this because it gives me migraines playing in these areas from the stuttering. I keep trying to figure out a common thread.
So I just tried Spires of Ascension and it definitely helped a lot in my case. Some boss fights are much better, especially Devos and that big construct guy. However, it still has much worse FPS than most other content and I still feel like I need to play it with the camera top-down to get a good experience. I took a bunch of screenshots with the FPS meter on of the Devos fight so you can get an idea.
I also just included a couple of screenshots showing my current graphics settings. I’m on a QHD monitor, and I scale the rendering of the world to get better FPS as you do.
Unfortunately the forum doesn’t let me post a link, but if you add this to google drive’s domain you should see the screenshots:
/drive/folders/1uT_lYUmGCoxt425GcMU5ikgHa7p_xINw?usp=sharing
That seems odd. under metal, vsync isn’t limited to 15, 30, 60, 120 numbers. it should support vsync at any framerate. It’ll just use duplicate frames if it doesn’t sync perfectly to refresh rate. Unless you’re a windows user posting in wrong thread? I’m not sure windows vsync is dynamic yet.
Do you also have the “low option” now ? Since 9.0.5 ?
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I would like to add that the issue is non-existent in WoW-Classic. The game recognize the GPU as “Apple M1”, as it should be. I guess it’s the patch 9.0.5 that broke something.
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The Classic version of the game still isn’t native; at the intro screen it still shows up as “x64” vs “arm64.”
Its been how many weeks and this is still an issue. I logged in yesterday to see if it is resolved and it isn’t. In Org which is super crowded I get a solid, unflinching 60 fps and then I go to Bastion and my fps hops from 60 to 30 when ever I change the direction my camera faces. It would be nice to at least get an acknowledgment that Blizzard knows this is an issue and they are working on a solution.
2 Likes
Also, I tried playing again and my computer got way too hot which is also a new issue. Anyone else experience something similar?
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2 weeks since I have the “low power” issue. The support is telling me to wait for a patch…
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Are you experiencing frame rate reduction as well as overheating or just one or the other? I am trying to figure out if the overheating is something else. However, my computer was always cool to the touch even after hours of play pre-patch so I am not sure why it would all of a sudden be getting this hot after only playing for 30 minutes.
Yes, that and my computer is getting too hot while I play which was not an issue at all before.
1 Like