MBP 16" jittery cursor

[paulashin]

I just got my first macbook. Its a MBP 16" 5500M 8GB 32GB RAM 1TB SSD.
I bought a stronger machine cause I work with photo/video editting and I wanted a portable beast to work remotely.
Coming from windows, I was expecting a good performance considering the specs I bought.

To my surprise, when I launched my Cintiq Pro 16 (external display tablet) with photoshop and immediately the cursor started kinda "skipping frames". I have some videos to show what is happening.

On clip studio paint the "skipping frame" was even more severe. The paint stroke would literally be all full of corners.

And the longer I use, the worst it gets.
If I shut down the laptop, let it cool and turn back on, it improves temporarily.
But again, if I open some heavier arts on photoshop, let chrome and spotify open, it quickly starts to get worse again.

After awhile, the cursor gets really laggy independently if I'm using MBP trackpad or Wacom devices.


Some people suggested interference. I tried disabling all bluetooth connections and removed any wireless devices nearby but no luck.
Also I tried closing programs on the background to see if I could find any software interfering, but so far no luck as well.


Still, I believe that a strong config like this shouldn't have an issue with multiple programs opened at the same time.


Could this be a Catalina issue?
How can I better troubleshoot this?
Could this be a cpu throttle or is it a wacom/macOS compatibility issue?
---
edit: When connected to a 2nd monitor, the issue happens immediately.
added some screenshots of tests with photoshop and csp.

 

[jerryk]

I be curious to hear what Cintiq and/or Adobe had to say when you reported the problem.

 

[Viamusic10000]

I've actually noticed this happening too. Not with a tablet but I booted into Safe Mode to check if a page in safari would load a certain way and it was extremely laggy. I have no idea why, normally while Catalina can be a bit sluggish the machine is snappy and my moue does not skip frames. There is either some sort of hardware issue or just a lack of optimization. I doubt the CPU is throttling because the CPU doesn't even throttle during Cinebench 20 when the machine is at 99 degrees Celsius and the fans are like a jet engine. It could be an issue with graphics card drivers. Does the machine behave like this plugged in?


EDIT: it's normal for safe mode to run slow not sure what's happening with you OP but the drivers may not being loaded and so it would be on adobe's end since that's why Safe mode runs slow

 

[bhodinut]

When I plugged my Cintiq in I noticed that I was running at 30fps. Really felt strange. I switched to another USB-C to Displayport adapter and the jitter went away. It's probably not a framerate issue but check the graphics setup in About my Mac just to be sure.

 

[paulashin]

Alright, I ran some test. And it's def not wacom/adobe fault.
I launched an apple arcade game for about 15 min. Enough to hear the fans become jet engines. Then I closed it and the cursor was super jittery.Way more than with wacom/adobe apps test.

Could this be a hardware issue?
Also... Is there any other way to test this?

I'm gonna try to factory reset this. Hopefuly its just a sofware bug and it will be ok when I reinstall.

When I plugged my Cintiq in I noticed that I was running at 30fps. Really felt strange. I switched to another USB-C to Displayport adapter and the jitter went away. It's probably not a framerate issue but check the graphics setup in About my Mac just to be sure.

I checked, but this issue was happening with my old intuos as well... So its not a refresh rate/display issue.

And from my latest test, its not even directly related to my wacom.
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I be curious to hear what Cintiq and/or Adobe had to say when you reported the problem.

I saw your signature and it seems you have a mbp pretty close to mine. Do you use it for rendering or heavier work? Or even if you played something on it, did the cursor ever became sluggish or lagging behind drastically?

 

[paulashin]

I just talked with support and they asked me to enter safe mode and see if it works well...
Problem is, the wacom drivers don't really work there.
I tried running a game there to stress test it but to no luck... on safe mode the issue doesn't happen.
I guess that shows at least it's not a hardware issue, right?

 

[jerryk]

I saw your signature and it seems you have a mbp pretty close to mine. Do you use it for rendering or heavier work? Or even if you played something on it, did the cursor ever became sluggish or lagging behind drastically?

I render videos for training courses in Adobe Premier. Usually while that is going on I read mail and browse the web. So far I have not noticed any cursor issues. However, I don't use an external display.

 

[maflynn]

I guess that shows at least it's not a hardware issue, right?

Correct,
if it was me dealing with this issue, I'd back up the system, clean install and incrementally install an app and test - rinse and repeat until the cause was identified.

 

[paulashin]

I found an app called Hej Stylus. It is a pen stabiliser much like Lazy Nezumi and I might go for it until I can have some time to properly sit and reinstall everything.

It at least helped with PS.

Btw, I tested with a normal 2nd monitor (no 4k or cintiq) and the issue happened instantly. Out of photoshop or csp as well.

Attached some screen shots showing the jagged brush strokes.

Thank you for all the suggestions.

Correct,
if it was me dealing with this issue, I'd back up the system, clean install and incrementally install an app and test - rinse and repeat until the cause was identified.

Yes, I thats the last thing I need to do.

Thank you for the suggestions.

 

[paulashin]

rolling back to driver version 6.3.37-2 did it for me.
all cursor issues i was having w catalina were solved immediately.

thanks for all the help
for more on this thread see here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom/comments/ekmijj