Unresponsive Apple Menu on 13 M1 MBP

[Macaday]

Has anyone experienced an unresponsive Apple Menu on an M1 Mac running Big Sur?

Every now and again the left hand side of the top menu (ie. Apple, Safari, Edit, View etc...) will be unresponsive meaning I can't close apps, shutdown or access any menu. The right hand side (battery, bluetooth, wifi etc) works fine. Everything else works fine (Dock etc).

It's very annoying as the only way I can fix it is by a forced restart. It only happens about twice a week.

It could be more of a Big Sur issue as I've only had that OS on this Mac so can't tell. I can't see anything online about it, maybe its just my machine?

 

[turbineseaplane]

Yep… And I really never think it gets back to normal until I either log out or completely reboot

The raw performance that is here is potentially exciting, but there are definitely a ton of bugs with the new machines and Big Sur combined

I really hesitate to blame Big Sur much because it’s working phenomenally on my Intel hackintosh.
Literally zero issues or bugs, including this one for the OP

 

[Kung gu]

yep I get that on my 16" MacBook Pro as well, its 90% a Big Sur issue or bug...

 

[Macaday]

Good to hear others have this issue (if you know what I mean). Hopefully Apple are aware and a fix is on the way!

Thanks

 

[Quackers]

So if you click on the Apple nothing at all happens? Even if you wait a while?

 

[Macaday]

Nope, nothing

So if you click on the Apple nothing at all happens? Even if you wait a while?

Nope, nothing. The only way to fix is restart.

 

[Quackers]

Nope, nothing

Nope, nothing. The only way to fix is restart.

That is odd.
Have you spoken to Apple Support about it? I'd start there, although they're likely to suggest re-installing Big Sur.
Let them tell you how as it's not that straightforward.

 

[flux182]

Same thing has happened to to me. A restart fixes it. A couple of types reconnecting my external display also solved the issue.

 

[MUBiomed]

Happens semi-frequently to me as well. I have tried to force quit finder with no luck. Has to be restarted.

 

[DanLondon]

Got the same problem of an unresponsive finder/app menu on a brand new M1 13” MBP, typically on wake from sleep, but now also mid-work flow just trying to use app expose/switcher whilst working in O365 Outloook/PPT.
**Logging off and back in again restores the menu every time, no need to restart.**
Have done a completely clean install of latest OSX build and still happens.
Called Apple Support but CSR claimed this wasn’t a known bug and could only suggest a test user account to verify and then to send the machine back if it keeps happening.
Starting to think Big Sur has a hardware issue with the M1.

 

[ImaginaryNerve]

Had the issue happen once on my M1 MBP, haven't had the issue yet on the M1 Mini yet, so not sure how to reproduce it. But yes, like others mentioned, a restart fixes it no problem though. When/If it happens again, I'll look more into what might've caused it. Someone somewhere, I can't remember if Reddit or MR Forums, mentioned killing a process in Activity Monitor, I think it was SystemUIServer, but that didn't work in my case.

 

[Significant1]

Don't have a M1 (arrives monday), but when I have experienced what you descripe, it is typically the app hanging and changing to another app makes the menu accessible again. You can also terminate apps by pressing cmd+alt+escape.

 

[CMMChris]

I recently submitted an extensive bug report about this issue to Apple and they got back to me regarding it and figured out the issue. They have fixed it in 11.3 Beta 4, so you will get a fix once 11.3 is out.

 

[svanstrom]

Good to hear others have this issue (if you know what I mean).

A Swedish phrase that I sometimes wish was available in English is "misunderstand me correctly".

Have you tried putting the computer to sleep instead of doing a full reboot?

 

[AAPLGeek]

I have experienced this on some Rosetta apps

 

[jdb8167]

Got the same problem of an unresponsive finder/app menu on a brand new M1 13” MBP, typically on wake from sleep, but now also mid-work flow just trying to use app expose/switcher whilst working in O365 Outloook/PPT.
**Logging off and back in again restores the menu every time, no need to restart.**
Have done a completely clean install of latest OSX build and still happens.
Called Apple Support but CSR claimed this wasn’t a known bug and could only suggest a test user account to verify and then to send the machine back if it keeps happening.
Starting to think Big Sur has a hardware issue with the M1.

Definitely not a hardware issue. Something is modally locking out the screen response. Since logging out fixes it, whatever is doing it is quit on a logout and it unlocks. I’ve seen it a few times. Sometimes I can recover by going into mission control and switching to a new app. Mostly though I’ve needed to log out and back in.

 

[ambient_light]

This bug is new to Big Sur. On laptops there is an easier workarounds than restart - open the lid and click on the menu using touchpad. After that mouse pointer is working again.

 

[SeaDaddytheRed]

I have this issue on my MBA M1 but I can fix it by switching the resolution rather than rebooting or logging off. It usually happens on my external monitor while in clamshell.