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shustovcreates
Participant
April 24, 2026

Constantly high GPU usage on Mac OS Tahoe (WindowServer service)

  • April 24, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 33 views

Issue summary: Photoshop (Illustrator and Indesign too) are constantly using a lot of GPU resources

Product and version: latest available. I guess 27.5

Operating system: Mac OS 26.4, and all minor versions before .4

Steps to reproduce: after I launch Photoshop, my GPU usage goes up to 50-70%.  Without even launching any file. Looking into System monitor I see that “windowserver” service is using all the gpu. If I change Photoshop window mode to “Fullscreen” OR minimise window (yellow button) GPU usage drops back to zero. It's no Photoshop only issue but Illustrator and Indesign too. Obviously, if I close those apps GPU usage comes back to 0% too.

Expected result: I expect 0 % GPU usage until I actually use the app, just like it works on Mac OS Sequoia.

Actual result: my GPU usage is constantly hitting 50-70% of gpu usage making my MPB 16 M1 Pro 16 gb hot and have only half of the battery life I normally expect 

Attachments (optional): Screenshot below. It shows that gpu usage constantly jumping from 0 to 50-70 % GPU usage

 

 

    1 reply

    Ged_Traynor
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    April 24, 2026

    @shustovcreates a couple of people have reported this issue

     

    shustovcreates
    Participant
    April 24, 2026

    im sorry. somehow didn't find it, even though I searched for this