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skexxx
skexxx
Participant
Apr 19, 2026 9:21 AM UTC
Investigating

P: (MacOS26) Photoshop v27.5 & later extremely high GPU usage from the WindowServer process

I have several M1 Macs—from Mac mini to iMac—and they all have the same issue. Whenever I open Photoshop, Illustrator, or InDesign, even if I don’t do anything, WindowServer will jump to around 80–90% GPU usage. Once I start working with files, even just opening a single image, the whole system becomes choppy and starts dropping frames, with GPU usage almost maxed out.

But : if I switch the app to full-screen with menu bar mode (press F), the window shadows disappear, GPU usage drops back to normal, and everything runs smoothly—even with large files open. This makes it pretty clear the issue is related to how window shadows are being handled in macOS 26 and how it interacts with Adobe apps.

It’s been months since Adobe 26 came out, and I’ve been waiting for updates to fix this, but even the latest versions still haven’t solved it. At this point, I’m wondering if it’s even fixable.

M1 Macs are not that old—most Mac minis and iMacs from around 2021–2022 are still M1, so they’re definitely not outdated. It shouldn’t be the case that running basic Photoshop functions causes this level of lag. Mac and Adobe are supposed to be a perfect combination.

Even though macOS 26 seems to put more load on the GPU, Apple’s own apps don’t have this issue at all. For example, Final Cut Pro runs large projects smoothly without any problems like this caused by window shadows.

I really hope this gets fixed. Or is it just impossible to solve, meaning the only options are either upgrading to the newest Mac or  back to macOS Sequoia?...

      Pinned Reply By Sameer K

      Hey, All! Thank you for your patience and for adding these details. The team is aware of this behavior, and we will announce the fix here once it is available to try.

      Workarounds for now: 

      1. Set the monitor refresh rate to 60hz in macOS Settings
      2. Diable Photoshop’s appication frame from Window menu > Application Frame

      (Mentions for recent merge: ​@philippe642 ​@Petar26655212pizq & ​@tomzag)

      View reply

      37 replies

      jegelie
      jegelie
      Participant
      Nov 2, 2026 9:32 AM UTC

      Application Frame is greyed-out since version 27.11.0. This was my go-to workaround for both Indesign and Photoshop, but now I have to start Photoshop, use it, and close the program again to get my GPU back.

      GPU usage is still sky-rocketing (iMac M3, MacOS Golden Gate 27.0.1, secondary 2560x1440 monitor).

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      Petar26655212pizq
      Participating Frequently
      Oct 29, 2026 4:21 PM UTC

      I can confirm that the issue is still present on Photoshop Beta 28.
      There’s hasn’t been a single improvement with any of the released updates since this was first reported. 

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      osvaldoc8392292
      Participant
      Sep 29, 2026 3:44 PM UTC

      Same issue here on macOS 27.0.1 (26A434) with Photoshop 27.10.0, so it is still present after the 27.0.1 update.

      Mac: MacBook Pro 16" (2021), M1 Max with 24-core GPU, 32 GB RAM. Displays: built-in Liquid Retina XDR + Sony TV 1080p over HDMI.

      Measured with Photoshop idle (no documents open, not even the front app):
      - Application Frame ON: WindowServer GPU stays at 32-38% the whole time, while Photoshop's own GPU use is 0%.
      - Hiding Photoshop (Cmd-H) drops WindowServer to about 3% within 3 seconds; showing it again brings it straight back.
      - Turning off "Use Graphics Processor" in Photoshop does not change it.
      - Switching the display from 120 Hz to 60 Hz lowers overall GPU from about 64% to about 49%, but does not fix it.
      - Application Frame OFF (Window > Application Frame): WindowServer GPU about 3% and overall GPU about 0%, with Photoshop's GPU setting back on. This workaround works for me.

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        powerful_yogic4e2
        Participant
        Sep 22, 2026 8:18 AM UTC

        I am experiencing the same issue on macOS Golden Gate 27.0 with Photoshop 27.10.0.

        My setup:

        Mac mini (2024)
        Apple M4
        16 GB RAM
        macOS Golden Gate 27.0

        ASUS ProArt PA279CV
        27-inch 4K external display
        Direct USB-C connection
        60 Hz
        HDR off
        HiDPI/scaled resolution

        Important: my display is already running at 60 Hz, so the first suggested workaround does not resolve the issue in my case.

        During normal Photoshop work I have observed WindowServer reaching approximately 58.4% GPU usage and 43.6% CPU usage, while Photoshop itself may remain at very low CPU/GPU usage.

        The Mac becomes noticeably warmer during this workflow.

        The same Mac, monitor and workflow worked normally on macOS Sequoia.

        I previously upgraded to macOS Tahoe and experienced similar performance/heating behavior. After approximately three days I rolled back to Sequoia, and the problem disappeared.

        After upgrading to macOS Golden Gate 27.0, the issue has returned.

        I also tested changing from my normal HiDPI/scaled resolution to a non-scaled display mode. WindowServer GPU usage dropped substantially, from approximately 58% to approximately 20% in one test, but the issue was not completely eliminated.

        Changing display scaling is not a practical workaround because the same HiDPI configuration worked normally on Sequoia.

        So in my case:

        - 60 Hz is already enabled
        - the issue still occurs
        - Sequoia worked normally
        - Tahoe showed similar behavior
        - Golden Gate 27.0 shows the problem again

        This appears to be a persistent WindowServer / macOS display compositing issue affecting Photoshop on external 4K HiDPI displays.

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        Maxim Creative
        Participant
        Sep 16, 2026 1:13 PM UTC

        Is there a solution to this problem? I am still experiencing this issue.

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          Petar26655212pizq
          Participating Frequently
          Aug 17, 2026 7:19 PM UTC

          Regarding the refresh rate and some other things I’ve noticed:
          Just having Photoshop running on my external monitor leads to ~60% GPU usage

          • At 60Hz when doing image manipulations, GPU usage jumps to 85-90% but the operations are smooth. So the 60Hz recommendation kinda works.
          • At 120Hz when doing image manipulations, GPU usage jumps to 100% and things lag

          However with Application Frame disabled (everything still rendered on my external monitor):

          • At both 60Hz and 120Hz, GPU usage is at 0%. When doing operations at 120Hz, GPU usage jumps to 45% and everything is smooth.

          So the problem does seem to come from something related to the Application Frame. 

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            udderball
            udderball
            Inspiring
            Aug 17, 2026 6:47 PM UTC

            Regarding Sameer’s response, has setting monitor refresh rate to 60hz been successful for anyone?

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            Sameer K
            Community Manager
            Sameer KCommunity ManagerPinned
            Community Manager
            Aug 17, 2026 3:58 PM UTC

            Hey, All! Thank you for your patience and for adding these details. The team is aware of this behavior, and we will announce the fix here once it is available to try.

            Workarounds for now: 

            1. Set the monitor refresh rate to 60hz in macOS Settings
            2. Diable Photoshop’s appication frame from Window menu > Application Frame

            (Mentions for recent merge: ​@philippe642 ​@Petar26655212pizq & ​@tomzag)

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              Adagio7499
              Participant
              Nov 6, 2026 10:02 AM UTC

              As a paying Adobe Creative Cloud subscriber, I am extremely dissatisfied with both the pace of progress and the communication surrounding this issue. Months have passed since it was reported and acknowledged, yet I have seen no improvement whatsoever in my daily use. “The team is aware, and we will announce a fix when it is available” is no longer an adequate response to a problem that seriously disrupts professional work.

              I use an M1 iMac with 16 GB of RAM, running macOS Tahoe 26.5.1, with both Photoshop and Illustrator updated to the latest available versions. Before the macOS update, I could use both applications together without any problems. Now, running them in normal windowed mode causes severe lag, sometimes making Photoshop effectively unusable. I have to put BOTH Illustrator AND Photoshop into full-screen mode to use them together smoothly. Disabling Application Frame does not resolve the issue on my machine.

              This is not a minor cosmetic glitch. It is a serious usability problem affecting the core functionality of paid professional software. Using Photoshop and Illustrator together is a basic design workflow. Users should not have to keep both applications in full-screen mode or bear the disruption of rolling back their operating system just to get their work done.

              Please provide clear answers to the following questions, rather than another request for patience:

              1. What concrete investigation and remediation work has been completed in the months since this issue was acknowledged? Why are affected users still seeing no meaningful improvement?
              2. What is currently blocking a fix? If Apple’s involvement is required, has the issue been escalated directly to Apple, and what is the status of that collaboration?
              3. Adobe 对此问题分配了什么优先级？受影响的用户什么时候能期待可测试的修复或发布来解决这个问题？
              4. 对于像我这样建议的变通方法无效的用户，Adobe能提供什么有效的替代方案？你会承诺定期、实质性地更新进展吗？

              在用户花费数月时间使用关键应用却得不到明确解决时间的同时，继续收取订阅费是不可接受的。我们为可靠的专业工具付费，而不是为了无限期等待它们正常工作。

              请升级此事，提供具体进展、明确的下一步步骤以及下一次实质性更新的日期。我的耐心已经耗尽。我期望的是问责和有效的解决办法——而不是又一次泛泛的承认。

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              D Fosse
              Community Expert
              D FosseCommunity Expert
              Community Expert
              Aug 15, 2026 2:42 PM UTC

              What immediately jumps out is that you have very little RAM. Remember - Apple silicon uses shared system memory, and the GPU will use large chunks of it. With a 5K display, a memory shortage (or even conflict between system and GPU) seems like a likely explanation.

               

              With Apple silicon, the general rule of thumb is to double the amount of RAM you would “normally” need. 32 GB should be considered the absolute minimum, but 64 GB a more realistic amount, especially with a 5K display.

               

              Now, I see you have dialed down PS memory allocation to 20%. While it’s important to not set that too high (a common mistake), you can probably safely increase to 45-50%. But you don’t have a lot of scratch disk space either - 150 GB is already pushing it. My general recommendation is 250 - 500 GB. To minimize the impact on the scratch file, reduce history states to, say, 10-20.

               

              In short, you don’t have a lot of hardware resources here, and you may hit performance limitations.

               

               

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              Petar26655212pizq
              Participating Frequently
              Aug 15, 2026 3:15 PM UTC

              I don't think memory pressure explains the specific behavior I'm reporting here. macOS shows memory pressure as green - the system is not under heavy load.

              The important part is that the problem is reproducible based on the display/window configuration, without changing the Photoshop document or workload.

              Most importantly, display and HiDPI configuration performed normally on previous versions of macOS. This behavior appeared after upgrading macOS to version 26/27, which is why I believe this is a regression rather than simply the machine reaching its normal hardware limits.

              Also I'm reproducing this with an extremely simple document:

              • 1000 × 1000 px canvas
              • One image layer
              • One text layer

              Also - Photoshop's window mode has a major effect on performance.

              Switching Photoshop to Full Screen Mode, or disabling Window > Application Frame, significantly improves canvas responsiveness and reduces WindowServer GPU usage.

              And the Adobe Illustrator team seem to have identified a similar issue in the Illustrator program and have released a fix in their Beta. So this is not something unique to my system or even Photoshop.

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              Petar26655212pizq
              Participating Frequently
              Aug 15, 2026 1:45 PM UTC

              I have submitted a more detailed report for the same issue here:

               

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