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diegobarcenilla
Known Participant
May 8, 2026

[BUG] Premiere Pro 26.2.2: Program Monitor frozen during playback (Audio plays, Video static) - Mac Studio M1 Max

  • May 8, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 80 views

System Specifications:

  • Machine: Mac Studio

  • Processor: Apple M1 Max

  • OS: macOS Tahohe 26.3.1(a)

  • Premiere Pro Version: 26.2.2 (Issue occurs here) / 26.0 (Stable)

The Issue: After updating to version 26.2.2, the Program Monitor fails to refresh the image during playback. When I press "Play", the audio works perfectly, but the image remains static on the current frame. The visual only updates once I stop playback.

Key Observations:

  • Renderer Blocked: In Project Settings > General, the "Renderer" dropdown is greyed out and stuck on Metal. I cannot switch to Software Only or any other option.

  • Hardware Decoupling: Even with "Hardware Accelerated Decoding" disabled in Preferences, the issue persists.

  • UI Issues: Resetting workspaces or clearing media cache through the UI did not solve the freezing.

Troubleshooting steps taken (failed):

  1. Resetting preferences on launch.

  2. Giving Premiere Pro "Full Disk Access" in macOS settings.

  3. Changing playback resolution (1/2, 1/4).

  4. Cleaning Media Cache manually from the ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common folder.

The Workaround: I downgraded back to Premiere Pro 26.0, and everything is working correctly again. This confirms the issue is specific to the 26.2.2 update and its interaction with the M1 Max architecture/Metal renderer.

Is anyone else experiencing this on Apple Silicon? Any official fix or patch expected for this build?

    1 reply

    IanB_360
    Community Manager
    IanB_360Community Manager
    Community Manager
    May 24, 2026

    Hi ​@diegobarcenilla Diegobarcellina

    To help narrow this down further, could you provide:

    1. A sample project file and media that reproduces the issue.
    2. Whether the problem occurs in a brand-new project with newly imported media.
    3. Whether the issue is visible on both the Program Monitor and Source Monitor.
    4. Whether external displays are connected, and if so, their model and connection type.
    5. The codec and container of the affected media (ProRes, H.264, HEVC, etc.).

    If you can share a reproducible project, we can investigate whether this is a broader Apple Silicon / Metal regression introduced in 26.2.2.

    The option to use Software rendering is no longer available in version 25.2 and later.

    https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere/desktop/troubleshooting/limitations-and-known-issues/software-rendering-update.html


    Here to help
    Ian

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