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E
emanueles51230498
Participant
August 23, 2025
Question

Lightroom Classic Develop Module – Preview Freezing on MacBook Pro M4 Max

  • August 23, 2025
  • 2 replies
  • 311 views

I’m experiencing repeated freezes in the Develop module of Lightroom Classic. When I move between photos, the preview often remains stuck on the previous image for 10–15 seconds before updating. This happens intermittently but frequently enough to disrupt editing. After 10–15 minutes of editing, the freezes become more frequent and last longer

My setup:

  • MacBook Pro M4 Max (2024)

  • 36 GB unified memory

  • macOS Sequoia 15.6.1

  • Lightroom Classic version 14.5 [202508061311-4cef2162]

  • Catalog & previews: internal SSD

  • Raw files: Samsung 990 Pro 4TB in a Thunderbolt enclosure

Troubleshooting steps I’ve already tried:

  • Toggled GPU acceleration Off / Limited / Full → freezes occur in all modes.

  • Disabled “Use GPU for preview generation.”

  • Cleared and resized raw cache (down from 200 GB to 50–100 GB, purged cache).

  • Optimized catalog, tested catalog integrity (no issues found).

  • Rebuilt 1:1 and Smart Previews.

  • Tested with and without Smart Previews → no difference.

  • Reset Lightroom preferences.

  • Disabled all plug-ins.

  • Tested with a new catalog and fresh import of raws → freezes still occur.

Despite these steps, the issue persists. It seems specific to Develop preview rendering rather than Library, and may be related to GPU/CPU handoff on Apple Silicon M4.

Could you please confirm if this is a known issue with the current Lightroom build on M4 Macs, and advise any recommended workarounds or upcoming fixes?

Thank you,
Emanuele

    2 replies

    T
    TMTPhoto
    Participant
    September 4, 2025

    Have you had any luck in resolving this issue? I am having the same issues on Mac Studio M1 Ultra. 

    Anshul_Saini
    Community Manager
    Anshul_SainiCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    September 26, 2025

    Hi @TMTPhoto,


    Thanks for chiming in and confirming you’re seeing the same behavior on your Mac Studio M1 Ultra. To help the team investigate further, could you please share:
     • A copy of your System Info (Lightroom Classic > Help > System Info > Copy All).
     • Your GPU settings screenshot (Preferences > Performance tab).
     • The following folders zipped:
    ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom/
    ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/CameraRaw/
    ~/Library/Logs/Adobe/Lightroom/


    You can attach the zipped logs directly to your reply.

     

    Also, please share more details so we can narrow this down.

     • Does the freeze happen with all file types (RAW, DNG, JPEG, TIFF), or only certain ones?
     • Does it occur consistently after specific steps (e.g., moving a slider, applying masks, switching images), or randomly?
     • When the freeze happens, does Lightroom stay unresponsive until you force-quit, or does it eventually recover?

     • Where are your files & catalogs stored (Internal SSD, External Storage, Cloud/Network Drive/ NAS)?

    It’s worth testing with a new, clean catalog, importing a few files, and seeing if the behavior repeats.


    With this info, we can better determine the cause. Could you also confirm whether the freezes started only after updating to version 14.5.1, or were you seeing them previously in 14.4 as well? That will help us understand if this is a regression.


    Best,
    Anshul Saini

    T
    TMTPhoto
    Participant
    September 30, 2025

    Hi there, here is some of the info you requested. I prefer not to share the entire contents of the folders on a public forum, though. Perhaps there is a more secure way to send that info? 

     

    To answer the questions: 

    • It freezes with all file types I use: CR3, DNG, JPG, and PSD. 
    • It occurs randomly but about every 10 seconds when scrolling through the develop module. 
    • When the freeze occurs, Lr appears to remain responsive. I do not have to force-quit. 
    • My catalog is stored on the internal SSD of my Mac Studio. My images are stored on external media, such as Thunderbolt SSDs and/or Thunderbolt RAID enclosures. 
    • I am not certain if it began before 14.5.1, but it started within the last few months. 

     

    SYSTEM INFO

    Lightroom Classic version: 14.5.1 [ 202508231203-c2638d01 ]
    License: Creative Cloud
    Language setting: en-US
    Operating system: Mac OS 26
    Version: 26.0.1 [25A362]
    Application architecture: arm64
    Logical processor count: 20
    Processor speed: NA
    SqLite Version: 3.36.0
    Power Source: Plugged In, 100%
    Built-in memory: 65,536.0 MB
    Dedicated GPU memory used by Lightroom: 9,267.8MB / 53,084.1MB (17%)
    Real memory available to Lightroom: 65,536.0 MB
    Real memory used by Lightroom: 4,645.1 MB (7.0%)
    Virtual memory used by Lightroom: 440,573.0 MB
    Memory cache size: 3,399.8MB
    Internal Camera Raw version: 17.5 [ 2318 ]
    Maximum thread count used by Camera Raw: 5
    Camera Raw SIMD optimization: SSE2
    Camera Raw virtual memory: 1742MB / 32767MB (5%)
    Camera Raw real memory: 1852MB / 65536MB (2%)

    Cache1:
    Final1- RAM:898.0MB, VRAM:3,357.0MB, 035 - 3580CrookedBranchSt-HDR-Edit.psd
    NT- RAM:898.0MB, VRAM:3,357.0MB, Combined:4,255.0MB

    Cache2:
    m:3,399.8MB, n:188.5MB

    U-main: 141.0MB

    Standard Preview Size: 5120 pixels
    Displays: 1) 5120x2880, 2) 5120x2880

    Graphics Processor Info:
    Metal: Apple M1 Ultra
    Init State: GPU for Export supported by default
    User Preference: Auto
    Enable HDR in Library: OFF
    GPU for Preview Generation: Auto (S5_51)

    Application folder: /Applications/Adobe Lightroom Classic
    Library Path: /Users/************/Lightroom Catalogs/Real Estate/RE_Lr_2024-v13-3.lrcat
    Settings Folder: /Users/************/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom

    Installed Plugins:
    1) AdobeStock
    2) Aperture/iPhoto Importer Plug-in
    3) Flickr
    4) LR/Enfuse

    Config.lua flags:

     

     

     

     

    brianmatiash
    Community Manager
    brianmatiashCommunity Manager
    August 24, 2025
    I pinged the LrC team, and we are not aware of any in-house issues as to what you're reporting. However, it would be helpful if you could share the following information along with a few logs:
     
    • Using the same setup (catalog and images), did the problem also occur on the older LrC 14.4 version, or is it new after upgrading to 14.5?
    • Since you've already attempted several troubleshooting steps without success, another useful test would be creating a new catalog with a few images. This will help determine if the issue is catalog-specific.
    • Can you please share the System info, Preference options used for GPU (screenshot will help), and logs?
      • Logs location:
        • /Users/username/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom/lrc_console.log
        • All files under this folder - /Users/username/Library/Application Support/Adobe/CameraRaw/Logs/
        • /Users/username/Library/Logs/Adobe/Lightroom/lrc_app.log
        • All files under this folder -  /Users/username/Library/Logs/Adobe/Lightroom/LrClassicLogs/

     

    Please zip up this requested info and attach it to your reply message on this thread. Thank you!

    Software Quality Engineer, Lightroom
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