Why can't I enable GPU performance on my mac mini M4?

Report · Jun 27, 2025

Hi everyone,

I recently purchased a new Mac mini with the M4 chip, but I'm encountering significant lagging issues in InDesign. All other Adobe products seem to be working fine, but InDesign is very "laggy." This is especially noticeable when I zoom in on an image or simply scroll through pages. I often have to click somewhere else to get it to refresh or render properly.

I've read online that I need to enable GPU Performance, but as you can see in the screenshot below, it's unavailable for me.

Could this issue be related to my monitor setup? I'm using a Samsung Odyssey LC24RG50FQI XCI monitor and an XPPen Artist Pro 14 (Gen 2) graphics tablet. Everything is connected with high-quality cables (Samsung via HDMI to HDMI, XPPen via Type-C to Type-C).

I have the latest native version of InDesign installed. I've already tried clearing the cache, reinstalling the program multiple times, and even reinstalling macOS (the latest version,Sequoia 15.5 (24F74)) – all without success. I bought such a powerful computer hoping to work efficiently and quickly, but it's just lagging.

How can I fix this? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I'm also attaching a YouTube link where I recorded the problem to clearly show it when zooming in on... https://youtu.be/I9-NDVWzAXU

Report · Jun 27, 2025

What issue are you facing? It's not clear what is wrong - do you just need to go to View>Display Performance>High Quality?

I think your monitor needs to be HiDPI dipslay I think it's a 1920x100 panel stretchedover 24 inches, making it a standard DPI not HiDPI.

This is probably why it's greyed out. Sadly, as you’ve seen, InDesign’s support is quite fussy, especially on Apple Silicon Macs without HiDPI monitors.

I'm not sure that the lagging is related to the GPU - so lets try and solve this one - can you explain in detail what the issue is.

I can't tell by the video what the issue is.

Report · Jun 27, 2025

The problem is that when I zoom in on objects in InDesign, they often don't zoom. Please watch the video and pay attention to the scrollbar at the bottom. In the YouTube video, I'm trying to zoom in and out of a photo with a cat, but in reality, no zooming occurs. What's more, this glitch doesn't happen all the time. Sometimes it zooms normally, and sometimes it doesn't. A similar problem occurs when I scroll through pages. For example, I scroll up, but nothing happens; everything seems to freeze, even though the scrollbar on the side moves. This resolves when I click somewhere in the program. I didn't have these problems on my old Windows laptop.

Report · Jun 27, 2025

I've the same issue in InDesign 2023 and it has nothing to do with GPU performance being enabled or disabled - I actually haven't gotten to the bottom of why it does it - but I can enable and disable the GPU. So the fact it's not enabled or unable to enable probably has nothing to do with it.

It is annoying and I haven't fixed it cos it's mildly annoying but not so much that I've looked into fixing it.

I've done some research now and here's what I've found

Try Enabling and Disabling the Enable Multi-touch Gestures in the preferences (try restarting InDesign after each and see if it improves)

Another user has found that a non-Apple mouse was the issue and they were using a Microsoft mouse or other - and downloaded specific drivers for that mouse.

Some say to try disable Preflight

And others are saying that some anti-virus or third party software is the issue.

Do you use WebRoot, Magnet, or any other third-pary app running in the background like VPNs, firewalls, or other things?

One way to narrow it down to being definitely InDesign is to restart your computer in Safe Mode and launch InDesign.

If it works normally in Safe Mode then you can safely say another app is interfering with it.

If it works fine then you can restart you computer in normal mode and then try track down what app is causing the issue.

Report · Jun 27, 2025

No, I don't have any third-party programs. My PC is clean, only InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator are installed. I use a Logitech MX Master 3S mouse. Nothing changed in safe mode.

Report · Jun 27, 2025

I think it could be the mouse then - then if Logitech MX has a specific install files for a Mac that contain the correct drivers for the Mac.

I also use a Windows mouse on my PC because I hate the apple mouse.

Easy to test if you have an apple mouse and see if the issue persists.

Did you try any of the other suggestions?

Report · Jun 27, 2025

I don't think there should be any problems with the mouse; I set it up using the official Logitech software. I checked with another mouse and all your suggested options – nothing changed :("

Report · Jun 27, 2025

Hi @Funfy,

Thanks for sharing the details and that screen recording. I understand how frustrating it must be, especially on a brand new M4 Mac setup.

Please try all the suggestions shared by the expert above, including toggling multi-touch gestures, checking with another mouse (if available), and disabling preflight. I know you mentioned Safe Mode didn't help and you're not using third-party apps, so that narrows it down.

If you've already tried everything and the issue still persists, I'd recommend completely removing InDesign using the Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool here: https://adobe.ly/44szfur

Then reinstall a fresh copy using this link: https://adobe.ly/43fQrCS

Please give this a try and let me know how it goes.

If it still doesn't help, I'll get this checked further with the team.

Abhishek

Report · Jun 27, 2025

I've tried everything possible. I also reinstalled both the macOS system and the applications again – the result is still the same.

Report · Jun 27, 2025

I've no idea what causes it - I was just sharing what I found.

It happens to me on 2023 - 2022 was fine. I haven't tried 2024 or 2025.

Maybe try disconnecting your 2nd monitor and try on your own laptop screen, see if it still behaves the same.

That might tell you if it's the monitor/connection that is causing it.