Lightroom 8.3.1 on Mac painfully slow?

Report · Jul 23, 2019

Is anyone else having major issues with 8.3.1 on Mac? I've never experienced anything like this with Lightroom but since the recent updates it's basically become unusable.

I'm using a 2019 27-inch 5K iMac with 3.6 GHz Intel Core i9, 40gb RAM with the Radeon Pro Vega 48 8GB Graphics Card so the machine should be more than capable of running LR without the kind of issues I'm experiencing, which include both the Adjustment Brush and Spot Removal tools causing the application to grind to a halt, with endless spinning beach balls.

I've tried the following solutions:

- Optimised Catalog (Master Catalog)
- Created New Catalog and reimported only the RAW files I'm currently working on (about 150 images)

- Moved RAW files to SSD on iMac (instead of USB C external drive I normally keep/use them from)

- Exported as DNG and then attempted to use these (again, stored on the SSD)
- Set up a new admin user account and tried to run LR from there

None of this has made a scrap of difference! Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

Report · Jul 23, 2019

hi Jonathanc,

That isn't a great user experience as Lightroom Classic 8.3.1 is running very slow, we're sorry to hear about this. Let us help make it right.

As Lightroom is running slow, could you please try turning off the GPU option from Lightroom's preferences? Go to Lightroom > Preferences > Performance tab > Uncheck "Use Graphics Processor" > Restart Lightroom and let us know if it helps?

You may also try the steps mentioned here and see if it helps:

helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/kb/o…

Thanks,

Akash

Report · Jul 23, 2019

Hi Akash,

Thanks for your speedy reply. I've done what you've asked and can't really see much of a difference. There might be a slight improvement but using the Adjustment Brush, Spot Removal and even crop tool is still unusually slow.

Also, just out of curiosity, why would unchecking "Use Graphics Processor" speed things up? That seems a little counter intuitive?

Thanks,
Jonathan

Report · Jul 23, 2019

jonathanc20453104 wrote
I'm using a 2019 27-inch 5K iMac with 3.6 GHz Intel Core i9, 40gb RAM with the Radeon Pro Vega 48 8GB Graphics Card so the machine should be more than capable of running LR without the kind of issues I'm experiencing, which include both the Adjustment Brush and Spot Removal tools causing the application to grind to a halt, with endless spinning beach balls.

A common complaint. Brushing and spot removal with a 5K monitor, is going to be very slow. It doesn't matter that you have this high end computer, it isn't fast enough given the current way Lightroom is programmed for brushing and spot removal. You might want to try a 1920x1080 monitor, to see if things speed up. Otherwise, you can try doing the brushing and spot healing in Photoshop.

Why could unchecking "Use Graphics Processor" speed things up? It speeds up almost everything, but it slows down spot healing and brushing. Again, this is the way LR is programmed, it's a trade-off the designers chose.

Report · Aug 08, 2019

Spend some time reading this post: Lightroom Classic: Poor Performance on Mac with 5K display | Photoshop Family Customer Community

Look at what Carlos Cardona contributed. Status of MAC OS CACH,s, various clutter, bad RAM, not enough RAM, Application states, etc

Report · Aug 10, 2019

One thing I overlooked, Library standard previews. Yes, I know, your in Develop, but at some point those standard previews get updated, how large have you set them in catalog settings?

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/lightroom-performance-previews-caches/