Why do buttons, apps, or the editor in MATLAB respond slowly or hang on MacOS?

I am using MATLAB R2019a and MATLAB R2018b with MacOS High Sierra, and I am seeing performance issues with many UI interactions such as the following:

- Really slow responses (4-5 seconds) when pressing buttons such as 'Run' and 'New'

- Lag when re-positioning the text cursor in a script file via mouse click (or highlighting sections of text)

- Lag or a freeze when interacting with some apps such as the Color Thresholder or Image Viewer apps

I did not face these issues with MATLAB R2018a

How do I solve this issue?

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

This issue can be caused by the incompatibility of Magnet App, BetterTouchTool, or similar window-snapping apps with MATLAB on macOS. It has been observed with R2019a, R2019b and R2020a Prerelease on High Sierra and Catalina macOS.

This can also be due to applications like Text Expander and Phase Express.

To work around the issue, please try one of the following solutions to see if it resolves the issue:

1) Switch MATLAB to use OpenJDK™ 8 (Hot Spot) version of JRE that can be downloaded from the following link:

https://github.com/AdoptOpenJDK/openjdk8-binaries/releases/download/jdk8u222-b10/OpenJDK8U-jdk_x64_mac_hotspot_8u222b10.tar.gz

To switch the JRE that MATLAB is using:

1. (Recommended) Back up the original JRE folder <matlabroot>/sys/java/jre/maci64
2. Replace the original JRE folder <matlabroot>/sys/java/jre/maci64/jre with <jre_root>/Contents/Home
3. Confirm the operation by finding “java” executable in the path <matlabroot>/sys/java/jre/maci64/jre/bin/java.
4. Launch MATLAB and verify the JRE version with “version -java”. The output should include “AdoptOpenJDK”.

2) Switch MATLAB to use the JetBrains version of JRE that can be downloaded from the following link:

https://bintray.com/jetbrains/intellij-jdk/download_file?file_path=jbrex8u152b845.3_osx_x64.tar.gz

Installing the version of JRE linked above may cause JAVA errors in MATLAB. However, these errors should not have any side effects.

3) If you are using a multi-monitor setup, moving MATLAB to a secondary monitor may prevent the issue. However, moving MATLAB back to the primary monitor may cause the issue to recur.

4) Consider switching to Spectacle. Performance regressions have not been reported on this App thus far. Find more information on the Spectacle App in the link below:

https://www.spectacleapp.com/

5) You should be able to use keyboard shortcuts with no delays.

6) Closing the window-snapping app and restarting MATLAB may solve this issue. This has been seen to be effective for many past instances of similar behavior.

Alternately, you might also be able to work around this incompatibility by disabling some functionality in the window-snapping app you are using or changing its settings to ignore MATLAB.

For instance, we have seen that BetterTouchTool can be left running, but the "Window Snapping" feature must be disabled for MATLAB to function properly. If quitting the app resolved the issue, you may want to try to disable the "Window Snapping" feature and restart MATLAB, if it is more convenient for your workflow.

[Christian]

MATLAB Answer for slow toolstrip/editor

This Answer also deals with the same issue and mentions that Spectacle is an alternative. Otherwise, you can tell Magnet to ignore MATLAB and this should work.

[Jason]

Given MATLAB R2018B is the only app which I have this problem with on Mac Mojave I assume this is a MATLAB bug and you are working to fix it? I would like to be able to use MATLAB with Magnet.

[Fernando Postigo]

I completely agree, MATLAB R2018B is the only app which I have this problem so I hope that you fix it in new updates. Magnet is a pretty useful tool and I would like to use it with MATLAB. This lag is really annoying

[Wolfgang Polifke]

Same problem here - this bug is not yet fixed (as of March 2019), with OS X 10.13.6, Matlab R2018b Update 3 and Magnet 2.4.2.

Disabling Magnet for Matlab is a workaround - no more, no less...

[Mark Sena]

Similar issue here. When switching from the figure window to the editor, it takes several seconds before the editor becomes responsive and I can start typing (or get a cursor). Really annoying.

I use Divvy for window snapping. I turned it off and restarted MATLAB. Didn't help.

I also turned off the interactive plotting toolbar. Didn't help.

Additionally sometimes I lose the ability to type in the editor alltogether (related issue?). Has anyone else experienced this?

I'm really dissappointed in these recent releases. Going back to 2017 if this can't be resolved.

[Diego Ortiz Mariscal]

Just close Divvy completely before even starting matlab

[Ricardo Gorinstein]

I am using Magnet and by ignoring Matlab, I solved the issue!

I am on macOS Catalina 10.15.4 using Magnet 2.4.5 and both MATLAB 2019b and 2020a. Here is what I did: while MATLAB is the active app, I clicked on magnet in the toolbar and selected 'Ignore "MATLAB"'. That's it.

Thanks for the help!

[Shweta Singh]

Hi Mark,

If you are still facing the issue, please reach out to MathWorks Technical Support by using the following link and they will be able to assist you further:

https://www.mathworks.com/support/contact_us/

Thanks,

Shweta Singh

[Madhur Tiwari]

Turning off all window snapping apps worked for me. I was using an app called Cinch, its not mentioned anywhere else so I thought its not causing any issues but it was.

[Yunes Chehade]

thank you very much!!!

[Lei Zhang]

Would 2020b resolve this issue? I am using Magnet, and I am able to work around the issue by telling the app to ignore Matlab. However, it does not always work. It seems that sometimes it takes several seconds for Magnet to respond when I switch to Matlab.

Matlab is the only app I am having this issue, and it's been two years. I am surprised that it still has not been resolved.

[Jonah Pearl]

I had this issue using Magnet -- telling Magnet to ignore MATLAB seems to work well.

Answer 2

[Seb Biass]

Same problem here, latest 2018 MBP, OSX 10.14, Matlab 2018b. Pretty much any interaction with GUIs - either the Matlab interface or custom GUI crashes Matlab. No window management software installed. It worked fine on OSX 10.13.

Please fix?

Update: As a matter of fact it does not crash, it is just extremely slow. On a custom built GUI it takes about a minute to change from one field to another.

Update #2: I run 2018a on my iMac with 10.14 with both BetterTouch and Magnet installed and there is no problem whatsoever. It seems that this is more likely a Matlab problem than a Magnet....

[Shweta Singh]

Hi Seb,

If you are still facing the issue, please reach out to MathWorks Technical Support by using the following link and they will be able to assist you further:

https://www.mathworks.com/support/contact_us/

Thanks,

Shweta Singh

Answer 3

[Yelin Shan]

I know this problem, that's because I open a window-snapping apps which is a translation software. So just be sure that you don't open any window-snapping app.

Answer 4

[Peter Drummond]

I have a brand new iMac Pro, running a completely standard Catalina MacOS, and Matlab 2020 editing is often painfully slow. Relative to any previous Mac, it is very much slower, despite the much better hardware. It used to be said that Intel giveth and Microsoft taketh away. Now it seems that Apple giveth and The MathWorks taketh away. Currently, I'm mostly forced to edit on my freeware editor, due to extraordinarily slow Matlab editor.

Funny thing: Matlab is very expensive and freeware is, well, free.