M2 Max Macbook Pro slow in Photoshop and Lightroom

You should see in Activity Monitor what's consuming CPU and RAM (if a not crucial process is consuming lots of CPU or RAM, without a "reason", you should stop it) . You should also check your Mac for malware and other viruses (Macs usually don't need antivirus software - Apple does a excellent job to make your Mac protected - but, it doesn't hurt installing one one or two times a year just to run a scan and, after that, remove it properly).

Consider downloading and running this little discovery Utility, Etrecheck. It changes NOTHING. its only reason to exist is to produce a report which, if you follow the instructions faithfully, can be posted back to the forums for readers to analyze.

https://etrecheck.com/en/index.html

mattdean wrote:

I have an M2 Max Macbook Pro with 64Gigs of RAM and 1.5TB free space on the internal hard drive.

That machine does not have an internal hard drive. It has a much faster internal SSD.

When I try to use the eraser or remove tool in Photoshop, it lags a lot, or I have to wait quite a while for it to perform the task. I have to wait for it to catch up. The remove tool is the same in Lightroom. However, if I shift-click the eraser to erase in a straight line it is immediate.

You may want to review this article on the Adobe site to see if there is anything in it that might help.

Adobe – Optimize Photoshop performance

These instructions help with posting long EtreCheck reports here:

How to use the Add Text Feature When Post… - Apple Community