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Using the touchbar or capslock stalls/freezes my macbook pro

After the previous automatic update, I have a weird issue where if I press the caps lock key, or if I use the touch bar (to turn up volume or brightness for example), the laptop freezes for about 6 seconds. I can move the cursor around, but the computer is otherwise unresponsive.


If I turn up the volume during a zoom call for example, the people in the zoom meeting will appear frozen, and they will say that I am frozen as well, though they can still hear me.


I restarted my computer several times but no luck. Is this happening to anyone else? How do I fix it?

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 11.5

Posted on Jul 29, 2021 10:31 AM

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Posted on Jul 30, 2021 11:09 AM

Well, the problem returned. It returned after opening iMovie and connecting a second monitor yesterday. But now iMovie is closed and I have no second monitor attached, and it is still doing it. I just tap caps lock once and the computer freezes for a few seconds.


In the worst case scenario, I will have a youtube video playing and it will be impossible to change the volume for more than 60 seconds. Each press of the volume change button in the touchbar results in several seconds of freezing, in addition to either no response at all, or an exaggerated response. For example, if I want to turn the volume up, I will tap the "volume up" button 3 times with no response. Then after a minute or two, the volume will go to max volume. Then it is stuck at max volume and is painfully loud, so I press the "volume down" button many times, but it remains painfully loud. In addition, the computer is unresponsive, so I can't pause the video or close the window. Then after a long time, the volume will finally go down or the window will close.


For some reason, the unresponsiveness is very long when using the volume buttons compared to the caps lock. Caps lock results in a few seconds, volume is normally a few seconds long unless a youtube video is playing. Strange behavior.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 30, 2021 11:09 AM in response to Alias7

Well, the problem returned. It returned after opening iMovie and connecting a second monitor yesterday. But now iMovie is closed and I have no second monitor attached, and it is still doing it. I just tap caps lock once and the computer freezes for a few seconds.


In the worst case scenario, I will have a youtube video playing and it will be impossible to change the volume for more than 60 seconds. Each press of the volume change button in the touchbar results in several seconds of freezing, in addition to either no response at all, or an exaggerated response. For example, if I want to turn the volume up, I will tap the "volume up" button 3 times with no response. Then after a minute or two, the volume will go to max volume. Then it is stuck at max volume and is painfully loud, so I press the "volume down" button many times, but it remains painfully loud. In addition, the computer is unresponsive, so I can't pause the video or close the window. Then after a long time, the volume will finally go down or the window will close.


For some reason, the unresponsiveness is very long when using the volume buttons compared to the caps lock. Caps lock results in a few seconds, volume is normally a few seconds long unless a youtube video is playing. Strange behavior.

Aug 1, 2021 1:33 PM in response to Alias7

After restarting, the problem goes away for a while. But then after having several things open and working my computer a little hard (like I always did without any problem), the problem comes back. Today its very bad. If I simply want to dim my screen to half the current brightness, I will have to wait 30 seconds for it to stop freezing before it actually dims and before I can do anything else with the computer.

Aug 1, 2021 9:58 PM in response to mle425

I should also note that my computer has 64 GB RAM, and is a 2019 MBP, 4TB hard drive, basically I maxed it out when buying it to minimize any chances of complications due to low RAM or other things.


The problem started within the last couple of weeks only. Normally my computer is fine for weeks without having to restart. But now, I think I'm going to have to restart once or twice a day to try to minimize the effects of the issue.

Aug 2, 2021 12:44 PM in response to hnolen16

The restarting "because of a problem" also has happened to me as well, maybe twice in the last couple of weeks, around the same time as this touchbar / caps lock problem. I had assumed they are not related because I had a very frequent "restarted because of a problem" a long time ago. Maybe they are related. I will just make sure to save my work and restart often.

Aug 17, 2021 2:08 PM in response to iocompletion

The problem has gotten a little worse. I now have to restart my computer in the morning, and then by the time I am done with work, the problem has come back again. Two restarts a day is annoying.


I just wanted to turn the volume of a youtube video down by one little bar, and it took 27 seconds for the computer to unfreeze. And when it did, the volume was all the way to zero. So I had to press the "volume up" button, and it took another long wait for it to respond, and it was at max volume. Luckily I had paused the youtube video before trying to turn up the volume otherwise my ears would have exploded.


There is a mac update downloading right now. I hope that fixes it.

Aug 21, 2021 8:36 PM in response to Alias7

The latest update fffixed this issue or me. But the update has created an even more rustrating issue. The "F" key seems to now have a problem.


When I press the f key, it will do one o ffa few things: not register at all, or it will register multiple times, or it will not do anything until a few ffmoments later and insert f's where there should not be. I constantly have to backspace and type really slowly.


Additionally, ff'ffs will also be typed randomly throughout the day. So ifffff fI'm watching a Youtube video, it will go ulfl fscreen randomly (*fullscreen), and sometimes it will just continuously toggle between ulfl screen and regular screen constantly or 10 to 30 seconds until the key is done going crazy.


This is frufstrating because I code a lot and the letter f will randomly insert into my code. And the password to unlock my mac has an fff in it, and so I misspell my password many times befofre fit inalfly unlocks it.


I took out the key and used compressed gas to blow any debris away, but it had no efefct. This is so ucking annoying.

Using the touchbar or capslock stalls/freezes my macbook pro

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