New look spotify runs exceptionally slow on 2021 MacBook Pro M1

[Jahnzilla]

Plan

=Premium

Country

uk

Device

macbook pro m1

Operating System

mac

My Question or Issue

the new look version runs ridiculously slow on a very powerful laptop, compared to "old" look version.

[Jahnzilla]

Hey everyone,

Spotify has posted an update about M1 Mac support here:
M1 Mac support is now in beta 

Updated on 2021-07-01

Hi everyone,

We have been working hard backstage on this and are happy to announce that we now have a Beta version of our app available. It features many compatibility improvements and optimizations for the new Apple architecture.

You can download this Beta app from here. It would be great if you do so and then post feedback on your experience here.

Please note that as a Beta, some unexpected behavior might still occur. We'll use all the feedback and info we get from you to tweak and improve your Spotify experience. And if everything works great we’d love to hear that too!

To install the Beta app, double click the .dmg file and then drag the app to your Applications folder, replacing the version you may have installed now. To go back to the regular version, please download and install it from https://spotify.com/download.

We can’t wait to hear from you and learn how your experience was. Take care!

[SeanKing]

Experiencing super slow load times and transitions after new update... PLEASE FIX

[Katerina]

Hey there @Jahnzilla, @SeanKing and @acameraman! 

Thank you for flagging this with us.

This shouldn't be happening. In this case, we'd like to look into this a bit more.

Could you first start with a clean reinstall to make sure that this isn't dependent on any corrupted app cached info? The steps to do can be found here. This ensures that you're starting afresh with the app. 

After this, provided this is still an issue with the app's behavior, could you let us know some info?

For example:

• The basics: device info and OS versions and any details relevant to your setup
• Some info regarding what happens: for example, any helpful screenshots/screenrecordings (just make sure that no private/sensitive info is visible), what usually prompts this to happen, steps to reproduce, any error messages whenever this happens etc.
• Some info regarding how you use the app: are you following a lot of artists or playlists? If so, how many? Any other relevant info you could think of is super helpful.

We'll be keeping an eye out for your replies, thanks!

[AeroZ]

Not sure if there is such option available in the new client but if there is “hardware acceleration” setting then try enabling or disabling it. 

[sergioro]

Hi,

How/Where did you download the new version?

Thank you in advance.

[mark3man]

Same thing here, nearly. MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports) - Spotify was fine until this update, now it's like like moving through treacle. Really troubling considering the amount I use Spotify. I have deleted, cleaned reinstalled, switched hardware acceleration on and off... Still super slow. 

[Novy]

Hi @mark3man, 

Thanks for reaching out about this.

Could you provide the rest of the info that @Katerina mentioned? 

We'll keep an eye out for your reply.

[mark3man]

Thanks @Novy, I'm running it on a MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports) 3.1 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5 OSX 11.3.1 (20E241).

What happens is just a lag. I click Search, or a playlist, or and it takes 4 seconds to load up. Playlists take a lot longer, more like 15 seconds. When things do appear, they load slowly like I'm on ADSL. If I drag a track into a playlist, it has to hover over that playlist on the left menu bar for about 6 seconds for the app to catch up to the cursor. 

I do have a lot of playlists - probably over 1000 - as I used to save albums as playlists. but it's definitely the update that has made this much slower. It's become painful to use. Thanks. 

[Alex]

Hi folks,

Thanks for reaching out about this. 

@Jahnzilla, you might be experiencing these issues because the app doesn't run natively on laptops with the M1 architecture. This is something the dev teams are working on, however we don't have an official timeframe for a release.

@mark3man, We'd recommend you run a clean reinstall of the app, following this Guide. Also clear any entries containing Spotify from your host files. Refer to this Answer for a step-by-step guide.

Hope this helps. Don't hesitate to reach out again if you have questions.

[mark3man]

Thanks - I've now done that twice and had no improvements... It appears it's like this on all my laptops, while my wife and daughter's Spotify accounts don't have the same problem. They don't have nearly as many playlists as me, so I think that's the problem. I will delete stuff but I hope this'll get fixed as I don't want a ceiling on how much music I can collect. 

[Novy]

Hi again @mark3manm, 

Thanks for getting back to us with this info.

Let us know how the app behaves after deleting some playlists. 

We'll continue with the help if you need us to.

[leilanizbin]

Hi Katerina,

Thank you for this solution! I noticed my Spotify was running significantly slower after my Spotify auto-updated with the new look about a week or two ago. So I followed the guide on how to do the clean reinstall. However, now my Spotify has the "older" look again. I wonder if this had to do anything with my Spotify updating later than others in the first place? For context, my friends have had the "new look" noticeably with the feature that shows your top artists and top songs when you look at your profile for a while now, they say about a couple of months. Mine updated only in the last two weeks but made my Spotify very slow, and now after I clean reinstalled it, it is back to the version without the new features. Is there any way to get the new update again and still have Spotify run faster? Thank you for your help!

[Jeremy]

Hi there @leilanizbin,

Thank you for your reply and for the information you've provided.

Can you let us know which version of the app you have?

Also, do you se the same when you're using the web player?

We'll keep an eye out for your reply.

Cheers!

[leilanizbin]

Hi Jeremy,

Thanks for your reply! My desktop version says 1.1.58.820.g2ae50076.

Interestingly, I see the updated version (with new features) on the web player!

Thank you for your help!

[Jeremy]

Hi again @leilanizbin,

Thank you for your reply and confirmation.

You'll will get back to the x version eventually, unless you block updates.

We always suggest that you keep your app up to date.

Let us know if we can help you with anything else 🙂

Cheers!

[LonelyANDRoid77]

Disabling hardware acceleration helped with slowness in my case.

I had Spotify running all the time for a few days on my new m1 mac and the whole OS was very slow: app switching/opening, etc. Once I closed Spotify, the slowness disappeared. Then I tried the app with hardware acceleration and so far so good.

Spotify version: 1.1.59.712.g54f36e5d-a
macOS version: 11.3.1

Macbook Pro M1
8GB / 256 GB

[Eni]

Hi folks, 

Thanks for reaching out about this here in the Community. 

We appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback with us and will make sure to pass it onto the right team, as we always strive to improve your experience.

We'd recommend adding your +VOTE to this thread, as other users also think this would be a good idea. You can also subscribe to it in the three-dot menu so you can stay up-to-date with any relevant news about this.

If you need help with anything else, we're always a post away. 

Cheers!

[LazyLawyer332]

@Jahnzilla I am so sorry at how you have been treated by the Spotify corporation, which has still not followed up on your problem months after you posted it. It is not fair, they do not respect you as a paid customer.

Keep an eye out for possible class action lawsuits (or consider starting one):
https://community.spotify.com/t5/Desktop-Mac/Spotify-Apple-Silicon-Class-Action-Lawsuit/td-p/5223639

I am a lawyer, and I can tell any user would have standing in court, to sue for damages. Basically being able to show standing, is being able to show that you have been wronged in a way that can be resolved through the law (by the court system). Here the standing is that the company is in breach of contract (yes, they will say their web player works, but that is easy to counter).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_(law)

[MattSuda]

Hey everyone,

Spotify has posted an update about M1 Mac support here:
M1 Mac support is now in beta 

Updated on 2021-07-01

Hi everyone,

We have been working hard backstage on this and are happy to announce that we now have a Beta version of our app available. It features many compatibility improvements and optimizations for the new Apple architecture.

You can download this Beta app from here. It would be great if you do so and then post feedback on your experience here.

Please note that as a Beta, some unexpected behavior might still occur. We'll use all the feedback and info we get from you to tweak and improve your Spotify experience. And if everything works great we’d love to hear that too!

To install the Beta app, double click the .dmg file and then drag the app to your Applications folder, replacing the version you may have installed now. To go back to the regular version, please download and install it from https://spotify.com/download.

We can’t wait to hear from you and learn how your experience was. Take care!

[MattSuda]

UPDATE: Apple Silicon Macs (M1 chip) are now supported in the latest desktop Mac version

Spotify has posted an update about Apple Silicon Macs (M1 chip) support here:

https://community.spotify.com/t5/Implemented-Ideas/Desktop-Add-support-for-Apple-Silicon-ARM64-on-Ma...

"Thank you all for bringing your feedback to the Community Idea Exchange and participating in this Beta test!

Your input has been invaluable and helped us tweak the app to make full use of the new CPU architecture.

We're happy to announce that the app is now out of Beta and can be downloaded from our website. You should automatically get the correct version for your Mac's CPU and all updates will be automatic as well, just the way it was in the past.

This idea is now officially implemented! Thanks once more for all your votes and posts.

Happy listening! 🎶"