BRILLANT! Thanks Joost Egelie.

I can finally run Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop concurrently just like the old days by disabling the Application Frame. GPU load behaviour is back to Sequoia days.

That said, Adobe should still figure this out as this is just a workaround. At least we have collectively found the culprit: The Application Frame. Not the connected display, not the ram, not the CC app version.

Thank you Philippe for your elaborate observations.
Although Windowserver is the proces using so much GPU, the bug remains with Adobe programs because they seem to trigger Windowserver into GPU hogging.

I'd like to add that turning off "Application Frame" for Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop also drops GPU to almost zero.

Also closing the CC Libraries tab drops a tiny bit of GPU usage.

I can confirm this issue on my setup.

Configuration:

* MacBook Pro 16” M1 Max (64 GB)
* macOS Tahoe 26.5.2 (also reproduced on 26.5.1)
* Latest versions of Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign

After a lot of testing, I found some interesting details that may help reproduce the problem.

What I observed

* The process consuming GPU is WindowServer, not Illustrator itself.
* Illustrator CPU usage remains very low.
* The issue is not document-related: it also happens with no document open.
* Photoshop and InDesign show the same behaviour.
* GPU usage is directly proportional to the visible area of the Adobe window.
* Reducing the window size reduces GPU usage.
* Moving part of the window outside the screen also reduces GPU usage proportionally.
* Minimizing the window (⌘M) or hiding the application (⌘H) immediately drops GPU usage to almost zero.
* Hiding all panels with Tab has almost no effect.
* However, pressing F to switch Illustrator’s screen mode immediately reduces GPU usage to a normal level.

This strongly suggests the issue is related to WindowServer compositing the Adobe application window, rather than document rendering or GPU calculations inside Illustrator.

Updating from macOS 26.5.1 to 26.5.2 slightly reduced the GPU usage on my machine, but the issue is still present.

I also opened a more detailed report with additional observations and tests:
https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657-illustrator-desktop-feature-requests/suggestions/51457714-very-high-windowserver-gpu-usage-on-macos-tahoe-wh

Hopefully this additional information helps reproduce the problem.

Hello,

I would like to report what appears to be a WindowServer / Adobe rendering issue on macOS Tahoe.

System

* MacBook Pro 16” M1 Max
* macOS Tahoe 26.5.2 (also reproduced on 26.5.1)
* External 4K monitor (60 Hz) AND internal display
* Latest versions of Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign

Symptoms

The issue is not caused by Illustrator CPU usage.

Instead, WindowServer continuously uses a very large amount of GPU while any Adobe window is visible.

CPU usage of Illustrator remains very low.

What I observed

* Opening Illustrator with no document at all immediately increases WindowServer GPU usage.
* Photoshop and InDesign show exactly the same behaviour.
* GPU usage is proportional to the visible surface area of the Adobe window.
* Making the window smaller reduces GPU usage.
* Moving part of the window outside the screen also reduces GPU usage proportionally.
* Minimizing the window (⌘M) immediately drops GPU usage to almost zero.
* Hiding the application (⌘H) also drops GPU usage to almost zero.
* Closing the application immediately returns GPU usage to idle.

Interesting finding

Pressing F in Illustrator (cycling through screen modes) dramatically reduces GPU usage.

Simply hiding the tool panels (Tab) does not change GPU usage significantly.

This suggests the issue is related to the window rendering/compositing rather than document rendering.

Additional information

* The problem occurs even with no document open.
* It occurs with the internal display only.
* The external monitor is not the root cause (only increases the workload proportionally).
* Updating to macOS 26.5.2 slightly improved GPU usage but did not solve the issue.

It seems WindowServer continuously redraws Adobe application windows while they are visible.

Has Adobe been able to reproduce this behaviour?

I can approve that this is still a problem, I'm on a specced out M4-Air with all software and operative system on latest versions. Running the Adobe Apps in the same desktop causes slowdowns which makes the apps unusable (zooming and panning in docs etc is grinding to a halt). Running a single Adobe app at once is super fast, and running the Adobe Apps in separate virtual desktops in MacOS helps.

Hi,

Yes I'm having an external monitor, hooked up with a USB-to-HDMI connector.
I've tried another resolution, but it didn't show any improvement.

this is my setup (sorry it's in Dutch, copied from System Information):

Apple M3:

Chipsetmodel: Apple M3
Type: GPU
Bus: Ingebouwd
Totale aantal cores: 10
Fabrikant: Apple (0x106b)
Metal-ondersteuning: Metal 4
Beeldschermen:
iMac:
Beeldschermtype: Ingebouwde Retina LCD
Resolutie: Retina 4,5K (4480 x 2520)
Hoofdbeeldscherm: Ja
Synchrone weergave: Uit
Online: Ja
Pas helderheid automatisch aan: Ja
Verbindingstype: Intern
PL2793Q:
Resolutie: 2560 x 1440 (QHD/WQHD - Wide Quad High Definition)
Ziet eruit als: 2560 x 1440 @ 60.00Hz
Synchrone weergave: Uit
Online: Ja
Rotatie: Ondersteund

USB 3.1 Bus:

Locatiecode: 0x01000000
Verbindingstype: Built-in
Driver: AppleT8122USBXHCI

Belkin USB-C to HDMI Adapter:

Locatiecode: 0x01100000
Verbindingstype: Removable
Fabrikant: Belkin
Serienummer: 0000000000000001
Verbindingssnelheid: 12 Mb/s
USB-fabrikantcode: 0x050d
USB-productcode: 0x012c
USB-productversie: 0x0001

@All Can you guys share what is your display setup? Do you have an external monitor? If yes, how many and what resolution? Does reducing the resolution help?

Disabled the Home Screen some time back as it was suggested by someone else before. No difference in performance. Going full-screen mode remains the only way around the absurd GPU load.

Hi Anmol Sud,

This setting was the first thing I disabled when I installed Illustrator, so I can confirm the issue is there without that option. RIght now I have an idle Photoshop in the background doing nothing, but using up 107% CPU and 94% GPU. When I'm in Illustrator the GPU gets overloaded and starts throttling.

Are the new AI functions in the Adobe suite perhaps piggyback-riding on idle processors and GPUs around the world?

I have turned off the Home Screen. I currently have Illustrator open in the background with no documents open - it's consistently using ~20% of the GPU and ~200% (!) of CPU.

I'm on an M1 iMac, which at this point is starting to show its age a little, but those numbers are absurd.

@All Can you guys try to disable the preference "Show The Home Screen When No Documents Are Open" and confirm if you still see the issue? It should be present in Preferences->General.

Anmol Sud
Adobe Illustrator Team

I can confirm the issue is partly an Apple performance issue. The Screenshot app puts extra strain on the GPU when highlighting selected areas in transparent blue., but the rise in use is only around 30% - not the full 100% as Illustrator et al. produce.

As the problems arose only when I accidentally installed Tahoe on the iMac M3 and persist after every version upgrade of either MacOS X or Adobe apps, I think Adobe can address Apple's unasked-for graphical update "Liquid Glass". I've tried shutting off every visual gimmick in the OS but the problems remain, so I think poorly written and inefficient core frameworks may be the culprit. However, users are not in a position to address this with Apple, but Adobe certainly may have the leverage.

After testing on my company’s MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac mini (running macOS 15), I observed varying degrees of change in GPU usage depending on the screen mode. I believe this is simply a matter of whether the difference in machine power affects performance or not.
Given that this issue persists even on macOS 15, I would like Adobe to remove window shadows in Normal mode to reduce the load.

By the way…
If you need to run Illustrator and Photoshop at the same time, using Mission Control to display them on separate desktops can help reduce the load somewhat.
However, it might be more appropriate for Apple to provide a fundamental solution.
After all, even the editing interface of the standard Screenshot.app is driving up GPU usage.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Yeah. the full-screen method is a good workaround, for now. Its just annoying cos I can no longer see my open files as tabs in full-screen, and if i hit the ESC key more than I need to it exits the full screen.

Now that we can isolate and replicate this issue, lets hope the Adobe and Apple can sort this out; issue present only after Tahoe.

After launching Adobe software, try pressing the ‘F’ key to switch to the mode where the three-colour buttons disappear and the tools are displayed.

Please make sure you’ve enabled the GPU settings, of course.

I hope Adobe will notice this and fix it.

(InDesign has the same problem, but as I can’t change the screen mode, there’s nothing I can do about it.)

Issue is still present.
The workaround to go full screen works.

1) App at launch - GPU load high
2) App with blank file in full screen - GPU load low
3) App with same blank file NOT in full screen - GPU load high

Running Adobe Illustrator V30.3 on Mac Mini M1 with macOS Tahoe 26.5.
Issue present since macOS Tahoe 26.0 beta.
Issue present in Adobe Photoshop as well.

I have this issue too. Not only with Illustrator, Photoshop and Indesign too.

After I open app, not even loading the document, my gpu usage soars up to 70 %. A great note from the commenter - making it full screen fixes this issue. Which isn't the solution , but a viable workaround while working off the battery. Because this behaviour basically cuts my battery life in half. I run latest adobe apps + latest Tahoe release 26.4 on 16 inch MBP M1 Pro 16gb

Slightly off-topic, but wow the difference in performance/frame rate when panning around a document in Full Screen With Menubar mode is remarkable. It's so much smoother.

A very important detail: when I switch Illustrator to Full Screen mode With Menubar, the GPU drops immediately to almost zero (in Dutch: "Weergave > Schermmodus > Volledig scherm met menubalk").
It's Illustrator (mainly, but also the other Creative Cloud apps) which triggers the Apple Windowserver process into giant GPU loads. But only when it's in standard window mode.

This is with Illustrator 30.3 on Mac OS Tahoe 26.3.1

It is still happening. Circumstances are random, but when GPU load runs out to 100% all it takes is hiding all Adobe apps and GPU load drops immediately to about 20%.

Attached picture is the iMac M3 when all apps are idle; only Illustrator and Apple Mail are open. No graphical tasks are being performed. Again, Windowserver is hogging the GPU.