DisplayLink performance on MacBook Pro M2 Max becomes laggy

[Michi512]

Hey everyone,

I’m using a MacBook Pro M2 Max with two external 1440p monitors connected through a DisplayLink docking station.

After I run the DisplayLink Cleaner Tool and reinstall the latest driver, everything works perfectly at first — smooth performance, no delay at all.
But after about 2–3 hours of use, the external displays become extremely laggy:
the mouse starts to trail and respond with a slight delay, and overall UI responsiveness drops.

When I check Activity Monitor, the CPU usage of DisplayLink Manager has increased about 4× compared to normal.
The only way I’ve found to fix it is to run the cleaner and reinstall the driver again — which restores smooth performance for a while, until it happens again.

Has anyone found a permanent fix or workaround for this issue?
Otherwise I might have to return the docking station — it’s great when it works, but this makes it pretty unusable.

Thanks in advance for any help!

[rboerner]

If the original manufacturer of your DisplayLink-based product has been unable to assist you, then I would suggest reporting the issue to DisplayLink directly by following the process outlined here --> https://support.displaylink.com/knowledgebase/articles/755301-how-to-report-macos-issues-to-displaylink

[Michi512]

Dont want to run any more software on my mac to report it. Just will send it back and use a docking station without Displaylink.

Clearly DisplayLink is the problem. It occurs after the Macbook goes into sleep mode.
After sleepmode the CPU usage is way to high and just a restart can fix it.

Strange that i am the only one with this problem?!

[JoeCarr]

I am also having lagging problems. I'm running an M3 Mac that was working fine until I updated to 14.1 .0(build 28).

The CPU usage is currently sitting at 180%.

I need to roll-back, as this isn't usable.

[AlexHung]

How does one roll back? The 14.0.0 installer won't run as a newer version has already installed.

[PeterHt]

did someone already try using https://support.displaylink.com/knowledgebase/articles/2012213-end-user-cleaner-tool-for-macos to roll-back completely and then reinstall one of the legacy versions?

btw. dl is also laggy for me on mac book air m3 since 14.1

[Szymon]

Hi PeterHt,

If you want to roll back to any older than currently installed version of DisplayLink Manager then cleaning tool is one of the options. However, it's usually recommended to test if a problem that is reported on current version is something unique or present in any older version as well.

Since performance related issues are really wide subject, I encourage everyone to describe their configuration (DisplayLink device, connected monitors, MacBook, macOS version) and as well as describe what the problem is.

Regards,
Szymon

[PeterHt]

Hi Szymon, I used the cleaning tool and after that installed 14.0.0 again. Performance issues have been resolved for me. cpu usage is back to around 13%. Was above 100% (?) with 14.1

i am using
UGREEN Revodok Pro 209
Dell 2713H
LG HDR 4K
Macbook Air M3, Tahoe 26.1

[Szymon]

That's surprising, as it's difficult to associate such change in behaviour with any particular change we did between 14.0 and 14.1. I understand that upgrading again to 14.1 brings back the high CPU usage problem?

Regards,
Szymon

[MauriceP]

I also experienced this performance issue with unusable mouse liggieness after upgrading to Tahoe 26.1 and DL 14.1 and / or 14.2. Reverting back to 14.0 (via clean) resolved this issue.

It was literally like trying to drag the mouse through treacle.

Using DisplayLink 5K, macbook pro M3, 2 x 4K monitors L28u-30 and Samsung LU28R55 both running at 3008 x 1692

[timc]

Also reporting an issue after upgrading to 14.2. Rolling back to 14.0 resolved things.

I observed similar symptoms - high CPU usage by DisplayLink, lagging on the external monitors but not on the laptop screen.

Configuration:
- Wavlink WL-UG69PD5
- LG HDR4K and LU28R55 both running at 4K scaled down to FHD by the OS
- 13-inch M1 Macbook Pro
- MacOS Sequoia 15.7.2

[rboerner]

As mentioned earlier in this thread, If the original manufacturer of your DisplayLink-based product has been unable to assist you then I would suggest reporting the issue to DisplayLink directly by following the process outlined here --> https://support.displaylink.com/knowledgebase/articles/755301-how-to-report-macos-issues-to-displaylink

[artenais82c]

I add to the club. I was about to buy new macbook till I found this problem. I am using an AIR M3 with the following :

- 2x DISPLAY 1600p via HDMI
- Baseus Spacemate 11 in 1

I have a little different behaviour.

OSX 26.2

version 15.0 : Unusable, CPU > 100%
version 13.1 : Usable but CPU > 50%
version 14.x : CPU above 60%

Upgrading to OSX 26.3 was a major improvement that bringed the following :

version 13.1 - 14.0 : CPU mostly under 20%. Some spikes up to 50% but no lag at all.
version 14.x : Again with cpu above 60%. Little lag
version 15.0 : CPU > 100%


UPDATE 20/02 : I wish to add that my memory tab after a few days shows a wopping 7,5Gb of use. Closing the Displaylink Manager and restarting it goes back to normal amount ( 300mb-1Gb ). I do not know if this is a display bug or real. can anyone confirm this?

Hope this will be interesting for DisplayLink guys.