Parallels 16 extremely slow on MBP

Hi all,
I have a MBP16, 8 core i9, 64gb memory, 8gb AMD Radeon and for some reason Parallels is unbearably slow.
Parallels is configured on "Games only" mode with 4 processors and 8gb of memory, running on Windows 10.

I can barely move the mouse across across the screen when on Parallels as there is a 15 sec response lag.

Any ideas why this could be the case?

ps: Bootcamp is running very smoothly and without any problems.

Thanks

 

Hello, did you try any steps from this KB article?

 

I had done that prior to posting here.
I managed to improve performance by disabling Windows Search and Indexing. Also, seems like dropbox is adversely affecting performance.
However, working in excel still is almost impossible.

 

Did you get any specific error/symptoms with the MS Excel?

 

I'm having the same problem running Parallels 16.1.0 and Catalina 10.15.7. Response time is painfully slow. It's particularly bad with Microsoft Office applications like Outlook, Excel and Word, but is noticeably slow with all functions. Response time was quite good under Parallels 15. Is it possible to downgrade to Parallels 15 until you fix this?

 

Hello, did you check and try any steps from this article?

 

1. It's not just MS Office -- everything is slow.
2. Your information is out of date. The OffCAT configurations scanner for Office has been removed. It's been replaced by SaRA, which only scans the Outlook configuration. I did run that but found no problems.

The response time is unacceptable. Is it possible to re-install Parallels 16.0.1 or downgrade the Parallels 15?

 

Please use this link in order to downgrade to the Parallels Desktop 16.0.1.

 

The link didn't work because they've already updated the build. However,I was able to download the latest from your Downloads page. Unfortunately, installing it didn't help.

FYI, I'm running a 2018 MacBook Pro with i7 processor. CPU and memory are evenly divided between Mac and Windows. Response time was very good under Parallels 15. I can't recall if the slowdown started with 16.0 or 16.0.1.

Is it possible to downgrade to an earlier version of Parallels?

 

Hi, please sorry for the delay in response.
Please use this link in order to downgrade to Parallels Desktop 15.

 

Thanks. I was able to find the version myself. I tried it and the response time was as slow as the latest version 16, which I reinstalled. I'm wondering if this could be due to a configuration issue in Parallels or Catalina, but don't know where to start looking. Note that I've divided the system resources equally between Mac and Windows -- 2 i7 cores and 8 GB each. This was working very well -- i.e., good Windows 10 response time -- until a few weeks ago.

The response time lag doesn't appear to be related to CPU usage. I'll click on something -- an email, a button, an app to launch, pretty-much anything, and there will be no response for 5-15 seconds, even if the CPU usage us very low. If I've clicked on something in an app, and click it again when I get no response, the app's title bar will say [app name] "Not Responding". But the cursor still works, so the screen is updating and Windows isn't hung. Note that the Mac OSX response time is excellent while this is happening.

 

I've been getting messages encouraging me to upgrade to version 16 - but I had a funny feeling about upgrading. I'm glad I checked this forum first. I don't want the next two months of my life being obsessed with fixing issues. No thanks. If it ain't broke don't fix it. I'll stick with Parallels Desktop version 15. BTW: I've got a 2015 MacBook Pro with a 2.8GHz i7 and 16GB RAM running macOS Mojave 10.14.6

 

Unless I can get some guidance on solving this problem I'm going to have to try VMware Fusion. Windows response time under Parallels is not acceptable.

 

Tried the free version of VMware Fusion and response time is *way* better -- no 5-15 second waits after clicking on something. It can be sluggish from time to time, as was Parallels at it's best. but it's quite useable. So the painful slowdown is definitely a Parallels issue. Seeing as how the problem exists with all versions from the last version of Parallels 15 to the latest version of Parallels 16, And some of those versions worked well for a while, I'd speculate that maybe something changed in Catalina that screwed up Parallels on my system. I'll have to keep using VMware Fusion until Big Sur is available and has been out there long enough for me to safely update. Then I'll try Parallels again and report back.

 

I have to say I did notice that Parallels 15 and Windows 10 Prof. seemed a bit sluggish - but nothing that made me want to pull my hair out. I'm using a 2015 MacBoo Pro and I do notice the fans going to full speed every time I use Parallels/Windows 10. I figured it was mostly Windows 10 overloading the system. I didn't notice much load when using Ubuntu. For the most part, I'm not relying on Parallels for Windows 10 - unless I'm traveling or something like that. Otherwise I use a proper workstation for the CAD work that I do.

 

Actually, I was very pleased with Parallels when I upgraded from a MacBook Air (2014 or 2015, can't remember which) to my present 2018 MacBook Pro which has a much, much faster i7 CPU and double the memory (16 GB.) Parallels was quite slow on the Air, but I wasn't getting 5-15 second wait time. It ran great on the 2018 MBP for two years with mostly peppy response and only occasional slowdowns when the CPU load was heavy, a virus scan and Time Machine backup were going at the same time, etc. I suspect Catalina is the main culprit, though it wasn't evident when i first updated to it. Probably one of the updates along the way did this. That's why I'm willing to try Parallels again when Big Sur is released, which should be soon.

 

So, I upgraded my MBP to Big Sur. At first, Parallels was quite zippy, like it had been before the long pauses started happening under Catalina. But within one day of the upgrade, Parallels once again became very unresponsive, with long pauses after each mouse click, during which I could do nothing. Sometimes good response would happen for a few minutes, but inevitably the long pauses returned. So I re-installed VMware Fusion Player, which so far has been working just fine. I do prefer Parallels, especially the ability to seamlessly share files without resorting to network shares, but the terrible response of Parallels is a non-starter. Since VMware Fusion works fine, I rather doubt that it's an issue with my MBP, but rather a bug or incompatibility in Parallels that I guess affects my particular MBP configuration, but not others. Sure would be nice if Parallels would help me troubleshoot this. I have a subscription to Pro, so I guess I'll try the trouble ticket system.

 

I am in the same boat. 2017 iMac 27 inch with i5, SSD 2TB and 24GB of ram and since Big Sure and Parallels 16 and 16.1 the Mac is unusable after an hour of loading Parallels.
I hope this will be solved fast!

 

Good news (I think): I updated to Big Sur 11.1 (20C69) when it was released. Win10 under VMware Fusion Player, which had gotten a little more sluggish since my last post, got even slower. So I imported the Fusion Windows VM into the current Parallels release (same one I was running before.) Now Windows 10 performance under Parallels is quite good -- fast as I've ever seen it on this MBP. Not seeing any appreciable delays in Office 365 apps. Outlook response is good. Not seeing long spilling circles like before. Will keep my fingers crossed!

 

I'm on Big Sur 11.1. I upgraded to Parallels 16.1.2 and it basically made Window 10 impossible to use. I tried all the suggestions, uninstalled and re-installed 16.1.2. I ended up re-installing version 15 and all is well again. Just roll back until they figure it out. It will save HOURS of frustration.