Ableton Not Registering Clicks or Shortcuts Properly on Mac M1 – Bug or Something Else?

[Jonatan King]

Hi everyone,

I'm experiencing a pretty frustrating issue with Ableton Live and I'm wondering if anyone else has gone through something similar or has found a solution.

I'm working on a Mac with an M1 chip and 64 GB of RAM, using an RME Babyface Pro FS interface. My main peripherals are the Apple trackpad and keyboard, along with a Logi MX Master 3S mouse — all connected via Bluetooth.

The issue mainly happens when working with MIDI. For example, while editing a polyphonic instrument like a piano, when I try to copy and paste MIDI notes, sometimes the mouse click doesn’t register, or the keyboard shortcut simply doesn’t respond. I also notice that when selecting notes with the mouse, the selection line randomly cuts off, almost like the system isn't properly registering the input.

This severely slows down my workflow — tasks that should take 10 minutes end up taking 20 or more. If I plan to work for 8 hours, I often need to spend 16 hours just to compensate for all the interruptions.

Interestingly, this problem happens about 99% of the time only within Ableton, although I’ve occasionally noticed similar minor lag when interacting with other macOS apps (like a delay when switching windows).

I'm currently using Ableton Live Suite 11, version 11.3.42. I'm not sure if the issue is related to the Bluetooth connection of my peripherals, the OS itself, or some kind of incompatibility with Ableton on M1.

Has anyone experienced something similar? Any advice or solutions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[cids]

there are 2 tests that you could do:

1. Connect your keyboard with a cable to make sure this is not Bluetooth related
2. Use the trackpad of your MacBook instead of the external trackpad, assuming you're using a MacBook instead of desktop Mac

As your issues seem non-Ableton related please also check if this occurs within other macOS apps