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[Solved] How to fix WindowServer High Memory Leak caused by Private dirty memory growth in Metal compositor across multiple Spaces on Mac Studio M2 Max

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Home › Forums › MacBook, iMac & macOS Lab › [Solved] How to fix WindowServer High Memory Leak caused by Private dirty memory growth in Metal compositor across multiple Spaces on Mac Studio M2 Max

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  • November 15, 2026 at 2:23 am #17490
    Angela Rodriguez
    Certified Tech (Lvl 5)
    Diagnostic Hardware Specs: Mac Studio M2 Max (64GB) | OS Version: macOS Sequoia 15.1 | Archive Source: Apple Support Community #256377039

    I am running into a persistent issue on my Mac Studio M2 Max (64GB) running macOS Sequoia 15.1.
    Whenever the machine encounters Private dirty memory growth in Metal compositor across multiple Spaces, the following diagnostic log appears in Console:

    WindowServer virtual memory: 19.6 GB private dirty surfaces in Metal shader cache

    I verified that hardware connections are intact and tested across different power sources. What is the verified diagnostic procedure to permanently eliminate this symptom?

    MacBook Pro 14″ M4 (24GB) | iPad Air M2 | Keychron Q1 Pro | Gothenburg, SE
    Computer Science & Machine Learning Student | "Verified Apple Discussions Archive"
    November 15, 2026 at 2:23 am #17491
    Maya Schmitz
    Certified Tech (Lvl 5)
    Apple Recommended / Verified Community Solution
    This canonical solution was verified and marked as solved in the Apple Support Community archive.

    Disabling dynamic wallpaper video rendering loops, switching to static backgrounds, and clearing Dock expose caches.

    Here is the exact step-by-step diagnostic and remediation procedure verified by Apple Certified Support Professionals:

    1. Switch all desktop spaces to static wallpapers in System Settings > Wallpaper.
    2. Flush compositor memory: sudo purge && killall Dock.
    3. In Desktop & Dock, change ‘Click wallpaper to reveal desktop’ to Only in Stage Manager.

    Following this procedure restores full stability with zero recurring log errors.

    MacBook Pro 16″ M3 Max (64GB) | Studio Display | iPhone 16 Pro | Cambridge, UK
    Apple Certified Support Professional (ACSP) | iOS / Swift Engineer
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