[Solved] MacBook Pro 16″ M2 Max encountering Compressor Batch Transcode Queue Stuck on ‘Waiting’ after update (macOS Sequoia 15.1)

[Charlotte Hall]

Diagnostic Hardware Specs: MacBook Pro 16″ M2 Max | OS Version: macOS Sequoia 15.1 | Archive Source: Apple Support Community #256718717

I am running into a persistent issue on my MacBook Pro 16″ M2 Max running macOS Sequoia 15.1.
Whenever the machine encounters Stale background Qmaster / Apple Qconsumer cluster lockfile, the following diagnostic log appears in Console:

Compressor: [qmaster] Service cluster lockfile present: refusing new batch job submission

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

Mac Pro M2 Ultra | Dual Pro Display XDR | Blackmagic UltraStudio 4K Mini | Brooklyn, NY

Final Cut Pro / DaVinci Colorist & Editor | "Verified Apple Discussions Archive"

[Donald Bailey]

Apple Recommended / Verified Community Solution

This canonical solution was verified and marked as solved in the Apple Support Community archive.

Terminating orphaned qmaster processes and clearing compressor spool storage.

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

1. Force quit compressor daemons:

   killall Compressor && killall qmasterd

2. Delete stale batch spool files:

   rm -rf ~/Library/Application Support/Compressor/Storage/*

3. Relaunch Apple Compressor and submit batch job.

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

MacBook Pro 14″ M3 Pro (36GB) | OWC Envoy Pro FX | iPad Pro 13″ M4 | Calgary, AB

Apple Certified Support Professional (ACSP) | Commercial Photographer & Digitech

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