macOS Tahoe 26 Audio Optimization Guide
Apple’s macOS has always been a platform of choice for many professional musicians, audio engineers and content creators. While a Mac running macOS Tahoe 26 provides a powerful platform out of the box, recording and editing audio (and video) place unique demands on any computer. Here are steps you can take to optimize your system for trouble-free recording. There are specific settings you can configure to reduce the likelihood of problems and glitches, and to gain a boost in performance. Sweetwater has compiled these from best practices reported by music and pro audio manufacturers and software developers across the industry.
While we updated this guide for macOS Tahoe 26, released in September, 2025, these principles are relevant to all the versions of macOS on both Mac with Apple silicon and Intel-based Mac computers in recent years.
Setting things up for the best performance depends on your use case and workflow. Let’s get started.
- Mac with Apple silicon vs. Intel-based Mac
- Turn off Time Machine, iCloud Drive, Cloud-based Storage and Backup Apps
- Quit Unneeded Apps and Restart Your Mac
- Connect Your Audio Interface Directly to Your Mac
- Using a MacBook? Plug It In.
- Bluetooth
- Network and Internet Connections
- Optimizing to Reduce Network Activity
- System Settings
- Get to Know Activity Monitor
- SweetCare macOS and Windows Support Resources
Mac with Apple silicon vs. Intel-based Mac
In 2020, Apple introduced the first Mac with Apple silicon computers using the Arm-based M1 system-on-a-chip. The last Intel-based Mac was discontinued in 2023. Since then, Apple has released new Mac models with the M1, M2, M3, and M4 series of chips.
If you have a Mac with Apple silicon, you will see much better performance if you update your third-party software to the newest versions that are Apple silicon native, rather than using older versions with Intel-based code running under Rosetta emulation.
This applies not only to your digital audio workstation (DAW) and other music or audio software, but also to each of your plug-ins.
Learn more about this in our SweetCare guide Mac with Apple silicon vs. Intel-based Mac: What You Need to Know.
Check with the developers to identify software that may not be Apple silicon native.
Sweetwater provides up-to-date information from over 215 manufacturers and developers, with links to the support websites, at our SweetCare macOS Tahoe 26 Compatibility Guide.
Turn off Time Machine, iCloud Drive, Cloud-based Storage and Backup Apps
Making backups of your work, locally or in the cloud, is essential to protecting your projects. However, when backup apps are running, they can cause glitches in recording, editing, and rendering audio and video. Backup apps constantly search your hard drive for new data, which they then read off the hard drive and copy elsewhere. While you are tracking, your system is writing large amounts of data to your drive continuously; a backup app will interfere, and that’s where glitches arise.
Before you begin each session, disable all backup apps. When your session is finished, remember to turn the backup apps back on so they can make another incremental backup.
Turn off Time Machine
Sweetwater recommends that you use Apple’s Time Machine to keep a local backup of your Mac to an external hard drive. Here’s how to pause Time Machine during a session.
- Go to System Settings > General > Time Machine.
- Select your Time Machine backup disk. Click Options.
- Under Backup frequency, pull down the menu and select “Manually.” This will pause the regular backup process.
When your session is done, go back to System Settings. Change Backup frequency to “Automatically Every Hour” so it can resume incremental backups.
Learn more in our SweetCare macOS Time Machine Backup Guide.
Turn off iCloud Drive
When you set up a new Mac, macOS prompts you to enable Apple’s iCloud Drive to back up your Documents folder and other locations in your user profile. However, like Time Machine, iCloud Drive will interfere with recording and editing audio and video. If you decide to use iCloud Drive, you must turn it off before every session.
- Go to System Settings. Click the icon next to your Apple Account.
- In the pane on the right, click on iCloud. You will see the settings for iCloud Drive and other apps that share data through iCloud.
- Click on iCloud Drive. Click Turn Off.
Learn more in Apple’s support pages. This Apple Support article explains how to disable iCloud Drive and get your Desktop and Documents folders back to your startup disk.
Turn off Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, Google Drive, or Splice
If you use one of these file-syncing services, you must turn it off during a session. Consult the service’s instructions.
More importantly, you should never save your working audio and video project files in the folder of one of these file-syncing services.
Turn off Cloud-based Backup Services
Likewise, if you use another third-party cloud-based backup service such as Carbonite, IDrive or Backblaze, you must turn it off during a session. Consult the service’s instructions. Remember to turn it back on when your session is done.
Quit Unneeded Apps and Restart Your Mac
The Restart dialog
Before each session, restart your Mac. When you pull down the Apple menu and choose Restart, you’ll see a dialog box that asks “Are you sure you want to restart your computer now?” Uncheck the box next to “Reopen windows when logging in,” and then click Restart.
The simplest and most effective thing you can do to maximize your computer’s resources while working with your music and audio software is to quit all the apps you are not using. Apps you leave running take up space in memory and take away from the computing power available to your music and audio apps. Apps you leave open may also run background processes or download data from the internet, and this may also interfere with recording and rendering audio and video.
Connect Your Audio Interface Directly to Your Mac
Always connect your audio interface directly to a port on your Mac, not to a USB hub or a Thunderbolt dock. Audio interfaces require the greatest bandwidth, so they function best when connected directly. You can connect your other peripherals through a powered hub.
Using a MacBook? Plug It In.
MacBooks, like all laptop computers, are configured to reduce computing power to maximize battery life when the computer is not plugged in. This is particularly true with the older Intel-based MacBooks. But even if you’re using a Mac with Apple silicon, go ahead and plug in the power supply during a session.
Bluetooth
If you aren’t using Bluetooth while working with your audio software, turn Bluetooth off. It constantly sends signals that take up a small part of your Mac’s processor overhead.
- Go to System Settings > Bluetooth.
- Click the button to turn it off.
Network and Internet Connections
If you don’t need to have your Mac connected to the Internet when using your DAW and plug-ins, you will get higher performance and reduce the risk of glitches in recording by disconnecting from the Internet altogether. However, many users need to remain connected for software authentication (for example with products that rely on iLok Cloud).
Learn more at iLok Support: FAQ- iLok Cloud.
When you are connected to the Internet, many apps and background processes constantly create network traffic which could reduce performance. We’ll discuss tips for reducing this.
Use Ethernet Rather Than Wi-Fi
When using audio apps on your Mac that transmit data over your local network or the Internet, you will get better performance if you connect an Ethernet cable to your Mac and turn your Mac’s Wi-Fi connection off. In addition to having lower bandwidth, Wi-Fi generates network traffic that may interfere with recording and playback.
If possible, position your Mac in your home or studio so that you can run an Ethernet cable between your Mac and your router.
Recent MacBook computers don’t have an Ethernet port, but you can connect an Ethernet to USB-C adapter dongle, an Ethernet to Thunderbolt adapter dongle, a USB dock, or Thunderbolt dock that has an Ethernet port built in.
To turn off your Mac’s Wi-Fi:
- Go to System Settings > Wi-Fi.
- Click the button to turn it off.
Optimizing to Reduce Network Activity
Quit Web Browsers
Leaving your web browser open with multiple tabs or windows takes up memory and processing power. Open web page may constantly fetch data from the Internet, creating more network traffic that may interfere with recording.
Quit Email
Quit the Mail app or any other email app you use. They continuously check for new emails and download them, creating more network traffic.
Quit Widgets
Quit all apps and widgets like News or Weather. They create network traffic, too.
System Settings
There are a number of settings you can change. Some of these are suggestions you may wish to try if you encounter problems with recording. Other settings offer specific benefits.
On older, Intel-based Mac computers, some of these settings can make a difference in performance. On newer Mac with Apple silicon computers, some of these will only result in slight gains.
macOS Automatic Updates
Disabling Automatic Updates in System Settings
By default, macOS is configured to update itself automatically. This often involves downloading gigabytes of software, running processor-intensive background processes, and causing your Mac to reboot.
Updating to newer point releases, such as from macOS Sequoia 15.5 to 15.6, is generally a good idea. However, experience has shown us that on rare occasion these updates introduce incompatibilities with your DAW or other software.
macOS frequently installs small but important security patches, called Security Responses, in the background and without notice. It’s possible that these updates could cause glitches if you are recording audio at the same time your system is installing a patch.
If you want control over all this, you can configure your Mac not to update itself automatically, so that you can decide when it’s convenient for you to do so. When you learn that a new update is available, you can then check with your DAW developer’s support before you decide if you should update.
To disable automatic updates:
- Go to System Settings > General > Software Update.
- Click on the Information icon next to Automatic Updates.
The options are:
- Download new updates when available
- Install macOS updates
- Install Security Responses and system files
Click the buttons to turn off the options you don’t want.
You can go back to Software Update at any time and click Check for Update. macOS will check to see if updates are available and notify you.
Disable Unused Network Adapters
Your Mac may be configured with software network interfaces that you don’t use. They may interfere with data on the USB or the Thunderbolt bus, so it’s best to disable them.
Go to System Settings > Network.
Don’t disable the interfaces that you are currently using for Ethernet and Wi-Fi.
- Click on a network interface you don’t use (for example, Thunderbolt Bridge).
- In the next pane, click Make Inactive. You can also click on Delete Service.
Repeat this for any additional interfaces.
Firewall
IMPORTANT: You may decide to disable the Firewall when you are on your home network behind your router, but for security reasons, you should enable the Firewall when you travel with your Mac and connect to other networks.
Some audio interface manufacturers recommend that you disable your Mac’s Firewall because it can create network activity that may cause dropouts in audio recording and playback. However, the Firewall serves an important purpose: protecting your system from network intrusion. We recommend that you leave your Firewall turned on.
If you encounter audio dropouts, disabling your Firewall is one troubleshooting step you can try to see if it fixes the problem.
To disable the Firewall:
- Go to System Settings > Network > Firewall.
- Click the button to turn it off.
When the Firewall is on, you can click Options and choose specific settings to disable certain kinds of incoming connections.
Learn more in the Apple support article Change Firewall settings on Mac.
Location Services
Certain apps continuously broadcast your location to services on the Internet. You can turn this feature off during a session to reduce network traffic.
- Go to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services. You’ll see a list of apps and services installed on your Mac that can broadcast your location.
- Across from Location Services, click the button to disable Location Services for all listed apps at once.
You can also leave the main setting for Location Services turned on, and then turn off Location Services for individual apps in the list below it.
System Services, at the bottom of the pane, has its own set of controls. Click Details. The “System Services Can Access Your Location For” dialog box will open, giving you numerous settings you can turn on and off individually.
Turning off Location Services will prevent your Mac’s location from being tracked in the Find My app. For more information, see Apple Support: Set up the Find My app to locate a missing Mac, device, or item.
Learn more in the Apple Support article Manage Location Services settings.
Analytics & Improvements
Apple collects diagnostic and usage data while you use your Mac. As you use various services, you are prompted to grant permission to have this data uploaded to Apple and to third parties.
For example, when you enable “Improve Siri & Dictation,” your Mac will upload audio recordings of your voice made by Siri, Dictation and Translate and send them to Apple for analysis.
“Share with app developers” transmits crash logs and usage data to third-party developers.
As these create network traffic, you may wish to turn off each option.
- Go to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Analytics & Improvements.
- Turn off the individual options.
Login Items & Extensions
Go to System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions.
Open at Login
Open at Login shows any apps or services that you have installed that are configured to launch automatically when you log in to your Mac. Remove anything you do not need to have running. You can launch those apps manually from the Applications folder any time.
App Background Activity
Some third-party apps that you install will have pieces of code that run in the background, even when the app is closed, if you grant permission. These background processes perform tasks such as checking for software updates and syncing data. These may also access your personal data and poll sensors on your Mac. Many of these processes create network traffic.
Under App Background Activity you can turn off the processes you don’t want to run constantly. You may want to turn these processes back on after your session.
System Sounds and Notifications
While this has little to do with increasing performance, you don’t want to be distracted by the Mac’s alert sounds blasting through your speakers while working in your DAW.
System Sounds
- Go to System Settings > Sound.
- Turn Alert Volume all the way down. Turn off Play user interface sound effects and Play feedback when volume is changed.
Application Notifications
macOS Tahoe has a vast system of Notifications for all kinds of apps and events. If you find these distracting while you are working on a recording session, you have a great deal of specificity in limiting Notifications or turning them off.
Got to System Settings > Notifications >Application Notifications.
You’ll see a list of Apple apps and third-party apps. Click on each entry in the list and turn off the various kinds of notifications that you don’t wish to see.
Learn more in the Apple support article Notification settings on Mac.
Get to Know Activity Monitor
The macOS Tahoe 26 Activity Monitor
Most DAWs have a “performance monitor” or “CPU overload indicator” to alert you when your session overwhelms your hardware, causing hang-ups, glitches and noise. However, this only reports on resources within your DAW.
Apple provides the Activity Monitor app, which gives a real-time display of all running apps and processes on your entire Mac. For each process, Activity Monitor displays how much of your computer’s resources are being used in five categories: CPU, Memory, Energy, Disk, and Network.
It’s useful to open Activity Monitor while you are running your DAW, to observe instances where your workflow may be overwhelming your CPU cores or exceeding your Mac’s amount of memory. You can use this information to identify apps and processes that are taking up resources so that you can quit or disable them.
Go to Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor.
Under the CPU tab, click on the % CPU column. The list will sort according to the processes using the most CPU power. The CPU Load graph indicates the total amount of resources being used.
Under the Memory tab, click the Memory column to sort by processes that use the most memory. The Memory Pressure graph indicates how much memory is in use. If the apps you are running at the moment exceed the amount of memory you have, then a value appears in the Swap Used field, indicating that your system must write data to and from the startup disk to make up for the shortfall in memory. This indicates that your system is overburdened at the moment.
Learn more in the Apple support article Activity Monitor User Guide.
SweetCare macOS and Windows Support Resources
Sweetwater provides a comprehensive series of support articles for music and pro audio in our
on macOS, and for Windows, too. Search the Knowledge Base in the search bar at the top of this page.
Here are some relevant articles.
Related Articles
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