The InDesign 16.2.1 update for Mac introduces a general lag when panning, scrolling, or zooming in and out, using either the trackpad or the hand tool.

In the previous version of InDesign, when the Application Frame was active, each one of these actions was completely buttery smooth and GPU-accelerated.

Now, it's stuttery and choppy, and an overall unpleasant experience (although this was the default level of performance for many previous years of InDesign; however, now that we've seen much better, with software that actually makes use of our powerful hardware, we'd like not to regress).

The issue was found on a MacBook Pro with an 8-core Core i9 processor and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 4 GB HBM2 workstation GPU on macOS Catalina 10.15.7 after updating InDesign.

The same issue also occurred after updating InDesign on another MacBook Pro with a Core i9 and the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M 8 GB HBM2 workstation GPU, on a clean install of macOS Big Sur 11.4.

GPU Performance is activated, and the Application Frame is active. Even previously, the lag in question was present when the Application Frame was not active, but the solution was to turn it on. Now, sadly it's laggy and choppy on any view. It's usable, but not ultra-smooth anymore.

Removing preferences and reinstalling InDesign 16.2.1 does not improve performance.

We want Adobe to make sure that each update is actually improving our quality of life, not leaving the programs slower and less performant than they were previously, causing us to waste more time writing these reports.

These type of unexpected and unexplained issues discourage us from upgrading, and encourage us to mistrust updates, instead staying on stable versions that work for us. If issues like these are not resolved, this is what I will recommend to people in my industry.