Running out of memory

Why does my iMac Pro 2017 with 64 GB memory keep running out of memory, since I upgraded to Monterey?

This is the result of a memory leak, in this case almost certainly in the first general release of Monterey, version 12.0.1. At least four different leaks have been identified there.

The first affects the new Accessibility feature for colored cursors, and was fixed completely in macOS 12.1. The other known leak fixed in that update affected the Control Center, particularly those who used it frequently to access Apple’s Music app and Playing Now.

These and other fixed bugs in Monterey updates make it essential that you update without delay. There are no workarounds for those leaks.

Two other leaks weren’t fixed in 12.1. The more troublesome of those occurs when you use the Finder’s Find command to search for files, although it doesn’t appear to affect regular Spotlight search, nor third– party products like Find Any File. Each time you search for a file in the Finder, a chunk of memory is lost, and that quickly accumulates if you continue to use that command.

The other known leak is less well– defined, and appears to affect longer FaceTime calls, which can result in the avconferenced process using huge amounts of memory. If you update macOS and your problem still isn’t solved, watch for processes using large and ever–growing amounts of memory in the Memory tab of Activity Monitor to trace the exact cause.