MAC mini M2 16GB running out of memory with a few applications on migration to Sonoma.

I had memory issues with Lightroom classic that I documented here

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255105982?answerId=259922912022&sortBy=best#259922912022

However, I believe that the USB ports on the mini are defective. I had two external USB v3 hard drives disappear from the finder, and the mini would never see them again - even though windows, and linux both continue to recognize the drives plus they test as having no errors. First one port failed - then the second port. I also had a wifi keyboard/mouse (Logitech USB dongle) got jumpy, and got increasingly delayed in it's response. I left the computer running once for about 20 minutes, and came back to a loud clicking noise coming out of the speakers that was dependent on the proximity of the mouse to the mini?

I removed all USB devices. Got a thunderbolt 3 external drive, and a blue tooth mouse and keyboard. I have not had a single out of application memory error since (about three months). Good luck!

User wrote " Basically the mouse cursor starts twitching and you realize you can't have navigate fast enough like you used to "

Is that the only issue ?

Who is the Maker of this Mouse ?

Additional friendly advise

Never post anything that could reveal your True Identity and that would include Serial Numbers of devices

So, running the same M2 Mac Mini that has been upgraded from macOS 13 Ventura to ever version of macOS 14 including 14.5

The machine is just as fast as ever

Suggest following the Advise from @ Luis Sequeria1

To avoid the question / answer and question answer scenario

Download the Application Etrecheck ( External Link ) directly from the Developer.

The Application is Not a " Silver Bullet " but only a tool to examine the Hardware / Software used on this computer 

This is a Diagnostic Tool that makes no changes to the computer.

It makes a coherent and readable inventory of both the Hardware and Software used on the computer 

The application is free or paid for added features. 

The Report will Not Reveal Any Personal Information. 

Post back the Full Report - copy and paste - >>>> using the Additional Text Icon  <<<<

Lastly - should you decide to use and post the Report now or at a later time, we are willing to have a very close look and offer some insights 

EDITED - added info

All the below is predicted on the computer Originally came Installed with macOS 13 Ventura

Otherwise - it can not be done

Two methods in below link

One for Apple Silicon

The other for Intel

The steps and methods references in the link pertains to Ventura to Monterey

The import difference in Your Computer situation.

Have a Tested and Bootable version of Ventura on the External Drive Before moving forwards

https://www.howtoisolve.com/downgrade-macos-ventura-to-macos-monterey/

Follow on

On 3 different M1 / M2 machines, 2 of which started with Big Sur to Monterey to Ventura and now Sonoma - have not yet found any Memory Leaks

Have had " Run Out of Applications Memory " but generally was Self Inflicted.

Use the Activity Monitor application and make sure to use View >> View All Processes 

What process or processes are using the Most CPU  and Memory.

Often times - the issue maybe not a single Process  alone but a combination of Processes

Also, when the computer is using so much CPU / Memory - it can be a indicator of a Lack Of Empty Spaces on the Drive.

In which case, the CPU and Memory usage would become much more because it is searching for Empty Space to save all the Changes the user is performing.

Also, it depends on the number of  Open Tabs in your Browser, they can also affect CPU / Memory Usage

I also have not experienced any memory leaks in Sonoma on any of my macs (one Intel, one Apple Silicon), but there are a few threads already with this problem. So far, it is possible that it's somehow due to a bug in Sonoma, but it it is still unclear.

You may want to have Activity Monitor open in the Memory pane, and keep a look at any processes using too much RAM. If this happens frequently, is it always the same application?

Apparently, this has happened to people and the applications vary, so it could well be some obscure underlying bug. But if it is always (say...) Chrome, then it could be an application bug.

I bought the Mac Mini 16GB a few months ago and this has happened to me numerous times. Basically the mouse cursor starts twitching and you realize you can't have navigate fast enough like you used to. Definitely a memory issue. I did not expect this from a 16GB system running just a few applications. I basically have to shut it down with a hard reset and it goes away. This should not happen to a brand new system with the latest OS. I am not running any hardcore applications other than multiple tabs on Chrome and few files being open.

Are you getting the "The system has run out of application memory" alert?

You should start your own thread and give specific details about your system - mac model, OS version, free space on your system drive. Please run Etrecheck and post its full report here. Use the "additional text" button and paste the report into the text box.

I don't get any such alert popping up, but the system is slow enough that I can't really do much.

  Model Name: Mac mini

 Model Identifier: Mac14,3

 Model Number: Z16K000R3LL/A

 Chip: Apple M2

 Total Number of Cores: 8 (4 performance and 4 efficiency)

 Memory: 16 GB

 System Firmware Version: 10151.101.3

 OS Loader Version: 10151.101.3

 Serial Number (system): K72L********

 Hardware UUID: F1DDBC6C-61CC-5F60-BA92-DB2CE0BDF050

 Provisioning UDID: 00008112-0015181C1EDBC01E

 Activation Lock Status: Enabled

  Free: 150.25 GB (150,251,278,336 bytes)

 Capacity: 245.11 GB (245,107,195,904 bytes)

 Mount Point: /System/Volumes/Data

 File System: APFS

 Writable: Yes

 Ignore Ownership: No

 BSD Name: disk3s5

 Volume UUID: 96FB7E94-B6FD-403A-9375-394E030A96B4

 Physical Drive:

 Device Name: APPLE SSD AP0256Z

 Media Name: AppleAPFSMedia

 Medium Type: SSD

 Protocol: Apple Fabric

 Internal: Yes

 Partition Map Type: Unknown

 S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

[Edited by Moderator]

Breadguy1979,

Disconnect all USB devices and see if you get out of memory errors. The specs on my mini are the same except the ram on mine is 8gb. Ever since I stopped using USB devices the slow down, jumpy cursor, delayed typing, and it becoming completely unresponsive in various applications have disappeared (6-7 months now). I ended up getting the Logitech MX Keys S keyboard, and MX Master 3S Mouse - both bluetooth, and a Sandisk Pro-40 2tb thunderbolt external hard drive replaced my usb external hard drives.

Hi, I appreciate the response very much. I am using an Apple wireless keyboard and trackpad. The only USB device I have is an HD camera ( EMEET ). I'm not sure if a combination of these would do anything. I"ll check with Apple support if the problem persists. Thank you again.

You can test it yourself by just pulling the camera out of the mix. If the bad behavior persists - then that wasn't the solution. If, however, it solves your out of memory errors then I would suspect something in Apple's implementation of wifi (which is related to the usb standards - look up eye-fi to see how wifi is built into usb if interested)

Please start your own thread and post an Etrecheck report.

The problem is almost certainly in software, and without the report we have no idea what it might be.

Great idea!

Thank you so much.