MacOS Ventura & Das Keyboard Q - High CPU usage since v4.1.6

[InjectMeneer]

High CPU usage on macOS 13.7.4 with Das Keyboard 5QS (v4.1.6) — persists even in headless mode

System info:

• Keyboard: Das Keyboard 5QS
• macOS version: 13.7.4 Ventura
• Mac: iMac 21.5" 2017 (Intel)
• Das Keyboard Q version: 4.1.6
• Use case: RGB control + GitHub-based applets
• Problem observed since: v4.1.6 update

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Problem summary

Since updating to v4.1.6, the Das Keyboard Q software causes significant and persistent CPU usage, even when launched in full headless mode with GPU rendering explicitly disabled.

This appears to be a regression introduced by the Electron upgrade in v4.1.6, which (per the changelog) was done for macOS 15 Sequoia compatibility:

Electron Upgrade for macOS Sequoia: Upgraded Electron to the latest version, ensuring compatibility with macOS 15.0 Sequoia.

However, I’m running macOS 13.7.4 on Intel, and the app now performs worse than before.

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What happens:

• CPU load increases significantly across all cores when the Q app is launched.
• WindowServer CPU usage also increases and stays high.
• CPU usage returns to normal immediately after closing the app.
• Running the app in --verbose mode floods the terminal with:

[ERROR:gl_display.cc(497)] EGL Driver message (Error) eglQueryDeviceAttribEXT: Bad attribute.

Even with --headless and GPU flags disabled, the behavior remains unchanged.

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Launch flags tested (no improvement):

/Applications/Das\ Keyboard\ Q.app/Contents/MacOS/Das\ Keyboard\ Q \
--disable-gpu \
--disable-software-rasterizer \
--disable-gpu-compositing \
--disable-accelerated-2d-canvas \
--disable-accelerated-video-decode \
--disable-zero-copy \
--disable-native-gpu-memory-buffers \
--disable-gpu-vsync \
--headless

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📎 Evidence available:

• Screenshot of CPU usage before, during, and after launching the app
• Terminal log snippet showing EGL error spam
• System specs
• Screenshots of CPU thread/core activity (optional – can attach)

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Request:

1. Can you confirm whether this issue is reproducible on your end with macOS 13.7.x (Intel)?
2. Is there a workaround, or can I download v4.1.5 (which did not have this issue)?
3. Can applet functionality (like GitHub integrations) be used without the desktop app?
4. Will a fix or fallback rendering mode be added for Intel macOS systems?

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Happy to assist with more logs or testing.

Thanks in advance!

Tom