macOS 15.5 (Sequoia) – iCloud Drive Hydration/Sync Failures on M4 MBP

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Created 2w

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I’m seeing persistent issues with iCloud Drive hydration and Finder sync on a new M4 MacBook Pro running Sequoia 15.5 (24F74). The same folders hydrate correctly on other Macs (Intel and M1), but not on the M4.

✅ Tried: – killall bird – Safe Mode boot – Toggling iCloud Drive and System Settings > Apple ID – Isolating network, user profile, and running First Aid

🔍 Findings: – EtreCheck report shows consistent high CPU usage from bird with no resolution. – Console logs suggest bird is waiting on local metadata index. – No VPNs installed. No third-party sync tools active.

I’ve sanitized and attached the EtreCheck report as text for reference (or can paste if needed).

❓ Questions: 1. Is this a known issue on M4 systems or Sequoia 15.5? 2. Could file system ownership have been impacted by command-line tools? 3. Is there a safe method to reset bird metadata or iCloud sync state locally?

Any guidance from Apple or other developers would be appreciated. Thanks!

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Proxcause OP

2w

Accepted Answer

--- START EtreCheck Summary (Sanitized) ---

Model: MacBook Pro (M4, 2024) macOS: 15.5 Sequoia (24F74) iCloud Drive: Stalled hydration on this device only

❗ Symptom:

bird shows sustained high CPU
Console log reports: "Waiting on local metadata index"
Other Macs (M1 and Intel) sync the same folders normally

✅ Attempted Fixes:

killall bird
Safe Mode boot
Toggle iCloud Drive off/on
Signed out and back in to Apple ID
Isolated network and user profile
Checked permissions and ran First Aid

No third-party sync tools or VPN installed. mds_stores and mdworker_shared show intermittent activity.

💡 Request:

Is there a known issue with Sequoia 15.5 (24F74) or M4 MacBooks and iCloud metadata sync?
Safe way to reset bird metadata cache or hydration queue?
Could sudo terminal usage during initial setup have affected local ownership?

--- END Summary ---

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