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Zoom lags too much on my iMac - is there a way to download an older version of Zoom?

alphillips92
Newcomer
Newcomer

I've been experiencing so much lag on Zoom that I can't even use it on my mac. I have a late 2015 iMac that cannot be upgraded beyond Monterey 12.7.3.

 

Is it possible that my operating system is what's causing this? If so, how can I find out which earlier version of Zoom is supported by my OS, and is there a way to download that version?

 

Yes, my internet is fast - I have a macbook and it works fine on there. It also works fine in the browser, however the browser doesn't give me access to all the same features as the app. I have completely wiped the computer and reinstalled everything from scratch, and zoom still lags. Doesn't matter if zoom is the only app running or if I have 5 other apps running, it still lags all the same.

3 REPLIES 3

storyhub
Community Champion | Customer
Community Champion | Customer

It depends on what you mean by "lag". If it is choppy video from you screen sharing you may not have "optimized for video clip". If it is choppy video from your camera seen by others and you are using Wi-Fi you may have a weak Wi-Fi connection. For any streaming activity it is best to use an ethernet connection rather than Wi-Fi. Since your computer is 9 years old (for Apple especially and computers in general that is an extremely ancient machine) you most likely may not have enough CPU power to encode and decode streaming video.

It's choppy video and audio on my end, not the other person's. Nothing to do with screen sharing, just regular chatting. It's choppy in the app only, not in the browser. I actually do use ethernet on my iMac because the wifi connector doesn't work. However as I mentioned it is not choppy on my laptop, which uses the same wifi network, so I know it's not that.

 

This is why I expected that it has to do with my operating system, and my question is if and where I can download an old version of zoom that matches my OS.

storyhub
Community Champion | Customer
Community Champion | Customer

Unfortunately the world of computers is always advancing and there is a major change every 24 months. Often the OS advances first, then the hardware advances, then the apps advance. If you don't keep pace you will encounter apps that now demand newer hardware and newer OS. In the case of Zoom the app now majorly advances every 90 days. At that point so does the minimum version. So you can not go back in version before the minimum version (currently 5.15.5 for MAC). https://support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0061900