diff --git a/src/main/java/dev/jlibghostty/RenderCell.java b/src/main/java/dev/jlibghostty/RenderCell.java
index 757a62f..68de105 100644
--- a/src/main/java/dev/jlibghostty/RenderCell.java
+++ b/src/main/java/dev/jlibghostty/RenderCell.java
@@ -22,7 +22,10 @@ public record RenderCell(
     }
 
     public RenderCell {
-        codepoints = codepoints.clone();
+        // Stored by reference: the marshaller hands us freshly allocated (or the shared
+        // empty) arrays it never mutates, so cloning here would double-allocate every
+        // cell and defeat the shared-empty optimization. The codepoints() accessor still
+        // clones on read to protect external callers.
         foreground = foreground == null ? Optional.empty() : foreground;
         background = background == null ? Optional.empty() : background;
         kittyPlaceholder = kittyPlaceholder == null ? Optional.empty() : kittyPlaceholder;
diff --git a/src/main/java/dev/jlibghostty/internal/GhosttyLibrary.java b/src/main/java/dev/jlibghostty/internal/GhosttyLibrary.java
index dba772e..a2f10a9 100644
--- a/src/main/java/dev/jlibghostty/internal/GhosttyLibrary.java
+++ b/src/main/java/dev/jlibghostty/internal/GhosttyLibrary.java
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Optional;
 
@@ -950,17 +951,20 @@ public final class GhosttyLibrary {
         try (Arena scratchArena = Arena.ofConfined()) {
             Scratch scratch = new Scratch(scratchArena);
             renderStatePopulateRowIterator(state, iterator);
-            List<RenderRow> rows = new ArrayList<>();
+            int cols = renderStateGetU16(state, RENDER_STATE_DATA_COLS);
+            List<RenderRow> rows = new ArrayList<>(renderStateGetU16(state, RENDER_STATE_DATA_ROWS));
             int rowIndex = 0;
             while (renderStateRowIteratorNext(iterator)) {
                 boolean dirty = renderStateRowGetBoolean(iterator, RENDER_STATE_ROW_DATA_DIRTY, scratch);
                 List<RenderCell> cells = (dirtyRowsOnly && !dirty)
                     ? List.of()
-                    : renderStateRowCells(iterator, scratch);
+                    : renderStateRowCells(iterator, scratch, cols);
                 rows.add(new RenderRow(rowIndex, dirty, cells));
                 rowIndex++;
             }
-            return List.copyOf(rows);
+            // rows is a fresh local that never escapes, so an unmodifiable wrapper gives
+            // the same immutability as List.copyOf without re-copying every row per frame.
+            return Collections.unmodifiableList(rows);
         } finally {
             renderStateRowIteratorFree(iterator);
         }
@@ -1054,13 +1058,13 @@ public final class GhosttyLibrary {
         }
     }
 
-    private List<RenderCell> renderStateRowCells(MemorySegment rowIterator, Scratch scratch) {
+    private List<RenderCell> renderStateRowCells(MemorySegment rowIterator, Scratch scratch, int cols) {
         MemorySegment cells = renderStateRowCellsNew();
         try {
             renderStatePopulateRowCells(rowIterator, cells);
             // Returned raw: RenderRow's constructor already wraps this in an immutable copy,
             // so a List.copyOf here would copy the per-cell list a second time every row.
-            List<RenderCell> result = new ArrayList<>();
+            List<RenderCell> result = new ArrayList<>(cols);
             int column = 0;
             while (renderStateRowCellsNext(cells)) {
                 int[] codepoints = renderStateRowCellGraphemes(cells, scratch);