GoToMeeting Using Excessive CPU & Battery Problem?

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Level 1

8 points

GoToMeeting Using Excessive CPU & Battery Problem?

Everything below is copied from my original post on the GoToMeeting forums. No helpful response at this point, this is why I am sharing it here - thank you in advance to any assistance and guidance!

Hello Everyone,

I have actively utilized GoToMeeting for several years as I operate a business where I meet virtually with clients, overall very happy with the product until a concerning problem started approximately one week ago.

During a virtual session with a client, while having the power plugged into the wall and reading 100% charged - it suddenly started to drain (the meeting ending soon after so I don't remember if it charged back up again - as it will regularly do now). I immediately blamed the Apple charger or battery, thinking the powerblock was defective (so I bought a brand new one and power cord). Here are my computer specs for reference (copied from the "About My Mac" section):

2017 15 Inch MacBook Pro (Catalina version 10.15.6)
Processor: 3.1 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
Memory: 16 GB
Graphics: Radeon Pro 560 4GB, Intel HD Graphics 630 1536MB
Storage (570 GB available of 1 TB)

Long story short (pictures included), the pattern seems to be that GoToMeeting will startup with regular CPU and Battery impact (me just sitting alone on video waiting for others doesn't seem to trigger it) but once someone joins it will really use a lot of CPU% and Battery (Energy Impact on Mac). So much, that it will regularly drain the plugged in fully charged battery down to about 90% and then the battery will charge back up to 100% and hold steady for the remainder of the meeting. Almost like an initial "CPU/Power Surge" the computer struggles to handle but then regulates successfully (although still incredibly high load the entire time).

Also if it helps, the other day it only happened the first time I met with someone and then not a few hours later in the day (haven't proven the once a day/initial occurrence part though). Hosted family on a video call today and nothing happened at all (last time I used it prior would have been Friday).

Unfortunately this site requests that I downsize all my images to less than 333 KB, when doing this I don’t think you will see all the detail needed. Here is an open link to a Google Drive folder where I hosted the images at their full resolution with titles to help understand what to look for in each.

Thanks everyone for any assistance you can provide, I'm definitely not a computer expert but I hope I've properly explained the situation and the attached pictures help. Based on a repeated pattern that involves no battery problems outside of GoToMeeting usage, and the clear evidence that this is using a ton of resources I am confident that this is the right place to start.

Hoping to solve this problem and continue to use GoToMeeting if possible.

Chad

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Aug 12, 2020 2:44 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Grant Bennet-Alder

Level 10

132,745 points

Aug 14, 2020 8:05 AM in response to DesmondBrown

Your computer performs best when connected to AC power. It can use the full output of the Power Adapter AND when doing especially challenging work will also freely "borrow" power from the battery. In some cases, the charged state may even decline during stressful work.

When used only on battery, your computer has no extra cushion of power, and will perform more slowly. However, for ordinary non-stressful tasks this may not be objectionable (possibly not even noticeable.)

In general, you should ALWAYS connect AC power when it is possible to do so, and only run on batteries (which will be somewhat slower) when no AC sources are at hand. There are three micro-controllers cooperating on battery and charging issues, and your Mac will NEVER over-charge.

A charge cycle is ever-so-slightly destructive to batter longevity. When operating as designed (and not using Battery Health Management) battery charge level is allowed to decline to about 92 percent level before initiating a recharge cycle to top up to about 99 percent.

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Catalina software 10.15.5 for MacBook Pro with T2 chip (2016 models and later) includes a new feature called Battery Health Management. Based on your usage patterns, this widens the hysteresis to initiate a charge cycle at a lower level, and stop before 99 percent.

About battery health management in Mac notebooks - Apple Support

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211094

This relaxes the set points around re-charging (based on your usage patterns) and can improve long term battery lifetimes. When active, recharging may stop short of 100 percent charged.

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Answer 2

Aug 14, 2020 7:59 AM in response to DesmondBrown

Hi Chad,

We understand wanting to ensure your CPU and Battery usage are working as expected and we'll be glad to help out.

It sounds like this is definitely an issue with that particular app. Learn more about your battery here: Maximizing Battery Life and Lifespan

You can also learn more here About Mac notebook batteries

At this point, you'll want to reach out to the developer of GoToMeeting for further help with that usage. This will guide you: How to contact an app developer

Have a great weekend!

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Answer 3

Allan Jones

Level 9

71,792 points

Aug 14, 2020 8:16 AM in response to DesmondBrown

Welcome, and thank you for a very good narrative. We don't always get that.

Since their inception, MacBook Pros have maintained the ability to draw extra power from their batteries when the demands on their processor are high to extreme. Video conferencing is a high demand activity. Your symptoms say something is "hogging the through."

Your challenge is to see if something other than GoToMeeting is contributing. These things will increase CPU usage and, in turn, contribute to a power shortfall:

1) Anti-virus software

2) so-called "cleaning" or "tuneup" apps

3) Google Chrome

4 torrent software

5) security software for online banking.

...to mention a few.

Adding an external monitor will also affect CPU and GPU load.

A good place to start is with this Apple support article:

See how apps affect Mac performance, battery runtime, temperature, and fan activity - Apple Support

NOTE: Steps 1 and 2 are vital to getting useful results. As this procedure means you are looking at a dynamic display, you'll need to watch the results over about a 30-second period to spot the miscreants.

This also means a screenshot is darned near worthless. Simply identify any processes that are using a lot of CPU cycles and tell us the names that bubble to the top of the list.

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Answer 4

DesmondBrown Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 14, 2020 2:13 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thank you to everyone for your thoughts on this issue - I'm pretty confident this is really not a problem at all and simply the "Battery Health Management" feature working as it should.

Tested it today - Turned it off and it did not occur during a meeting, then turned it on and with feature enabled (as it always was after the new software update) it occurred as usual.

Probably my bad for not accurately understanding that this was a feature and it was functioning normally, however I will point out that this behavior looks and feels very similar to when my previous MacBook battery was failing (not charging while plugged in). Also somewhat disappointing that my Apple Support call yesterday did not think of this, recommended sending me to an Authorized Service Provider for something that was really not needed in the first place.

Thanks again everyone, I believe we figured it and I just need to get used to seeing my battery drain and then charge back up while plugged in (assuming it should be enabled).

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GoToMeeting Using Excessive CPU & Battery Problem?

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