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Macbook throttles to 0.8 ghz

Hello,


I have a problem with my 2019 15" Macbook Pro(i9 2.3ghz, 512gb ssd, 32gb ram, Radeon Pro 560X).


Whenever i put it under load, for example video editing, photo editing, the CPU throttles down to 0.8ghz which makes it unusable for such work.


First the CPU heats up to around 99° and then starts to throttle, which is normal. But even after temperatures are back down to around 60° it wont recover somehow.


Sometimes it even happens with just having adobe bridge open or watching youtube videos on an external 4k monitor.


It happens with and without external monitor attached, but without the external monitor it is not as bad. The macbook is on a stand and has enough room around it to get rid of heat.


When i brought my machine to apple they just replaced the thermal paste (which didn't help at all) and said there is no problem with it.


I really don't know what to do anymore, its very frustrating considering that this Macbook is only 2 years old and cost around 3000$


Does anyone have an idea how i could fix this?


Thank you in advance!

Jonathan



MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

Posted on Jun 13, 2021 11:15 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jun 13, 2021 7:25 PM

Have you tried an SMC Reset? The SMC Reset procedure for a 2019 model is different than earlier models so read the SMC Reset instructions very carefully:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT201295


Also a power issue can prevent the CPU frequency from going about the 800MHz idle speed. These USB-C Apple laptops can be extremely difficult to troubleshoot as they don't behave like a normal laptop (or any previous model Mac). Is your charger connected directly to the laptop? A multi-port adapter, dock, or hub may not allow the full power of the charger from reaching the laptop. Also disconnect all other external devices to be sure none of them are causing a problem. Also try connecting the charger to the right side ports to see if it makes any difference.


Reboot the laptop. I find it is best to restart a Mac once a week (or at least once every other week).


Try running the Apple Diagnostics to see if any hardware issues are detected.


Similar questions

8 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 13, 2021 7:25 PM in response to Drjones420

Have you tried an SMC Reset? The SMC Reset procedure for a 2019 model is different than earlier models so read the SMC Reset instructions very carefully:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT201295


Also a power issue can prevent the CPU frequency from going about the 800MHz idle speed. These USB-C Apple laptops can be extremely difficult to troubleshoot as they don't behave like a normal laptop (or any previous model Mac). Is your charger connected directly to the laptop? A multi-port adapter, dock, or hub may not allow the full power of the charger from reaching the laptop. Also disconnect all other external devices to be sure none of them are causing a problem. Also try connecting the charger to the right side ports to see if it makes any difference.


Reboot the laptop. I find it is best to restart a Mac once a week (or at least once every other week).


Try running the Apple Diagnostics to see if any hardware issues are detected.


Jun 14, 2021 3:08 AM in response to HWTech

Thank you for the quick response.


I have tried reseting the SMC, the NVRAM, reinstalling IOS.

I don't use a multi port adapter or dock, usually I have just the charger, a monitor and an external SSD connected.

I tried all possible variations of connecting charger/monitor/ssd left and right.

I also never used sidecar.


The problem dosen't happen as much when i'm not working on an external monitor, but if i start rendering a video i takes around 2 min to throttle to 0.8 ghz.


The Apple diagnostics couldn't find an issue.


Jun 14, 2021 7:11 AM in response to Drjones420

Please run Etrecheck. We can know more by what's running in the background to see if the speed throttle is cause for concern. Many optimization software erroneously measure what's going on the machine, and only give a placebo effect for fixing things. Best to know what genuinely is going on in the background, and then we can help you eliminate any problems.

Jun 15, 2021 9:42 AM in response to Drjones420

RunCat may need to be updated for your new OS.


Elgato requires a lot of resources. Make sure no other programs are running other than it and Toast.


NordVPN should only be used if you need to access a VPN only service. VPNs slow down traffic a lot on the internet.


CleanMyMac is a virus, to remove it, use AppDelete from Reggie Answorth to remove while booted in safe mode (with shift key)







Jun 15, 2021 10:37 AM in response to Drjones420

Good things:

your internal SSD is runnig up to speed

your computer was not staved fro RAM at the ti eof tesitng


This could have a bearing on your performance issue if this extrenal drive:


disk3 - Generic STORAGE DEVICE 7.86 GB

External USB 480 Mbit/s USB

disk3s1 (MS-DOS FAT32) 7.86 GB (2.33 GB used)


has data stored the your apps need to regularly access. It is running at USB2 speeds. This is not a problem for backups made during idle periods but it should not be used as, say, a location for active scratch disks.


This was not an issue at the time of testing, but it was last week:


2021-06-08 13:11:09 photoanalysisd High CPU Use


This article talks about the common photoanalysisd resource hogging issue and a simple way to deal with it:


https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/310594/what-is-photoanalysisd-and-why-is-it-using-77-of-my-cpu

Jun 16, 2021 4:39 AM in response to Allan Jones

Hey,


I think you misunderstand my problem.

I always check what is running in the background, it is not slow because some software is using all my CPU power.

It is slow because the CPU fails to deliver the speed that is necessary and runs at 800mhz instead of its base clock speed of 2.3ghz.


I found out that it is probably because the VRM is overheating, therefore it is throttling and not delivering enough power to the CPU.

There are some solutions to it which i can't post here, Apple wouldn't like it since it requires to open your Macbook.


Thank you for you help anyway :)


Macbook throttles to 0.8 ghz

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