16" MBP - High CPU Usage (Kernel Task 500%) on USB-C External Monitor

There has been dozen's of these threads where users are experiencing high CPU usage from kernel_task making the laptop unusable when connected to an External Monitor via USB-C. These threads are filled with the same suggestions (SMC and NVRAM reset, OSX updates, different port, restart MBP etc.).

Is there any definitive solution here? Using a different dongle / monitor isn't a solution. To make things worse the problem seems to have increased dramatically with the latest Ventura update.

How do we get apple's attention on this issue that has been happening for at least 2 years?

16" MBP

Ventura 13.5

AMD Radeon Pro 5500M

32GB RAM

Posted on Aug 15, 2023 11:09 AM

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1 reply

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,072 points

Aug 25, 2023 7:30 AM in response to shibbiness

There has been dozen's of these threads where users are experiencing high CPU usage from kernel_task making the laptop unusable when connected to an External Monitor via USB-C.

Is the Mac getting hot when you see the high CPU usage? One function of kernel_task is to throttle the CPU when it gets hot.

What video protocol does the monitor use? Thunderbolt or DisplayPort, or are you using a dongle to convert to HDMI or DVI?

How do we get apple's attention on this issue that has been happening for at least 2 years?

You could try calling them.

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16" MBP - High CPU Usage (Kernel Task 500%) on USB-C External Monitor