High CPU usage kernel_task with 2 monitors

Charming! I upgraded to 13.3.1, and now it happens WITHOUT an external monitor connected. I've reset the SMC and PRAM, to no avail. Hello, Apple?????

Same issue here. It puzzled me for a couple of months now.

MacBook Pro/i9/32G/Ventura 13.3.1

Initially I thought my dock station is the issue, I moved everything and directly plugin all displays to USB C. But it still happens. CPU usage of kernel_task raise to 700-800% level and fan blows like crazy.

I tried the nvram/smc reset trick and it seems too be working fine now. I will report if it comes back.

I've got high cpu usage (~90% constantly) after upgrading from Ventura 13.2.1 to 13.3. Setup:

MBP-Pro 2019
1x 5120x1440
2x 2560x1440
1x 1600x1000
Everything used to work fine till the upgrade with this setup.

But in my case the CPU usage caused by Google Chrome Helper (Renderer) processes. It's enough to open 1-2 instances of chrome and surf the internet and it happens. Closing chrome (quitting) helps after 1-2 mins and the CPU goes low. The weirdest thing that after reinstalling my MBP completely to 13.2.1 didn't solve the problem. And I have another MBP running 13.2.1 where there is no such issue occurs on this setup.

At work I have built-in Retina + 2x 2560x1440 and everything is fine. No issues.

And the parade of MacOS updates with NO fix for this long-standing issue continues. 13.5.1 acts perhaps even worse, spinning out my machine as soon as I connect one monitor. HELLOOOOOOOO, APPLE???????

I connect HP monitor thru VGA cable to micro USB port and kernel_task spikes to 1300% ! I tried all resets mentioned but it doesn't solve the problem. Mine is a MBP 2.6 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7 any help ? I cannot use external monitor at all

Any help APPLE

OMFG! I bought two brand new LG 32" USB C monitors. Great monitors, and for the first two or three days using them, no instances of this. But now, it's BACK, in force. I've reset SMC and NVRAM multiple times, to no avail. If I plug one or both of them in, immediate spin cycle. HELLO, APPLE????? What the hell, guys?

And the update to Sonoma 14.1 makes no difference. Apple, can we PLEASE get your attention here? This makes my sweet little MBP into a brick, for all purposes.

So, I finally got an answer. In my case, the battery was swelling, and my fans were clogged to a degree. Had the battery replaced, the machine cleaned out, and the issue has disappeared entirely.

hi, I had similar issue, I resolved it removing dust from fan's also have added new thermal paste for processor and video card... in my case macbook fans was fully of dust and thermal paste was dried...

Right guys. I'm here to possibly make your day!!

This may sound like an advert for the developer (well it sort of is) but if my initial testing works out which it looks like it will, this has saved me from upgrading from a perfectly great laptop albeit the usual fan issue we all know and love.

Mine is an i7 2015 Macbook Pro 15 inch, 16gb, 1TB, bought new by myself. However after many years, I was just about to sell on eBay cheap and buy a Macbook Air M1 because guess what it doesn't have to spoil your productive work day???

I've searched and tried all the usual !@££$%$%^ that Apple tells us with SMC, clean fans etc etc. Get this, Apple even replaced the motherboard near the end of its 3yr care support a few years back when they reckoned one of the temp sensors was playing up. Can't prove that but it didn't fix the fan issue anyway.

No idea how but I literally stumbled on this 30 minutes ago - https://www.reddit.com/r/macbookpro/comments/jiy3n8/macbook_pro_mid_2015_fan_noise/

Has anyway plugged in an external monitor for the fans to scream like a banshee until removed? 8 hour productive day ruined by T.C. refusing to give a $$$$$$ to his users? Well no more for me, thank you sir.

The app disables Intel Turbo Boost in short. You may lose some performance, haven't tested long enough to be 100% but I'm a heavy Chrome user for work. 3-4 profiles usually loaded with a bunch of tabs, but plugging my monitor in, running those and then loading Gimp to stress it, silence was golden. It has the usual app functionality so can turn off and make the babies burn up again. From what I can tell from my (as you can probably tell giddy testing) the fans will come on if needed, but as the Intel part is not boosting, the fans aren't being required as much.

Anyway if you try and it works, consider purchasing the pro version for the developer. I will once I have.

Please can I really stress to the moderators of the forums, this is a real post and not an advert to purchase a 3rd party tool. I just hope this does fix the issue and helps others. If it does guys, tell the world that these old Macbooks are still worth using. No need to give back to Apple just yet to recycle them.

Why is this an ongoing issue?!? I'm having the same problem and I've does EVERYTHING on this post multiple times. Why can't Apple fix this for good? I've reset NVRAM and SMC so many times I forgot how many, I've tried plugging power into the right side (which would be ridiculous issue), different resolutions, including all the 'low resolution' and all to default, and I've scanned for any viruses or malware... not to mention I'm fully patched. PLEASE FIX THIS Fn ISSUE FOR GOOD! I've see years of posts!

Just clean your MacBook fans, i already resolve with this. My kernel_task over 1000% down to 4%

Same issue here. The only plug that didn't generate any issue was USC-C to USB-C between CalDigit 3 dock and monitor (Macbook PRO 2019 Intel + BENK 32` 4K EW3270U) Other plugs , Display port to display port or USB-C to HDMI caused CPU overload. Dock is connected to Mac via thunderbolt 3. I agree with those who think it's a disgrace for Apple. I paid €4,700 for my machine.