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eric.curley
eric.curley
Participant
April 22, 2026
Answered

AE 2026 shows high energy usage over 12 hours even with nothing happening

  • April 22, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 8 views

I am troubleshooting a MacBook with AE 2026 (completely updated) using significant energy over a 12-hour period, causing slow-downs and battery drain. (Activity Monitor → Energy → 12 hr Power). On this machine, it’s hovering right around 15%; while on my own MacBook, it sits at about 7%. The laptop is also very hot, with fans turning on intermittently. I have tried clearing all caches, reinstalling AE, updating it, and resetting the Mac’s SMC. It’s not actively using energy, but the 12 hr Power does not budge. What could this be?

 

Laptop is a 16-inch 2019 MacBook Pro. Specs below, if it matters.

 

Graphics:

  • 2.4 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9
  • AMD Radeon Pro 5500M
  • 8 GB
  • Intel UHD Graphics 630 1536 MB

 

Memory:

  • 32 GB 2667 MHz DDR4

 

macOS: Tahoe 26.4.1

    Correct answer eric.curley

    Hi Kevin,

    Thanks for the help. I’m not sure what happened, but now After Effects is hovering around 7% for the 12 hr Power metric. I let it cool down for a while yesterday and then let it sit on battery overnight. The battery was still at about 95% this morning and now everything seems normal.

    I did check plugins, but this machine didn’t have any installed. I also reset preferences, just in case.

    I’ll cautiously take this as a win for now! Thanks.

    1 reply

    K
    Community Manager
    Kevin-MonahanCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    April 23, 2026

    Hi Eric,

    This sounds unusual. Can you try these troubleshooting steps? Let us know if this works: https://adobe.ly/4mHD6wg Sorry for the frustration.


    Thanks,
    Kevin


    eric.curley
    eric.curleyAuthorCorrect answer
    Participant
    April 23, 2026

    Hi Kevin,

    Thanks for the help. I’m not sure what happened, but now After Effects is hovering around 7% for the 12 hr Power metric. I let it cool down for a while yesterday and then let it sit on battery overnight. The battery was still at about 95% this morning and now everything seems normal.

    I did check plugins, but this machine didn’t have any installed. I also reset preferences, just in case.

    I’ll cautiously take this as a win for now! Thanks.

    Nishu Kushwaha
    Community Manager
    Nishu KushwahaCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    April 23, 2026

    Glad to hear that. Feel free to reach out if it happens again.

     

    Thanks,

    Nishu

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