Very, very high CPU usage, since version 13 (now using 14.0.1)

[AndreMotta]

I have been a subscriber to the Lightroom/Photoshop package for over 6 years.

I currently use it on two computers, a Mac Mini 2023 and for a little over 6 months, on a Macbook Pro 2019, Core I9 with 16GB of RAM.

On this Macbook Pro 2019, Core I9 with 16GB of RAM, it is IMPOSSIBLE to use Lightroom currently.

Over 1400% CPU usage sometimes, never less than 200% !!!!

(see image below)

I had an old Macbook Pro 2014, I7 with 16GB of RAM. Last year, with the latest versions of Lightroom, the performance was terrible, but it worked bravely. Due to lack of money (Brazilian photographer, poor South American!), I bought a Macbook Pro 2019, Core I9 with 16GB of RAM. The performance is 1000x worse!

This 2019 model must be Apple's biggest failure!

Does anyone have any ideas to improve this performance?

See below my System Info:

Lightroom Classic version: 14.0.1 [ 202410161356-30922cfc ]
License: Creative Cloud
Language setting: en-BR
Operating system: Mac OS 15
Version: 15.0.1 [24A348]
Application architecture: x64
Logical processor count: 16
Processor speed: 2,3GHz
SqLite Version: 3.36.0
Power Source: Plugged In, 80%
Built-in memory: 16.384,0 MB
Dedicated GPU memory used by Lightroom: 3.517,2MB / 4.080,0MB (86%)
Real memory available to Lightroom: 16.384,0 MB
Real memory used by Lightroom: 1.730,5 MB (10,5%)
Virtual memory used by Lightroom: 46.131,8 MB
Memory cache size: 345,2MB
Internal Camera Raw version: 17.0 [ 2043 ]
Maximum thread count used by Camera Raw: 5
Camera Raw SIMD optimization: SSE2,AVX,AVX2
Camera Raw virtual memory: 566MB / 8191MB (6%)
Camera Raw real memory: 827MB / 16384MB (5%)

Cache1: 
Final1- RAM:471,0MB, VRAM:1.419,0MB, 20241124_103225_DSC1354.nef
NT- RAM:471,0MB, VRAM:1.419,0MB, Combined:1.890,0MB

Cache2: 
m:345,2MB, n:298,0MB

U-main: 73,0MB

Standard Preview Size: 3584 pixels
Displays: 1) 3584x2240

Graphics Processor Info: 
Metal: AMD Radeon Pro 5500M
Init State: GPU for Image Processing supported by default
User Preference: Auto
Enable HDR in Library: OFF

Application folder: /Applications/Adobe Lightroom Classic
Library Path: /Users/andre/Pictures/catalogo-BiaStorino_LOCAL/catalogo-BiaStorino_LOCAL.lrcat
Settings Folder: /Users/andre/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom

Installed Plugins: 
1) AdobeStock
2) Aperture/iPhoto Importer Plug-in
3) Flickr
4) HDR Efex Pro 2
5) JPEGmini
6) Nik 6 HDR Efex
7) ON1 NoNoise AI 2022
8) ON1 Photo RAW 2021
9) ON1 Photo RAW 2024
10) ON1 Resize 2021
11) Plugin Parameters

Config.lua flags: 

[Sameer K]

Hey, @AndreMotta. Welcome to the Lightroom Community. I'll help you figure this out. 

Try these suggestions:

1 - In Lightroom Classic > Preferences > Performance & set the Camera Raw caches to 15 GB or more.

2 - Try resetting Lightroom Classic following the manual method shared here: https://adobe.ly/4aPIWol

3 - Try disabling the 3rd party plugins and compare if that helps. 

Let me know how it goes. Thanks!

Sameer K

(Type '@' and type my name to mention me when you reply)

[Conrad_C · Accepted solution]

The poor efficiency of the later Intel processors is a big reason Apple chose to switch to Apple Silicon processors, which can do the same work with much less power consumption and heat.

Still, the Lightroom Classic CPU usage looks unusually high on the 2019 Core i9. Try adjusting the settings in the pictures below:

A. Definitely disable this option. It’s OK to enable it on recent computers with many efficient cores, but on yours it may be occupying too many CPU cores too much of the time.

B. Maybe disable this option if CPU % is still too high after disabling A.

C. Your Standard Preview size is set to 3584 pixels. Try reducing the size and quality to require less CPU processing power and time per preview generated.

D. If this option is enabled, it might take more CPU to process multiple external metadata files compared to writing to the database. But this is probably not a major contributor because it shouldn’t be doing anything at idle time.

E. Although this might not be a major contributor, see if constant CPU usage goes down if this option is disabled.

F. Similar to E, constant CPU usage might go down if this option is disabled.

Generally, those options are nice to have on a recent computer with many efficient cores and a lot of unused CPU power. But if you are having problems similar to those on your Core i9, start disabling those options.

[Sameer K]

Gold Tier!

[AndreMotta]

I've been sick for a few days and haven't been reading posts and forums. Thanks for the suggestions, I've already implemented some of them! But the performance is still way below expectations! This 2019 Macbook is really a not very successful project.

Thanks to ALL of you for your help and suggestions!

[bobbyizq]

@Conrad_C Thanks for your comments. The only differences I saw from my settings:

Preferences>Performance

     Camera Raw Cache setting 100 GB

I reduced this to 6 GB.

Catalog Settings > Previews:

       Standard Preview Size: Auto (2576 px)

        Preview Quality: High

I changed these to 1440 pixels and Medium

I also paused Cloud Storage Sync. These features often give me trouble, where it seems to get stuck, and I don't know why. It's almost a useless feature for me. The fact that it also fails to maintain the Collection Set structure in Lightroom for the Web and Lightroom Mobile makes it ineffective.

Bobby