2018 MacBook Pro running a little sluggish

Also i have an old Macbook Pro 15" i7 2018 and it had exactly the same issue suddenly.

I found out by going to Activity Monitor and saw that Kernel_task was running 300-800% CPU when doing small things and later learned that kernel_task is a safety for not making the CPU to hot so it will throlled the CPU and wonder why this suddenly happen out of no where. Then i spoke to a Mac tech shop here and they told me that Macbook Pro from 2016 to 2019 had pure thermal paste and it will slowly decline so new paste needs to be added before it works normally again :(

And it makes so much sense now because i had another Macbook Pro 2018 that did the same but i had the hole motherboard changed on the warranty because the batteri and keyboard had some issues so Apple fixed it and in the same time the slowness went away. That makes sense because a new motherboard is a new CPU/Paste everything and the same Mac was perfect again.

So i asked how much it would cost me to get the CPU and GPU paste changed on this Macbook Pro and it was around 100$ so i'm thinking of doing that. When the CPU paste is gone or not working anymore the Mac is almost useless. Just a little hard Photoshopping or something else over normal use making the Mac hot and when the paste is not doing its work, the OS will throttled the Mac's CPU and then it feels like an old PowerPC Mac.

Thats what i learned about these Mac's.

[Edited by Moderator]

I can only say it was CPU paste on both my Intel Macbooks 2018 and 2019. The 2018 got a new motherboard because the batteri and the keyboard had the problems some of the 2018 have so i got it fixed by Apple but i had a clone so i re-cloned back and there was no more CPU throttling so software was 100% identical. The 2019 started slowly to have the sluggish and i could see the kernel_task got worse and worse and then i got the paste changed and wupti. Gone. And i have a third story. My friends 2018 i7 had exactly the same problem so he removed the bottom plate so it is open and now it works. So 110% it is a heat issue. At least in all my 3 situations it was exactly that.

Of cause i can't say it's that for every 2016 - 2019 but i will bed 75% of those Mac's that have this kind of issue is the CPU paste.

Based on reader postings here, there are far more problems with users loading up their Macs with un-necessary Junk. ('Junk' in this context is stuff that may be perfectly good, but is not needed right now -- like stuff stored in the attic.)

By far the easiest way to cause poor performance, instability, overheating and crashing is to install ANY third-party speeder-uppers, Cleaners, Optimizers, or Virus scanners, Bit Torrent, or a VPN that you installed yourself.

Be sure you are running NONE of those before resorting to replacing thermal paste.

Yes of cause he should check that first. I was already assuming we was longer in the process √

In my situation i had been all the long road of checking everything, OS, Apps, OS User etc. etc.

For me it was in both situations the CPU paste that was dead, not working anymore. Thats why i also said Macbooks between 2016 to 2019 all have the same situations. The paste for some reason will not hold over 3-5 years. One of mine was around 4 years and the other one was around 3. Go figure. Not so good but that was the problem. The laptop has a hardware power related issue which is causing the CPU to only run at idle speeds and thats why it feels sluggish. And back to the issue. When the CPU paste is broken the CPU does exactly that to stop overheating and thats why the CPU is throttling down. This was the situation with both my Macbook Pros one from 2018 and the other a 2019. Now i'm on M3 Pro and thats another story. Many Macbook Pro owners facing this issue after some years. Most people are not techies so they don't know anything about CPU throttling or even what CPU paste is. But when people are investigating they find stuff like these people here for example. Same issue and same macbooks √

P.S i know Apple released a throttling update some month after the Macbook release day but it didn't fix the Paste getting dry or really not working after some years.

https://www.reddit.com/r/macbookpro/comments/bjeu6e/cpu_thttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RaQHXDLj1Y

https://www.reddit.com/r/macbookpro/comments/jcgfhm/preventing_thermal_throttling_in_macbook_pro_2019/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RaQHXDLj1Y

I seriously doubt it is due to the thermal paste. It is much more likely either a software issue or a Logic Board failure. The Logic Boards on the 2018-2020 Intel Macs tend to have more failures than with older models. Those failures tend to either be due to Kernel Panics or to sluggish behavior.

It is possible to see whether the CPU is being throttled by using the following command in the Terminal app:

sudo  powermetrics  |  grep  -i  'system average'

I think this is the version which will work on the Intel Macs. If the CPU frequency is above 1 GHz, then the CPU is not being thermal throttled. Press Control + C to terminate the command (when that Terminal window has focus). However, on the sluggish systems I see the CPU frequency in the GHz range. Launch an app or do something else with the system to make sure the CPU frequency increases or goes above idle speeds.

Personally I would not spend any money on any of the 2016-2020 Intel Macs with USB-C ports for multiple reasons. The money spent on repairs is much better put towards a new laptop.

Please determine if the same problems occur in "Safe Mode": Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support.

before you do something extreme like re-pasting the CPU, make sure its not added software that is dragging down your mac's performance.

Hi there Grant Bennet-Alder

I agree 100%, third-party speeder-uppers, Cleaners, Optimizers, or Virus scanners etc is always a no go for me to.

macOS have the best cleaning build in. Just leave the Mac running over the night and it will take care of it all.

All that third-party speeder-uppers, Cleaners, Optimizers apps are just a money machine. But again in my situation, all my 3 Macbooks is clean as a whistle, i never installed or use anything of that kind. So again in my situation it was in all 3 cases the CPU paste √ just saying.

But of cause i can't be 100% sure. I just say i have so many other friends where it ended with the same thing after all kind of other try first