MBP Retina: Flash takes 60-100% cpu

[RenegueZ]

Hello everybody,

I have a problem with my 13" MBP Retina. When I'm surfing on the Internet I realized that Flash-advertising or streams take a lot of cpu capacity. If I open 3 tabs at the same time it is almost impossible to scroll normally since around 60-100% of the cpu performance is used by Safari and Flash.
I took the Macbook to the genius bar and they ran a system check which didn't reveal anything uncommon. The guy told me the problem is simply flash itself and how it is programmed. However at the other MBP's in the store everything worked fine so I can not believe that. I really dont expect these issues with a 1700€ laptop and I'm quite angry with Apple for this.
Do you have any idea what can be the problem and how I can fix it?

Thank you very much in advance.

Best regards,
Mike

 

[Xcallibur]

Just add the clicktoflash plugin, or disable flash. You'll be surprised at how often you can browse without it.

 

[pgiguere1]

Apple are not responsible for Flash. There's a reason they stop preinstalling it on every Mac like they used to do. The computer they sold you didn't have Flash, you installed it yourself afterwards.

How is it Apple's fault that Flash isn't efficient. Do you think they should block its installation altogether?

Just use an ad blocker and use HTML5 video for websites that allow it (YouTube for example).

Here's also a guide on how to use Quicktime player on YouTube and a lot of other streaming websites using the ClickToFlash extension.

 

[BuCkDoG]

Flash is a very intensive and old platform that isn't really optimized for the current power efficient and current age of computing. For various reasons like battery life and CPU utilization, this is why Flash isnt a default option on the iPhone. Flash is significantly on the decline with HTML 5 is on the incline. By saying that flash is using 60 - 100 % of your CPU is accurate, but not accurate. If your looking at activity monitor, it will show you that CPU utilization however, your machine has 4 Physical cores which all have hyper threading. So to really maximize out your CPU before it starts throttling itself down would be to see a 400% CPU usage. If and then would you need to be a bit concerned, but you are totally fine with where you are currently. You have nothing to be afraid of. Just use your machine and enjoy the experience.

 

[dusk007]

HTML5 is rarely any better and quite often worse in CPU utilization than Flash. The Youtube HTML5 player also sucks with it using the annoying full screen mode at least in Chrome and Opera. It takes forever with the animation to enter and leave full screen and renders a second screen useless.
The only browser were HTML5 was more efficient than Flash is Safari. In Windows on almost any browser flash wins hands down. The issue in OSX is largely Apples fault by not providing any decent APIs for hardware access to properly accelerate functions and make stuff efficient. They do it for their own HTML5 in their own browser only.
So one can definitely blame Apple for the mediocre Flash performance.

HTML5 when dealing with the same workload as flash tend to suffer the same cpu utilization. It is more the layer of programming and the workload that makes that stuff so inefficient and not the technology itself.

With Flash Apple is at the mercy of Adobe which they don't like but Adobe is also at the mercy of OSX and its hardware access and APIs. For as long as Flash remains the number one web video player on most websites that is just something one has to deal with. HTML5 will take a while because it is browser dependent and just to test the video players takes for ever. The youtube HTML5 player is in beta forever now and obviously not ready to roll out.

 

[bcaslis]

HTML5 is rarely any better and quite often worse in CPU utilization than Flash. The Youtube HTML5 player also sucks with it using the annoying full screen mode at least in Chrome and Opera. It takes forever with the animation to enter and leave full screen and renders a second screen useless.
...

I disagree completely with this. In weeks of usage of a 13" rMBP I never saw the fans go above 5000 rpm, usually around 2000 rpm. The other day I had a video that was only in flash. Viewing this one video in Chrome slammed the fans up to 6600 rpm almost immediately and heated up the whole machine. I've never seen the machine get this warm even when doing intensive photo editing. Flash is WAY more inefficient on a Mac than HTML5 video.