Skype takes 100% CPU (mac osx Lion)

[chrisdancy]

i had almost given up until i found this thread

I couldn't find the option for contacts that is mentioned aboved. 

I did find a little work aorund, if I click "favorites" with no on in there, instead of the default "ALL" my CPU is fine.

[onemore]

well actually this is very frustrating. I have been using skype since the firsts releases and now it seams that each new version is packed with tons and tons of different stuff that most users dont use. For example the HQ video quality is welcome but its a processor overkill in most laptops. In my i7 Macbook Pro with 8 Gigs of RAM it really runs hot and the processor usage during a video call is way too big for a messaging application. 

why dont create a thin version with simple features? seriously this is getting ridiculous.

[onemore]

One word of advice guys... you can use the version 2.8 in your Lion and it looks that it an alternative. Well yes it does not have all the bells and whistels and no facebook integration or screen sharing(i think) but its a little bit slimmer. 

Let me know if that helped you out.

[doudi]

The problem is not new on Mac, I had it with my Core 2 Duo MacBook but I thought it was due to the fact that it had only the Intel graphics chipset. Now I have a 15" MacBook Pro with a legit GPU and a Quad Core CPU and still it can take up to 250% CPU, Skype it's unacceptable. FaceTime takes maximum 40% for the same service! Skype is already out for all my Mac contacts, you have only my PC contacts, and they are getting fewer everyday. I you want me to keep at least a few of them, follow Apple's method, simplify everything to make it more efficient!

This thread has been going on for a while and I haven't seen any official response from Skype, it would be cool if you could just post something and it would be great it you started looking at the problem.

[baumaeam]

I'm having the same problem.
Macbook Pro i5, 8gb RAM.
I have tried Skype 5.1, 5.3, and beta 5.5.
Nothing has helped.
At this day in age it's completely unacceptable for a program to hog THIS MUCH CPU. I'm pegging my processors at 121% usage, and my fans spin up every single time. Everything else gets extremely slow on my laptop.
This kind of CPU usage can also damage a computer. The amount of heat that this program is generating, while certainly compensated for by my fans, is utterly ridiculous and certainly wears out the chipset.
Your members are unhappy. Your next development goal for Mac needs to be resolving this.

[oliverraduner]

Thanks @chrisdancy for this little hint with the empty "favorites" list. This worked for me as well!

But instead of the Favourites list (which I cannot select when I do not have any favourites...) I just used an empty group.

For me it's no big deal to leave Skype like this, because I connected it to Adium anyway and use Adium for chatting...

[fracipo]

i have try all the possible solution you've proposed but none work, the only solution was to downgrade to 2.8 version. with this version video looks a bit choppy but at least the cpu is not utilized 120% 

[enahs]

I have this issue also. Skype version 5.6, Lion 10.7.3. The cpu is up at 95% plus during a video call. That is using a Core i7 2.66 processor. Something seriously wrong.

[amigodm]

For me the reason for the excessive CPU/memory usage were animated emoticons which when you have a long history just grows in my experience. Once I turned them off and restarted Skype, its idling at 0.0 cpu Hope this may help some.

[molebhai]

found theh solution in another thread:

http://community.skype.com/t5/Mac/Skype-heat-fan-high-cpu-usage-issues-in-Lion-OSX/m-p/60748/highlig...

simply delete the folder /Library/Cache/com.skype.skype and restart skype