MacBook Air performance tanks when Zoom is open

[VAKen]

I have a MacBook Air that's a few years old. 1.6 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, 16 GB memory. Works fine when Zoom isn't open.

When I'm in a Meeting, performance degrades significantly in my browser (Chrome), particularly when I open a Google Doc. The time it takes to render a web page or view a Google Doc doubles or triples. It's worst with big docs (50 - 75 pages); they often won't render no matter how long I wait.

I can see the CPU taking a big hit when I open a big doc. Apple claims this CPU/memory combo should be plenty to handle this set of applications. Not sure what to do?

[Walterego]

I have the same issue with this processor, but with 8 GB memory. Curious if you found a culprit. This happens when the only apps open are Zoom, a single browser tab, and slack.

[VAKen]

Sadly not. I exchanged emails with Zoom support, providing screenshots of CPU utilization with Zoom running, both with and without trying to open a large Google Doc. They replied and said Zoom's portion of the CPU was as expected and the primary consumer of CPU was Chrome. They suggested clearing cache, which I did, and that seems to have provided some relief.

I think the net of it is that this machine, and maybe yours, just don't handle this combination of apps well.

[Walterego]

I just got off live chat with Zoom. They said my 1.6 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 8GB doesn't meet the minimum recommended requirements for screen sharing. She referred me to this page which recommends a quad-core or higher processor.

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362023-Zoom-system-requirements-Windows-macOS-Linux