Q: MacBook Pro having frequent CPU spikes
I have an early 2011 MacBook Pro that is having frequent spikes in CPU use (usually kernel_task). It doesn't seem to be caused by specific software and is cleared by just putting it to sleep for a minute. It is constantly happening, though, and driving me crazy.
I've replaced the battery, replaced the hard-drive (with a SSD), and upgraded the RAM. No change. I'm running El Capitan with a clean install, but the issue happens with a clean install of Yosemite, too.
Apple Hardware Test just reports an error on the battery (4xxx/4/40000005: G "Battery") but I think that's just because it is a 3rd party battery. It's working fine.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
The Sytem CPU otherwise runs at about 1%, but here is an EtreCheck report that was run with the spiked CPU (kernel_task at 623%):
EtreCheck version: 2.6.4 (224)
Report generated 12/12/2015, 12:57 PM
Runtime 13:23
Download EtreCheck from http://etresoft.com/etrecheck
Click the [Click for support] links for help with non-Apple products.
Click the [Click for details] links for more information about that line.
Hardware Information: (What does this mean?)
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2011)
[Click for Technical Specifications]
MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro8,2
1 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4-core
16 GB RAM Upgradeable
[Click for upgrade instructions]
BANK 0/DIMM0
8 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok
BANK 1/DIMM0
8 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok
Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported
Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n
Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 5 - SN = W00030C0L77ZC
Video Information: (What does this mean?)
Intel HD Graphics 3000
AMD Radeon HD 6750M - VRAM: 1024 MB
Color LCD 1680 x 1050
LED Cinema Display 2560 x 1440
System Software: (What does this mean?)
OS X El Capitan 10.11.2 (15C50) - Time since boot: about 3 days
Disk Information: (What does this mean?)
Samsung SSD 850 EVO 1TB disk0 : (1 TB) (Solid State - TRIM: No)
EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB
SSD (disk1) / : 998.97 GB (774.31 GB free)
Core Storage: disk0s2 999.35 GB Online
MATSHITADVD-R UJ-898 ()
USB Information: (What does this mean?)
Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)
Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad
Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub
Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
GenesysLogic USB2.0 Hub 2 TB
Western Digital Ext HDD 1021 2 TB
EFI (disk3s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
Ext Backup (disk3s2) /Volumes/Ext Backup : 2.00 TB (74.61 GB free)
Apple Inc. Keyboard Hub
Apple Inc. Apple Keyboard
Seagate Expansion Desk 4 TB
EFI (disk2s1) <not mounted> : 315 MB
M4TB (disk2s2) /Volumes/M4TB : 4.00 TB (749.55 GB free)
Apple Inc. Apple LED Cinema Display
Apple Inc. Display iSight
Apple Inc. Display Audio
Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
Thunderbolt Information: (What does this mean?)
Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus
Gatekeeper: (What does this mean?)
Mac App Store and identified developers
Kernel Extensions: (What does this mean?)
/Library/Extensions
[not loaded] com.FTDI.driver.D2XXHelper (1 - SDK 10.11) [Click for support]
/System/Library/Extensions
[not loaded] com.wacom.kext.wacomtablet (6.3.15 - SDK 10.11) [Click for support]
Launch Agents: (What does this mean?)
[running] com.wacom.wacomtablet.plist [Click for support]
Launch Daemons: (What does this mean?)
[running] com.prey.agent.plist [Click for support]
[loaded] com.wacom.displayhelper.plist [Click for support]
User Launch Agents: (What does this mean?)
[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Click for support]
User Login Items: (What does this mean?)
iTunesHelper Application (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)
Dropbox Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)
Other Apps: (What does this mean?)
[running] com.etresoft.EtreCheck.200992
[running] com.wacom.TabletDriver.179552
[running] com.wacom.WacomTouchDriver.178912
[loaded] fm.last.Scrobbler.168352
[loaded] org.videolan.vlc.182432
Internet Plug-ins: (What does this mean?)
Default Browser: Version: 601 - SDK 10.11
QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3
WacomTabletPlugin: Version: WacomTabletPlugin 2.1.0.6 - SDK 10.9 [Click for support]
3rd Party Preference Panes: (What does this mean?)
WacomTablet [Click for support]
Time Machine: (What does this mean?)
Time Machine not configured!
Top Processes by CPU: (What does this mean?)
623% kernel_task
20% UserEventAgent(2)
9% WindowServer
0% askpermissiond
Top Processes by Memory: (What does this mean?)
1.12 GB kernel_task
475 MB softwareupdated
410 MB mds_stores
213 MB Console
197 MB Finder
Virtual Memory Information: (What does this mean?)
8.94 GB Free RAM
7.05 GB Used RAM (9.46 GB Cached)
0 B Swap Used
Posted on Dec 11, 2015 6:34 PM