BigSur high CPU use. WindowServer and Kernel_task always on top.

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Level 1

9 points

BigSur high CPU use. WindowServer and Kernel_task always on top.

Three times. I downgraded three times from BigSur to Catalina and it seems that I am going to do it again.

I expected the latest BigSur 11.3 will solve the high CPU consumption, but it is not.

To give it the latest opportunity I request for help to this forum to try anything to get BigSur running normal.

Mi MacBookPro13,1 (2016, i7 2,4Ghz, 16GB ram) runs slow and it get completely unusable when I need to do normal task (mainly with Microsoft suite: PowerPoint, Teams, OneDrive and Outlook).

Here a screenshot of the same computer running Catalina from a clean boot:

Look at System processes: 0,95% CPU. None app running, just the activity monitor.

Now, the same computer running BigSur, same clean boot, just after a fresh installation from a bootable USB of BigSur 11.3.... but....

WindowServer always on top with 66% of CPU going to 80%, even more sometimes.

And Kernel_task always there too with 5% of CPU going to 15%, 30%.

I know this is not normal as I have a MacMini 2015 (i7, 3,0Ghz, 16GB) running BigSur without problems using less than a 1% from a fresh boot. It seems the operating system is not the problem (or it is a specific problem with this hardware).

Is there any way to fix this? Or BigSur consumes so much CPU in this kind of MBP? and I am forced to go back to Catalina again?.

The computer is clean and BigSur is just installed, so any idea is welcome and I can test anything without risks. Not high expectations as I have read tons of post on internet and none of them worked by now.

Thanks a lot in advanced!!.

Regards

Posted on May 2, 2021 11:21 AM

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Answer 1

Straycat123 Author

Level 1

9 points

May 2, 2021 12:40 PM in response to Old Toad

Thanks a lot Old Toad!!,

I run EtreCheck and it gave me one major issue and two minor.

The major one is related to my corporate Anti.Virus (Microsoft ATP Defender) which perhaps is not compatible. I will check the Microsoft support website of this product to see if there are other users with the same issue.

I do not know the change in the BigSur OS from Catalina, as this software worked perfect in Catalina.

Minor issues are related to two things:

Other corporate software, Cisco Anyconnect, which is a VPN client that we need to connect to the corporate network
An issue with Time Machine, as I have an old time capsule to do my backups, but I have so many that I wanted to delete some of them. As it is impossible in the user interface of time machine today, I needed to use tmutil from the terminal and it seems same hard links got wrong.

I am going to uninstall both apps and I will test it again to see off those were the root problem.

As this is the corporate software I have to have installed, I guess I will back to Catalina again :).

Etrecheck report

EtreCheckPro version: 6.4.4 (6E015) Report generated: 2021-05-02 21:32:53 Download EtreCheckPro from https://etrecheck.com Runtime: 3:36 Performance: Excellent Problem: Computer is too slow Description: BigSur too slow. WindowServer and kernel_task processes always on top of the CPU using a lot of computer resources. Major Issues: Anything that appears on this list needs immediate attention. Unsigned files - There are unsigned software files installed that could be adware and should be reviewed. Kernel panics - This system has experienced kernel panics. This could be a sign of hardware failure. Minor Issues: These issues do not need immediate attention but they may indicate future problems or opportunities for improvement. Time Machine auto backup disabled - Time Machine auto backups are disabled. Kernel extensions present - This computer has kernel extensions that may not work in the future. Hardware Information: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) MacBook Pro Model: MacBookPro13,1 2,4 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7 (i7-6660U) CPU: 2-core 16 GB RAM - Not upgradeable BANK 0/DIMM0 - 8 GB LPDDR3 1867 BANK 1/DIMM0 - 8 GB LPDDR3 1867 Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 2 Video Information: Intel Iris Graphics 540 - VRAM: 1536 MB Color LCD (built-in) 2880 x 1800 Drives: disk0 - APPLE SSD AP0512J 500.28 GB (Solid State - TRIM: Yes) Internal PCI-Express 8.0 GT/s x4 NVM Express disk0s1 - EFI [EFI] 315 MB disk0s2 [APFS Container] 499.96 GB disk1 [APFS Virtual drive] 499.96 GB (Shared by 6 volumes) disk1s1 (APFS) [APFS Container] (Shared - 15.35 GB used) disk1s1s1 - Macintosh HD (APFS) [APFS Snapshot] (Shared - 15.35 GB used) disk1s2 - Preboot (APFS) [APFS Preboot] (Shared - 286 MB used) disk1s3 - Recovery (APFS) [Recovery] (Shared - 622 MB used) disk1s4 - VM (APFS) [APFS VM] (Shared - 1.07 GB used) disk1s5 - M******************s (APFS) [APFS Virtual drive] (Shared - 24.71 GB used) disk1s6 - Update (APFS) (Shared - 537 KB used) Mounted Volumes: disk1s1s1 - Macintosh HD [APFS Snapshot] 499.96 GB (Shared - 15.35 GB used, 460.94 GB available, 457.76 GB free) APFS Mount point: / Read-only: Yes disk1s2 - Preboot [APFS Preboot] 499.96 GB (Shared - 286 MB used, 457.76 GB free) APFS Mount point: /System/Volumes/Preboot disk1s4 - VM [APFS VM] 499.96 GB (Shared - 1.07 GB used, 457.76 GB free) APFS Mount point: /System/Volumes/VM disk1s5 - M******************s [APFS Virtual drive] 499.96 GB (Shared - 24.71 GB used, 460.94 GB available, 457.76 GB free) APFS Mount point: /System/Volumes/Data disk1s6 - Update 499.96 GB (Shared - 537 KB used, 457.76 GB free) APFS Mount point: /System/Volumes/Update Network: Interface en3: USB 10/100/1000 LAN Interface en0: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Interface en4: Bluetooth PAN Interface bridge0: Thunderbolt Bridge iCloud Quota: 4.78 GB available System Software: macOS Big Sur 11.3 (20E232) Time since boot: Less than an hour Notifications: EtreCheckPro.app one notification Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client Notification.app one notification Security: Gatekeeper: App Store and identified developers System Integrity Protection: Enabled Antivirus software: Apple Unsigned Files: Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.microsoft.fresno.uninstall.plist Executable: /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Defender/uninstall/uninstall --post-uninstall-hook System Extensions: [Running] Microsoft Defender ATP Network Extension - version 101.27.50 (Microsoft Corporation - 2021-04-15) Application: /Applications/Microsoft Defender ATP.app - version 101.27.50 (Microsoft Corporation - 2021-04-30) Description: MdAtp Network Filter extension [Running] Microsoft Defender ATP Endpoint Security Extension - version 101.27.50 (Microsoft Corporation - 2021-04-15) Application: /Applications/Microsoft Defender ATP.app - version 101.27.50 (Microsoft Corporation - 2021-04-30) Description: MdAtp Endpoint Security extension [Running] Cisco AnyConnect Socket Filter Extension - version 4.9.03047 (Cisco - 2020-10-09) Application: /Applications/Cisco/Cisco AnyConnect Socket Filter.app - version 4.9.03047 (Cisco - 2021-04-30) Description: This system extension provides socket filter capabilities. Kernel Extensions: /Applications/Microsoft Defender ATP.app [Not Loaded] wdavkext.kext - com.microsoft.wdavkext (101.27.50) /Library/Application Support/Cisco/AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client [Not Loaded] acsock.kext - com.cisco.kext.acsock (4.9.0 - SDK 10.14) System Launch Agents: [Not Loaded] 17 Apple tasks [Loaded] 192 Apple tasks [Running] 125 Apple tasks System Launch Daemons: [Not Loaded] 36 Apple tasks [Loaded] 192 Apple tasks [Running] 132 Apple tasks [Other] One Apple task Launch Agents: [Loaded] com.cisco.anyconnect.gui.plist (Cisco - installed 2021-04-30) [Loaded] com.cisco.anyconnect.notification.plist (Cisco - installed 2021-04-30) [Loaded] com.microsoft.OneDriveStandaloneUpdater.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2021-04-30) [Loaded] com.microsoft.update.agent.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2021-04-30) [Running] com.microsoft.wdav.tray.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2021-04-30) Launch Daemons: [Running] com.cisco.anyconnect.vpnagentd.plist (Cisco - installed 2020-10-09) [Running] com.microsoft.OneDriveStandaloneUpdaterDaemon.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2021-04-30) [Loaded] com.microsoft.OneDriveUpdaterDaemon.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2021-04-30) [Loaded] com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2021-04-30) [Running] com.microsoft.fresno.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2021-04-30) [Loaded] com.microsoft.fresno.uninstall.plist (? b5af944f - installed 2021-04-30) [Loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2021-04-12) [Loaded] com.microsoft.teams.TeamsUpdaterDaemon.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2021-04-30) User Login Items: [Not Loaded] AppCleaner SmartDelete (Julien Ramseier - installed 2021-02-02) Modern Login Item /Applications/AppCleaner.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/AppCleaner SmartDelete.app [Not Loaded] Launcher Disabler (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2021-04-30) Modern Login Item /Applications/OneDrive.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/Launcher Disabler.app [Not Loaded] OneDrive Launcher (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2021-04-30) Modern Login Item /Applications/OneDrive.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/OneDrive Launcher.app Backup: Auto backup: No Volumes being backed up: Macintosh HD: Disk size: 499.96 GB - Disk used: 42.20 GB Destinations: Data [Network] (Last used) Total size: 1.90 TB Total number of backups: 13 Oldest backup: 2021-03-26 12:17:41 Last backup: 2021-04-30 17:56:56 2 local snapshots Oldest local snapshot: 2021-05-01 21:32:22 Last local snapshot: 2021-05-01 22:32:27 Performance: System Load: 1.64 (1 min ago) 7.53 (5 min ago) 5.98 (15 min ago) Nominal I/O speed: 0.01 MB/s File system: 56.28 seconds Write speed: 2123 MB/s Read speed: 948 MB/s CPU Usage Snapshot: Type Overall System: 5 % User: 14 % Idle: 81 % Top Processes Snapshot by CPU: Process (count) CPU (Source - Location) EtreCheckPro 16.90 % (Etresoft, Inc.) kernel_task 2.52 % (Apple) WindowServer 2.44 % (Apple) com.apple.WebKit.WebContent (8) 2.06 % (Apple) Safari 1.18 % (Apple) Top Processes Snapshot by Memory: Process (count) RAM usage (Source - Location) MTLCompilerService (40) 1.04 GB (Apple) com.apple.WebKit.WebContent (8) 713 MB (Apple) EtreCheckPro 579 MB (Etresoft, Inc.) wdavdaemon_unprivileged 385 MB (Microsoft Corporation) kernel_task 261 MB (Apple) Top Processes Snapshot by Network Use: Process (count) Input / Output (Source - Location) mDNSResponder 343 KB / 44 KB (Apple) homed 85 KB / 7 KB (Apple) cloudd 22 KB / 6 KB (Apple) rapportd 16 KB / 8 KB (Apple) apsd 10 KB / 12 KB (Apple) Top Processes Snapshot by Energy Use: Process (count) Energy (0-100) (Source - Location) WindowServer 6 (Apple) com.apple.WebKit.WebContent (8) 2 (Apple) Safari 1 (Apple) Dock 1 (Apple) epsext 0 (Microsoft Corporation) Virtual Memory Information: Physical RAM: 16 GB Free RAM: 6.56 GB Used RAM: 5.40 GB Cached files: 4.04 GB Available RAM: 10.60 GB Swap Used: 0 B Software Installs (past 60 days): Install Date Name (Version) 2021-04-30 macOS 11.3 (11.3) 2021-04-30 MRTConfigData (1.78) 2021-04-30 XProtectPlistConfigData (2145) 2021-04-30 Microsoft Edge (90.0.818.51) 2021-04-30 Microsoft Office (16.48.21041102) 2021-04-30 Microsoft Teams (1.00.408872) 2021-04-30 Microsoft Defender ATP (101.27.50) 2021-04-30 AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client (4.9.03047) 2021-05-01 The Unarchiver (4.3.3) Diagnostics Information (past 7-30 days): 2021-05-02 19:56:14 Kernel Panic Details: panic(cpu 2 caller 0xffffff8004dc52a6): Kernel trap at 0xffffff80066ad 4ac, type 14=page fault, registers: 2021-05-02 01:24:53 com.apple.WebKit.WebContent High CPU Use Executable: /System/Library/Frameworks/WebKit.framework/Versions/A/XPCServices/com.apple.WebKit.WebContent.xpc/Contents/MacOS/com.apple.WebKit.WebContent 2021-05-01 22:51:31 backupd High CPU Use Executable: /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd.bundle/Contents/Resources/backupd 2021-04-30 22:35:13 mds Crash Executable: /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/Metadata.framework/Versions/A/Support/mds Details: dyld3 mode -[MDSVolumeFMWQueue pushFMWEvent:withFilter:isLocalOnly:] (/System/Vol umes/Data/SWE/macOS/BuildRoots/2288acc43c/Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs /Sources/Spotlight/Spotlight-2150.16/spotlight/server/MDSVolume/MDSVol umeFMWQueue.m:4884) failed assertion -- Source path not nul terminated , type:1 9 2021-04-30 19:19:52 Microsoft Defender ATP.app Crash (3 times) Executable: /Applications/Microsoft Defender ATP.app Details: crashed on child side of fork pre-exec End of report

Thanks a lot!!!

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Answer 2

Halliday

Level 4

2,677 points

May 2, 2021 12:08 PM in response to Straycat123

Welcome, Straycat123, to Apple Support Communities!

Since I don’t see any other processes using much CPU, besides the Window Server (which handles Graphical User Interface [GUI] tasks for your Apps), it’s hard to see why your «MacBookPro13,1 (2016, i7 2,4Ghz, 16GB ram) runs slow»., or even why the Window Server is using «66% of CPU going to 80%, even more sometimes.»

The typical issue with slow response, high CPU usage for Big Sur, relative to Catalina, is old, incompatible software: including background tasks for such software and driver software for add-on hardware.

High «kernel_task» CPU usage is due to system/kernel extensions as well as hardware driver software.

Are you running any “Anti-Virus”, “Cleaner”, “Optimizer”, etc. software? Such could easily do such!

By the way, the CPU % is not showing the percentage total CPU usage, relative to total possible, but is only showing the percentage of a single CPU core, equivalent: so, for a four core machine, it can go up to 400%, for multithreaded workloads.

Have you checked your software (and add-on hardware) for compatibility with Big Sur?

One should always perform such a check before upgrading (not a mere update) to a new Operating System (OS).

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Answer 3

Old Toad

Level 10

212,105 points

May 2, 2021 1:59 PM in response to Straycat123

Here's some food for thought: there is no reason to ever install or run any 3rd party "cleaning", "optimizing", "speed-up", anti-virus or security apps on your Mac. This user tip describes what you need to know and do in order to protect your Mac: Effective defenses against malware and other threats - Apple Community.

There are no known viruses, i.e. self propagating, for Macs. There are, however, adware and malware which require the user to install although unwittingly most of the time thru sneaky links, etc.

Anti Virus developers try to group all types as viruses into their ad campaigns of fear. They do a poor job of the detecting and isolating the adware and malware. Since there are no viruses these apps use up a lot of system resources searching for what is non-existent and adversely affect system and app performance.

There is one app, Malwarebytes, which was developed by a long time contributor to these forums and a highly respected member of the computer security community, that is desshoigned solely to seek out adware and known malware and remove it. The free version is more than adequate for most users.

With that in mind you might talk with your IT personnel at work and see if you can forgo the Microsoft junk.

As for the VPN as long as you're using it to connect directly to your company's servers it is a good thing. Public VPNs are worthless from a privacy standpoint: Public VPN's are anything but private.

If you can uninstall the Microsoft Defender temporarily to test its affect on your Macs performance you'll have additional ammo for the talk with the IT people. If they insist on a anti-virus app see if they will let you use ClamX. It appears to be the most benign A/V app in regards to Mac's performance.

Another tact you can take is to boot into Safe Mode according to Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support and see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and check again.

NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 10 minutes as it's doing the following;

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

Again, more info for the IT personnel. Good luck.

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Answer 4

Old Toad

Level 10

212,105 points

May 3, 2021 10:45 AM in response to Straycat123

There is no reason to ever install or run any 3rd party "cleaning", "optimizing", "speed-up", anti-virus, VPN or security apps on your Mac. This user tip describes what you need to know and do in order to protect your Mac: Effective defenses against malware and other threats - Apple Community.

There are no known viruses, i.e. self propagating, for Macs. There are, however, adware and malware which require the user to install although unwittingly most of the time thru sneaky links, etc.

Anti Virus developers try to group all types as viruses into their ad campaigns of fear. They do a poor job of the detecting and isolating the adware and malware. Since there are no viruses these apps use up a lot of system resources searching for what is non-existent and adversely affect system and app performance.

There is one app, Malwarebytes, which was developed by a long time contributor to these forums and a highly respected member of the computer security community, that is desshoigned solely to seek out adware and known malware and remove it. The free version is more than adequate for most users.

Unless you're using a true VPN tunnel, such as between you and your employer's or bank's servers, they are useless from a privacy standpoint: Public VPN's are anything but private.

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Answer 5

Straycat123 Author

Level 1

9 points

May 2, 2021 12:45 PM in response to Halliday

Hello Halliday,

Thanks a lot for your answer. Probably you are right!!.

Running Etrecheck I discovered that I am having issues with two apps:

Microsoft ATP Defender: which is my corporate anti virus (as you suggested). Sadly I can not quit it, so, I am going to visit Microsoft support website to see if there are other users with the same issue or a new version compatible.
Cisco AnyConnect: our corporate VPN Client. I can not avoid it, so, I will do the same.

I will contact with my corporate IT service to request a BigSur compatible version, if they exists. As I work with Mac as my own device, the company allows it but they usually are not able to give us the same support than if I used the corporate PC under windows (I can not do this, :):):), no way)

Thanks a lot for your quick, and accurate, clue.

Regards

Reply

Answer 6

Old Toad

Level 10

212,105 points

May 2, 2021 11:54 AM in response to Straycat123

Download and run Etrecheck. Etrecheck is a diagnostic tool that was developed by one of the most respected users here in the ASC and recommended by Apple Support to provide a snapshot of the system and help identify the more obvious culprits that can adversely affect a Mac's performance.

IMPORTANT:

Before running Etrecheck assign Full Disk Access to Etrecheck in the Etrecheck's Privacy preference pane so that it can get additional information from the Console and log files for the report:

Also click and read the About info to further permit full disk access.

Copy the report

and use the Additional Text button to include the report in your reply.

Then we can examine the report and see if we can determine what might be causing the problem.

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Answer 7

Straycat123 Author

Level 1

9 points

May 3, 2021 1:15 AM in response to Straycat123

Hi all,

Just to help other users with the same problem.

I reinstalled BigSur from scratch and I can confirm that the high CPU consumption was due to Microsoft ATP Defender (my anti-virus) and Cisco AnyConnect (my VPN client).

Both are not BigSur compatible or there is something to do from my corporate IT department to properly set additional configuration profiles needed.

I found the info here:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/security/defender-endpoint/mac-whatsnew?view=o365-worldwide

In order to confirm the stability of BigSur in a MBP 2016 i7 2,4Ghz, 16GB ram, I add a screenshot of the system monitor with the same behavior then I had with Catalina, less than 1% of CPU and no WindowServer or Kernel_task running on top.

I ran Etrecheck too getting no issues major or minor.

Thanks a lot to Old Toad and Halliday for your great support with this!!.

Regards.

Reply

Answer 8

Halliday

Level 4

2,677 points

May 3, 2021 7:19 AM in response to Straycat123

This is very good to hear, Straycat123!

It is also greatly appreciated that you posted these final results for others!

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