I just upgraded to GoldenGate macOS 27 on my 2021 iMac 24 with M1 chip. Why do I see 7 lines of "Safari Web Content" using large amounts of resources, and maxing out the memory pressure, when the only thing I am doing in Safari right now is asking this question?
iMac 24″, macOS 27.0
Have you rebooted your Mac? If not, that's the first step. If that does not help, then see if the problem is present when you boot in safe mode. That process performs some system cleanup and clears caches, and also disables 3rd party extensions that may cause problems.
Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support
If that does not correct the issue, test in a new user account. A newly-created user account will have all settings at default, and if the issue does not occur in that new account then it provides guidance on what may need to be changed to correct the issue.
Add a user or group on Mac - Apple Support
Once the testing is complete, the new account can easily be deleted.
Delete a user or group on Mac – Apple Support
Those steps will help to isolate the problem.
Having said that, it is quite possible that what you are seeing is normal sandboxing and caching behavior, heavily amplified by background system indexing following your major OS upgrade.
When you install a macOS upgrade, the system must re-index your entire drive, and in this case more extensively to accommodate new features like the rewritten Siri AI search algorithms, the upgraded system cache, and automatic Safari tab grouping. This background activity spikes overall memory pressure, making your Mac very sensitive to Safari's process model.
You may simply need to wait, the reindexing takes time. Leave your Mac powered on overnight and check the next day.
About Spotlight indexing and search results on Apple devices - Apple Support
Have you rebooted your Mac? If not, that's the first step. If that does not help, then see if the problem is present when you boot in safe mode. That process performs some system cleanup and clears caches, and also disables 3rd party extensions that may cause problems.
Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support
If that does not correct the issue, test in a new user account. A newly-created user account will have all settings at default, and if the issue does not occur in that new account then it provides guidance on what may need to be changed to correct the issue.
Add a user or group on Mac - Apple Support
Once the testing is complete, the new account can easily be deleted.
Delete a user or group on Mac – Apple Support
Those steps will help to isolate the problem.
Having said that, it is quite possible that what you are seeing is normal sandboxing and caching behavior, heavily amplified by background system indexing following your major OS upgrade.
When you install a macOS upgrade, the system must re-index your entire drive, and in this case more extensively to accommodate new features like the rewritten Siri AI search algorithms, the upgraded system cache, and automatic Safari tab grouping. This background activity spikes overall memory pressure, making your Mac very sensitive to Safari's process model.
You may simply need to wait, the reindexing takes time. Leave your Mac powered on overnight and check the next day.
About Spotlight indexing and search results on Apple devices - Apple Support
Safari Web Content using high memory on iMac after GoldenGate macOS 27 upgrade
