kernel_task is using 100% CPU when waking from sleep

My 13 MacBook Pro with Retina Display(LATE 2013) @OS X Mavericks 10.9.1 have the same problem. The tech support told me to shut down the Mac,and press option,control,shift and power key for 20 sec, and then turn it on again. But what's the point for that? This problem only exists after sleep....

Yep, same for me. Apple support can obviously only help you solve superficial GUI stuff, don't listen to them.

It's confusing because the process doesn't even show up in the activity monitor, you need to access it via terminal (top -o cpu) to see it's kernel_task.

I followed MiracleWei's advice and unplugged my headphones, and it was gone after about 10 seconds. Not sure if it's coincidence or related... to lazy to try it out, too 😝.

edit: using late 2013 MBP

it is related alright...wonder what reason that might be,but unplug the earphone does not help, I have tried.waiting for the next update, hope Apple can fix it

yea me too. also, plugging in headphones and then starting music will sometimes cause the music to play on loud speaker for a split of a second - this is somehow related to standby too as it happens after waking from standby. probably some audio buffers not getting flushed properly - i don't know.

You should be able to show it with Activity Monitor by going to View>All Processes, and changing the dock icon to show CPU usage helps too.

I'm also having this issue, but removing headphones doesn't fix it, and it doesn't always occur with headphones in, so there might be two or more similar issues here. To those who can't fix this without a restart, the following steps always seem to fix it (temporarily) for me, hopefully it might for others too:

Stop audio

Quit any audio related applications that can access a microphone (and maybe remove headphones if they have an in-built mic)

Sleep for 10-15 seconds, then wake

finally some good news

cool, didn't know about the settings in activity monitor. thanks!

Ok, this is starting to get frustrating.

I noticed that the kernel process goes through the roof with the Apple headphones connected, but not with any other kind of headphones?!?!

Stupid.

LOL,A nice way to find out ur headphones is real or not huh?

My bluetooth headphones from a nameless brand had the same effect. But only sometimes, not always.

northwest291 and Bart1977, I think that headphone-problem is because of mic input at apple headphones and same thing with bt headphones but not with normal audio-only-headphones.

day to day I am more and more convinced that this problem is connected to mic input, not audio.

I have 3 other MacbookPro's with Mavericks and none of those have this problem BUT those macs have seperate mic and headphone-inputs.

Same issue on MacBook Air 10.9.1 with 8gb 1600 DDR3 & 1.7Ghz i7...

1. Open VLC with a movie.

2. Close the lid to let the computer sleep

3. When you're back, sound is broken on VLC and kernel_task 100%...

Seems like something Apple should fix, rather than a "plug and unplug headphones to fix"

XOXO

Same 100% Kernel_task CPU usage on Macbook Air 2013.

Somthings wrong with the sound software.

i tryed so many things…

to me, after StandBy works best:

Check Kernel_tast on activity status app -> Close, or open iTunes -> what (~60sec.) till kernel_tast going back to normal (~2% CPU).

[hope it's not the same Sh** like the gamma shift problem and so many more stuff that has never been fixed]

On another thread about the same issue, I saw someone who said unintalling the app "Boom" fixed the problem. I discovered that simply KILLING the app (and not restarting it) fixed the problem. My kernel_task memory use dropped from 4GB+ to 786MB at once, and stayed there. I'm seeking a solution on the forums at the Boom vendor, Global Delight. Till then, no Boom.

Fix coming? http://www.macrumors.com/2014/02/18/sleep-wake-crash-macbook-air/