kernel_task is using 100% CPU when waking from sleep

It is interesting that it was happening on computers in the Apple Store - before that piece of information there was some indication that it may be due to software installed after purchase based on some other threads I've been following.

I haven't been able to find a pattern yet in my issues but they seem to temporarily go away with a restart like others have noted. I don't use headphones at all and don't regularly use VLC either and I'm still having this problem so it isn't just connected with either of those issues. The only thing I've used recently that uses audio is watching Netflix which uses Silverlight.

It definitely has to destroy battery life. I run istat menus and have it show the processor temp and CPU power consumption and the thing "idles" at > 10 W when this issue is there and around 1-5 W right now as I type after a reboot.

Hey guys,

im having the same issue here and also haven't been able to find a pattern. Did someone already contact the genius bar about this? Cause if this issue is not present on all MBPs im definitely going to try to get a new one from the geniusbar. Btw i have installed VLC and i have also used the headphones, but I doubt there is a connection.

I went back to ML, it's the only I could solve this issue until Apple release an update.

Seems like the most common scenario is kernal_task chewing up CPU after MB awakes from sleep. If you have any apps that use any form of audio, start there. It was Boom, a speaker booster, that caused the problem for me. Once I removed it, no problem. Seems like 10.9 does something different with some audio driver and if an app has not been updated for 10.9, you may have CPU issues.

I don have any additional audio apps installed but still have that issue.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

Spoke to a tech guy who offered me this solution. So far it seems to have worked.

SMC reset has not made a bit of difference for me.

Kernel_task goes up to 90-100% for me, and stays there until i unplug the headphones and shut the lid to put the mba in sleep mode, then re-open the lid, and plug in the headphones once again.

This "solved" the issue maybe 7 times out of 10...Only other option left was to reboot the mba.

Installed apps Spotify, Dropbox, Google Drive, Chrome, VLC and iWork.

Ended up reverting back to ML just b/c this was getting way too frustrating... Hopefully this gets resolved soon. 😐

I have the same bug on my brand new late 2013 MBP with retina 13". This only occurs when using iTunes with (Apple) headphones plugged in. Putting the machine to sleep and removing the headphones fixes the problem for at least a short while. Haven't tried doing an SMC reset yet.

I might have a related problem here, CPU usage of the kernel_thread is at 100% after a wakeup. What is possible different with some of you, I don't have this issue after every wakeup but I couldn't narrow it down.

Reading over this thread I noticed it might related to audio and a lot of you have also Spotify installed. This is also true in my case and after some tests I can reproduce the kernel_thread issue.

When Spotify plays music while I trigger the standby the kernel_thread goes amok after the wakeup. So at least in my case I can work around this by stopping Spotify playback before going to standby mode.

I have this problem too a new (late 2013) MBP 13" Retina. After closing the lid on the machine and then opening it later, kernel_task is at 100%.

A workaround seems to be to start iTunes and quit it again. This lends some weight to the idea that something in the audio subsystem is causing the problem. Hope this helps.

how would u go about reverting back to ml

that's cool - it worked for me! maybe the problem came with the latest itunes?

to be sure I also unplugged the jack from the headphones.

br.kg

I've got the same issue with MBP 13" Retina Late 2013, which iTunes nor headphone jack didn't help.

Recently Apple released 10.9.1 pre-release for developers and that fixed my problem.

FYI.

HELP - HELP - HELP

I have MBAir 13" and problem with kernel_task CPU 100%

I have tried all solutions written here BUT NO SOLUTION. I have restated, plug unplug headphones, open closed iTunes, put to sleep and wake up, done everything and still the problem exists.

I am using my mini iPad to ask for help as my MBAir is not functioning.

First time in Apple history an upgrade is so "Microsoft problem like". Apple guys where are you !!!!

Please help.

I am seeing the same issue randomly occur every few days... suddenly this kernel_task takes over. No peripherals installed, Mid-2011 Mac Air with Mavericks (from Lion), doing heavily memory & cpu intensive and network intensive tasks running all browsers fully stacked with apps. While this process runs there is also associated sustained SSD activity 6 - 25MB/s. Kernel task is using 1.6GB with FF next at 1GB, 36MB Free. Kernel_task uses 50-130+% CPU, and the fan runs continuously.*

Maybe it's reindexing the disk?

Workaround is to reboot.

Apple, please fix this issue affecting mission-critical performance of this equipment, or provide a way to diagnose. Thanks.

* Diagnostics from iStat Menu.