Problem with Kernel Task - El Capitan

It is scary only in as far as the only acceptable solution to a logic board having a malfunctioning sensor (or camera, or whatever) requires replacing the logic board (a service apple will happily charge you ~$750 for), or buying a new computer. A comparison to this would be a car manufacturer crippling your car if the seat warmer malfunctions, forcing you to only be able to ride in first gear until you fix it. The manufacturer states that the only thing you can do is pay ~70% of the cost of your car to replace all the electronics within it, or buy a new car.
The solution posted by Badgermonkey to override the malfunctioning kernel_task process has been around for years and I have not seen any reports of people having their computers damaged by it. Even if it does, your logic board is already considered scrap by Apple anyway, so who cares.
As long as your temperatures are fine and you peg your fan speed to your cpu sensor (which you can with some free software called "Fan Control for Mac". I have mine start to increase fan speed at 50C and run at max speed at 85C) so it's not running at 100% speed all the time you should be OK.

i'm having this same issue with my iMac. I have followed this fix here, and when I get into the last "resources" folder....I don't see the file "iMac14,1" that matches my Model Identifier! What do I do now?

i'm having this same issue with my iMac. I have followed this fix here, and when I get into the last "resources" folder....I don't see the file "iMac14,1" that matches my Model Identifier! What do I do now?

Same issue. Macmini7,1 & the list goes up to 5,1.

Tried SMC,

PRAM,

First Aid,

backup entire kext extensions folder,

disable all login items.

One note of interest: anyone running a Thunderbolt Studio Display? Tried both ports on the mini with same kernel_task issue using too many resources to make the machine run effectively.

After some time, all available memory will be used & can no longer run normal tasks or applications without rebooting.

A 2014 Mac mini with 8GB of RAM shouldn't have these problems.

The advice in here & multiple sites all suggest removing the kext, but radio silence to anyone who has a model not listed in the package contents.

Extremely frustrating to have a "worked for me" but "sorry you're out of luck, take it to Apple" for the rest of us, especially if we're just out of the one year warranty.

I have the same issue here. The % CPU is fine with round about 2-5% but the kernel_task is using 75 GB of virtual ram. My biggest issue with my Mac is, that sometimes I have a big stutter and lag when I switch between my spaces. I'm trying to find the issue

I finally took my iMac into the Apple store, struggling with this issue and after phone support wasn't able to help me. They've diagnosed my issue to be a bad temperature sensor on the LCD screen, reading 125 C - which is telling the fans to run full speed. The Apple technician this will drive the Kernel_Task to work really hard too, but I'm not so sure about that. My machine had to be admitted into their hospital awaiting the surgeon. I'm hoping to get it back in a couple days!

I just started having this issue today and followed your directions the problem still occurs. Only this time the Kernel _Task will drop down as well as the fan and idle for a short period then it will spike back up to an average of 60% with no applications being used.

Macbook Air 13 - inch Mid 2013

OS X El Capitan

Hi Badgermonkey. I probably know enough to just be dangerous so apologies for lack of knowledge. I have this very same issue and I know via terminal my Model identifier is Macmini6,1 However when I take the step to find Macmini6,1.plist it is not there? any suggestions for this? Am I missing something? I appreciate any info.

Hey Badger,

Sorry for digging up old posts. But I am having a similar problem. Ever since I downloaded El Capitan my RAM has almost been maxed causing me problem while trying to use Google Chrome (which I need for certain online classes). I noticed like many my kernel task was taking a large amount of my 8gb RAM, and I proceeded to follow your step by step solution. However when I got the final destination folder my model identifier wasn't there MacBookPro 9,1. Suggestions?

Thanks,

Martyn

If kernel_task is using lots of RAM/CPU, then that's a symptom of some other problem, rather than a problem itself, because kernel_task is fundamental to most things.

Definitely do NOT delete Apple-installed system components. The problem is almost certainly elsewhere, like some third-party kernel extension or other software.

Throttling

When it gets high temperature readings from the hardware, or low voltage readings from the battery of a MacBook, the kernel may try to compensate by interrupting the processor(s) to slow them down and reduce power consumption.

This was the main problem in my case.. I have set a cover to my laptop and the ventilation was not good. Removing the cover and the kernel_task CPU usage was down again 🙂

Thanks to Badgermonkey for solving this. I send in my mac to a authorise service centre in malaysia and they told me to change my hard drive cable which i did and pay the service fees for it. Came out and i still have this problem. Thanks i did it last night and was running for 30 mins no problem still. hopefully this solve my problem.

Thanks again.

I just signed up for a Netflix trial and couldn't be more disgusted to find it wants me to install Silverlight. I'm on my 2012 Mini at the moment but right alongside that is my mighty circa 2005 Power Mac G5, which still does all kinds of things really well (hat tip to the TenFourFox browser for a lot of that).

Silverlight almost killed my G5 years ago, triggering a kernel panic, if memory serves. I'm hoping your Chrome solution will also work for me. I really don't want to slaughter the Mini 🙂

EDIT: Victory. It works. Thank you Badgermonkey and Google.

Hello, i have problem to with kernel_task, i think because i installed some programs on my mac but i don't know what program.
I create another user, and login with new user, then remove the previous user, just it and my problem with kernel_task solved, no more kernel_task in my Activity Monitor.

I have a Macbook air (4.2) 2011

I had trouble installing 10.11 - so insted I installed from time machine backup. It is very slow. Acti-moni reportede "kernel_task" use up to 500% cpu. Rebooted into Root user and with safe-boot (shift) - that made a considerbly different - now "kernel_task" just about 1%

There is no 3 parti connections - no usb

Apple Hardware test - reportede no problems

Micormatic - mactest - also reported no problems

When i boots and works fine in "safe-mode" i think it is software relatede?

Could i try your fix? or is there other solutions? -have i overlooked something?