BobStor
Level 1 (4 points)
Notebooks

Q: How MacBook Air laptop resources are used

MacBook Air ~2013 El Capitan Version 10.11.6

 

I often use Firefox to do internet research, frequently using a screen that may have, say, as many as ten tabs.

 

When I’ve finished using Firefox to do some other task on the computer, I put Firefox in the dock so that it’s available during that session without to restart Firefox.

 

My partner believes that a Firefox window that has been put in the dock uses up as many computer resources as it does when the window is being used.

 

I say that a Firefox that has been put in the dock uses virtually no resources, except for an occasional “are you still there” inquiry.

 

Can anyone shed light on the answers to this on-going discussion that we are having?

MacBook Air (13-inch Mid 2013), OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Sep 5, 2016 11:27 AM

Close
BobStor

Q: How MacBook Air laptop resources are used

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by sberman,

    sberman sberman Sep 5, 2016 3:14 PM in response to BobStor
    Level 8 (38,694 points)
    Sep 5, 2016 3:14 PM in response to BobStor

    As this article explains (under "Add or remove dock items", all that happens when an item is placed in the dock is an alias is created so the item can be accessed faster.

     

    The item is not open (unless you explicitly open it).  So it uses no resources.

    OS X El Capitan: Use the Dock

     

    An item in the dock that is explicitly open has a small circle under it, as Safari does here:

     

    Screen Shot 2016-09-05 at 3.13.02 PM.png

  • by Rysz,

    Rysz Rysz Sep 5, 2016 3:21 PM in response to BobStor
    Level 6 (19,696 points)
    iTunes
    Sep 5, 2016 3:21 PM in response to BobStor

    Browsers use CPU resources when downloading a website and to first "draw" it on the screen. After that there's very little activity on that site unless it was coded to automatically update, as some news sites do. When you close the browser windows, but leave it launched, there's very little activity as it's neither downloading, drawing, or updating the contents.

     

    You can observe this by launching Activity Monitor from Applications > Utilities folder.