Hi - I have Mac Mini with 2.6GHz (Intel Core 7) & 8GB Memory.
Recently Kernel_Task is going mad with high CPU every day. I am not sure what drives the high CPU. We mainly use the mac for internet browsing, YouTube, etc..
Any ideas how to resolve are highly appreciated.
Thanks!
Mac mini, macOS High Sierra (10.13.5)
Kernel_Task is a macOS system process. One of its uses, believe it or not, is to "slow down" the CPU when your Mac mini is running too hot. It does this by "pretending" to use CPU cycles to make the CPU less available for other processes, like playing YouTube videos. You should note when you are not playing these videos, the number of Kernel_Task processes will drop as the CPU temperature decreases.
Kernel_Task is a macOS system process. One of its uses, believe it or not, is to "slow down" the CPU when your Mac mini is running too hot. It does this by "pretending" to use CPU cycles to make the CPU less available for other processes, like playing YouTube videos. You should note when you are not playing these videos, the number of Kernel_Task processes will drop as the CPU temperature decreases.
If you're still having the issue after the SMC reset then let's shut down your Mac and restart it in "Safe Mode". To learn how to do that please read: Try safe mode if your Mac doesn't finish starting up.
Then, restart normally. If the same problem returns, please read the section If an issue doesn't happen in safe mode in this article: Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac
Finally, you can temporarily create a new User Account, and log in to that account to determine if the problem also exists when logged in to that Account. To learn how to do that read How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac. When you are finished troubleshooting, you can remove the temporary User Account by following these instructions: macOS Sierra: Delete a user or group. Before removing it, confirm you don't need any of the files you might have created in that Account.
For more information regarding Kernal Panics, check out thos article: macOS Sierra: If your Mac restarts and a message appears
Keep us posted on your progress.
Take Care!
Hello Joseph_S.
Thank you for the detailed response. Troubleshooting is half way through and I thought I'd share progress as suggested to see I am on the right track.
So, SMC reset did not solve the problem. Kernal_Task CPU continues to jump high, up to 628%! at times, the mac mini box becomes very hot and the fan works very hard. I had a new symptom the other day whereby the mac shuts down itself, potently due to the high heat?
I do notice that Kernel_Task CPU jumps high when i.e. we use YouTube (among others). But, we always used YouTube and it didn't drive high CPU before.
I also tried safe mode but, strangely, things didn't work well at safe mode: screen was flashing when using google or YouTube, switching between apps took long time, etc.. However, I let YouTube run to see if it drives the same high Kernel_Task CPU and it didn't...
Am about to check with another user as suggested.
Does all make sense? any recommendation on how to fine-tune troubleshoot is appreciated. The whole computer usage is not very usable with the current high CPU issue...
Thanks again!
Hi-
I am having the same issue after upgrading my HD and also OS (to High Sierra) in my Mac Mini. It seems to happen mostly when using either Chrome or Safari. I uninstalled Chrome and reinstalled it with the same resulting issue. I did test this also under a brand new user account and found that the 2 browsers are working fine. I don’t see this issue and slow down in the test user account. What would my next step be?
Hello Sarah_s1,
Well with a test user i don’t get this issue! I ran YouTube with the test user with no issues.
Furthermore, I record my Gutar playing with Audicity (recording program) and constantly getting system slowdown and high CPU under kernel_task with my regular user.
I recorded with my test_user with no issues as well.
Am using the same browser (chrome) settings on both users
My question is - what is casuing the issue with my regular user? And what is the recommanded next step?
Thanks in advance!!
Kernel_Task high CPU
