MacOS Sierra / kernel_task problem

I installed Mac OS sierra yesterday night in my MacBook Air13" (4gb) I also use an external SSD (Samsung T3).


Today I could not do any task because of CPU and ram usages.


First, I thought this is because of new OS, but then I check activity monitor and saw kernel_task use around 50-70% percent of CPU.


I wonder, what it is and how I can fix this problem (I found some entries in the forum, but I am not sure this is the same problem or not).


Thank you.

Replies

is this normal??



EtreCheck version: 3.1.5 (343)
Report generated 2017-03-04 00:02:41
Download EtreCheck from https:/ Runtime 1:52
Performance: Excellent

Click the [Support] links for help with non-Apple products. Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.

Problem: Computer is too slow

Hardware Information: i
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012)
[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service] MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro9,2
1 2.9 GHz Intel Core i7 (i7-3520M) CPU: 2-core
16 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

BANK 0/DIMM0
8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0
8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n
Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 676

Video Information: i Intel HD Graphics 4000

Color LCD 1280 x 800

System Software: i
macOS Sierra 10.12.4 (16E175b) - Time since boot: less than an hour

Disk Information: i
Samsung SSD 850 PRO 1TB disk0 : (1.02 TB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes) [Show SMART report]

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
MAC SSD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 1.02 TB (396.86 GB free) Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB

ST2000LX001-1RG174 disk1 : (2 TB) (Rotational)

[Show SMART report]

EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
MAC SSHD2TB (disk1s2) /Volumes/MAC SSHD2TB : 2.00 TB (818.75 GB free)

USB Information: i



Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in) Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Thunderbolt Information: i Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Gatekeeper: i
Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions: i /Applications/DiskWarrior.app

[not loaded] com.alsoft.Preview (5.0 - SDK 10.5 - 2014-12-18) [Support] /Library/Extensions



[not loaded] [not loaded]

[not loaded]

[not loaded]

[Support]

[not loaded]

[Support]

[not loaded]

[Support]

[not loaded] [not loaded] [not loaded]

com.caiaq.driver.NIUSBAudio2DJDriver (2.8.0 (R36) - SDK 10.9 - 2017-03-02) [ com.caiaq.driver.NIUSBAudio4DJDriver (2.8.0 (R36) - SDK 10.9 - 2017-03-02) [ com.caiaq.driver.NIUSBHardwareDriver (2.8.0 (R36) - SDK 10.9 - 2017-03-02) [ com.caiaq.driver.NIUSBTraktorAudio2Driver (2.8.0 (R36) - SDK 10.9 - 2017-03-0

com.caiaq.driver.NIUSBTraktorKontrolS4Driver (2.8.0 (R36) - SDK 10.9 - 2017-0 com.caiaq.driver.NIUSBTraktorKontrolX1Driver (2.8.0 (R36) - SDK 10.9 - 2017-0

com.pioneerdj.driver.DJM-900NXS2Audio (2.0.1 - SDK 10.10 - 2017-03-02) [Su jp.co.pioneer.driver.DJM-850Audio (1.1.0 - SDK 10.10 - 2017-03-02) [Support] jp.co.pioneer.driver.DJM-900nexusAudio (1.4.0 - SDK 10.10 - 2017-03-02) [Sup



System Launch Agents: i [not loaded] 6 Apple tasks [loaded] 179 Apple tasks [running] 97 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons: i [not loaded] 43 Apple tasks [loaded] 174 Apple tasks [running] 100 Apple tasks

Launch Daemons: i
[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (2017-01-31) [Support] [loaded] com.bombich.ccchelper.plist (2017-01-15) [Support]



S S S

3

3

p p



[not loaded] com.crashplan.engine.plist (2017-03-02) [Support]



[loaded] [loaded] [loaded] [loaded]

com.malwarebytes.HelperTool.plist (2017-02-17) [Support] com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist (2017-01-14) [Support] com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper.plist (2015-08-15) [Support] com.native-instruments.NativeAccess.Helper.plist (2016-11-28) [Support]



User Launch Agents: i
[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (2017-01-14) [Support]

User Login Items: i
Macs Fan Control Application

(/Applications/Macs Fan Control.app)

Internet Plug-ins: i
Silverlight: 5.1.41212.0 - SDK 10.6 (2016-09-18) [Support]

FlashPlayer-10.6: 24.0.0.221 - SDK 10.9 (2017-02-14) [Support] QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2017-03-02)
Flash Player: 24.0.0.221 - SDK 10.9 (2017-02-14) [Support]

Safari Extensions: i chumsearch - me (2017-02-28)

3rd Party Preference Panes: i
Flash Player (2017-01-31) [Support]
Native Instruments USB Audio (2016-10-12) [Support]

Time Machine: i
Time Machine not configured!

Top Processes by CPU: i
45% com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(13) 18% mdworker(17)
15% WindowServer
12% com.apple.WebKit.Networking
12% Safari

Top Processes by Memory: i



3.62 GB

1.35 GB 754 MB 672 MB 623 MB

com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(16)

kernel_task
Franz Helper(5) mdworker(17) MTLCompilerService(20)



Virtual Memory Information: i



3.53 GB 43 MB 12.47 GB 3.49 GB 132 MB

Available RAM Free RAM Used RAM Cached files Swap Used



Diagnostics Information: i Mar 3, 2017, 11:40:37 PM



/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/ rekordbox_2017-03-03-234037_[redacted].cpu_resource.diag [Details]

/Applications/rekordbox 4/rekordbox.app/Contents/MacOS/rekordbox Mar 3, 2017, 11:32:28 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/

rekordbox_2017-03-03-233228_[redacted].cpu_resource.diag [Details] Mar 3, 2017, 11:31:12 PM ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/

Franz_2017-03-03-233112_[redacted].crash
io.adlk.franz - /Applications/Franz.app/Contents/MacOS/Franz

Mar 3, 2017, 11:29:21 PM Self test - passed

Mar 2, 2017, 06:48:57 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/ mds_stores_2017-03-02-184857_[redacted].cpu_resource.diag [Details]

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/Metadata.fra Versions/A/Support/mds_stores

Mar 2, 2017, 06:41:50 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/DiskWarrior Recovery Maker_2017-03-02-184150_[redacted].hang

/Volumes//DiskWarrior Recovery Maker.app/Contents/MacOS/DiskWarrior Recovery Maker Mar 2, 2017, 06:40:52 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/DiskWarrior Recovery

Maker_2017-03-02-184052_[redacted].hang
/Volumes/VOLUME//DiskWarrior Recovery Maker.app/Contents/MacOS/DiskWarrior Recov

Mar 2, 2017, 06:38:41 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/DiskWarrior Recovery Maker_2017-03-02-183841_[redacted].hang

Mar 2, 2017, 05:05:12 AM ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/ Franz_2017-03-02-050512_[redacted].crash

Mar 2, 2017, 01:38:18 AM ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/ KeychainSyncingOverIDSProxy_2017-03-02-013818_[redacted].crash

/System/Library/Frameworks/Security.framework/Versions/A/Resources/ KeychainSyncingOverIDSProxy.bundle/Contents/MacOS/KeychainSyncingOverIDSProxy

Mar 1, 2017, 06:33:10 PM ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/ Franz_2017-03-01-183310_[redacted].crash

Mar 1, 2017, 06:02:27 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/ Traktor_2017-03-01-180227_[redacted].cpu_resource.diag [Details]

/Applications/Native Instruments//Traktor.app/Contents/MacOS/Traktor Mar 1, 2017, 08:43:52 AM ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/

Franz_2017-03-01-084352_[redacted].crash
Mar 1, 2017, 12:38:15 AM ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/

Franz_2017-03-01-003815_[redacted].crash

Files deleted by EtreCheck: i
Mar 2, 2017, 06:09:33 AM - ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.HotShoppy.agent.plist



m

e



Mar 2, 2017, 06:09:33 AM - ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.MacUpdater.agent.plist Mar 2, 2017, 06:09:33 AM - ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.bittorrent.uTorrent.plist


I've got the same problem with my MacBook Pro and 2 external monitor (1 with HDMI and 1 via "mini display port to DVI"-Adpater). First I thought Logic Pro X was the reason (in most cases the problem arises after quitting Logic) but now I have the problem when doing not so CPU intensive things like surfing with Safari etc. - I did not find any remedy but I will try some of your recommendations and report if I have success.

Hello Ihnen42,

Are you sure that is true? Support documents usually don't have that level of detail. The support document referenced in that document no longer has that content. It does appear in the Wayback Machine. Was it not correct? Too detailed? Is there some other reference for this behaviour?

Found it! Apple moved the content into its own document: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207359

mine crashed few times..rebooting 2 times after updated new Sierra update..etrecheck report:

Anonymous UUID: E708CF14-94A0-4E97-194E-708ED1C5ADA6

Wed Mar 15 11:28:10 2017

*** Panic Report ***

panic(cpu 0 caller 0xffffff800fde7a5a): "Possible memory corruption: pmap_pv_remove(0xffffff802fdf4e80,0x7fdae5d07000,0x40b796): " "empty hash, removing rooted"@/Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs/Sources/xnu/xnu-3789.51.2/osfmk/i386/pmap_internal.h:818

Backtrace (CPU 0), Frame : Return Address

0xffffff91f9ab3af0 : 0xffffff800fcec3ec

0xffffff91f9ab3b70 : 0xffffff800fde7a5a

0xffffff91f9ab3c90 : 0xffffff800fde883a

0xffffff91f9ab3d00 : 0xffffff800fd750a8

0xffffff91f9ab3e40 : 0xffffff800fd749ac

0xffffff91f9ab3e70 : 0xffffff800fd151ee

0xffffff91f9ab3eb0 : 0xffffff801016cb50

0xffffff91f9ab3f20 : 0xffffff801016c8e3

0xffffff91f9ab3f40 : 0xffffff801016c8ae

0xffffff91f9ab3f50 : 0xffffff8010225695

0xffffff91f9ab3fb0 : 0xffffff800fc9dd46

BSD process name corresponding to current thread: CVMCompiler

Mac OS version:

16E189a

Kernel version:

Darwin Kernel Version 16.5.0: Fri Mar 3 16:45:33 PST 2017; root:xnu-3789.51.2~1/RELEASE_X86_64

Kernel UUID: AEFF6976-C5A2-32AD-AD8D-70EEC127308C

Kernel slide: 0x000000000fa00000

Kernel text base: 0xffffff800fc00000

__HIB text base: 0xffffff800fb00000

System model name: MacBookPro9,2 (Mac-6F01561E16C75D06)

System uptime in nanoseconds: 27865827529

last loaded kext at 6626897172: com.apple.filesystems.autofs 3.0 (addr 0xffffff7f9226b000, size 45056)

loaded kexts:

com.globaldelight.driver.Boom2Device 1.1

com.apple.filesystems.autofs 3.0

com.apple.driver.X86PlatformShim 1.0.0

com.apple.driver.AGPM 110.23.17

com.apple.driver.ApplePlatformEnabler 2.7.0d0

com.apple.driver.AppleMikeyHIDDriver 131

com.apple.driver.AudioAUUC 1.70

com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltIP 3.0.8

com.apple.driver.AppleHDAHardwareConfigDriver 279.48

com.apple.driver.pmtelemetry 1

com.apple.iokit.IOUserEthernet 1.0.1

com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothSerialManager 5.0.4f18

com.apple.driver.AppleFIVRDriver 4.1.0

com.apple.driver.AppleHDA 279.48

com.apple.driver.AppleUpstreamUserClient 3.6.4

com.apple.driver.AppleMikeyDriver 279.48

com.apple.Dont_Steal_Mac_OS_X 7.0.0

com.apple.driver.AppleHV 1

com.apple.driver.AppleGraphicsDevicePolicy 3.14.41

com.apple.driver.AppleOSXWatchdog 1

com.apple.driver.ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin 1.0.0

com.apple.driver.AppleSMCPDRC 1.0.0

com.apple.driver.AppleIntelSlowAdaptiveClocking 4.0.0

com.apple.driver.AppleBacklight 170.9.14

com.apple.driver.AppleMCCSControl 1.3.1

com.apple.driver.AppleSMCLMU 208

com.apple.driver.AppleMuxControl 3.14.41

com.apple.driver.AppleLPC 3.1

com.apple.driver.AppleIntelHD4000Graphics 10.2.4

com.apple.driver.AppleIntelFramebufferCapri 10.2.4

com.apple.driver.SMCMotionSensor 3.0.4d1

com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothUSBDFU 5.0.4f18

com.apple.driver.AppleUSBTCKeyEventDriver 252

com.apple.driver.AppleUSBTCButtons 252

com.apple.driver.AppleUSBTCKeyboard 252

com.apple.driver.AppleIRController 341.2

com.apple.driver.AppleFileSystemDriver 3.0.1

com.apple.AppleFSCompression.AppleFSCompressionTypeDataless 1.0.0d1

com.apple.AppleFSCompression.AppleFSCompressionTypeZlib 1.0.0

com.apple.BootCache 40

com.apple.filesystems.hfs.kext 366.50.19

com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIBlockStorage 295.20.1

com.apple.driver.AirPort.Brcm4331 800.20.24

com.apple.iokit.AppleBCM5701Ethernet 10.2.9

com.apple.driver.AppleSDXC 1.7.6

com.apple.driver.AirPort.Brcm4360 1150.9.1a2

com.apple.driver.AppleFWOHCI 5.5.5

com.apple.driver.AppleAHCIPort 326

com.apple.driver.AppleSmartBatteryManager 161.0.0

com.apple.driver.AppleHPET 1.8

com.apple.driver.AppleACPIButtons 5.0

com.apple.driver.AppleRTC 2.0

com.apple.driver.AppleSMBIOS 2.1

com.apple.driver.AppleACPIEC 5.0

com.apple.driver.AppleAPIC 1.7

com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagementClient 219.0.0

com.apple.nke.applicationfirewall 172

com.apple.security.quarantine 3

com.apple.security.TMSafetyNet 8

com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement 219.0.0

com.apple.kext.triggers 1.0

com.apple.iokit.IOSerialFamily 11

com.apple.driver.DspFuncLib 279.48

com.apple.kext.OSvKernDSPLib 525

com.apple.driver.AppleSSE 1.0

com.apple.driver.IOPlatformPluginLegacy 1.0.0

com.apple.iokit.IOSlowAdaptiveClockingFamily 1.0.0

com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltEDMSink 4.1.1

com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltDPOutAdapter 5.0.2

com.apple.driver.AppleSMBusController 1.0.18d1

com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireIP 2.2.7

com.apple.driver.AppleBacklightExpert 1.1.0

com.apple.driver.AppleGraphicsControl 3.14.41

com.apple.driver.X86PlatformPlugin 1.0.0

com.apple.driver.AppleSMBusPCI 1.0.14d1

com.apple.driver.IOPlatformPluginFamily 6.0.0d8

com.apple.driver.AppleHDAController 279.48

com.apple.iokit.IOHDAFamily 279.48

com.apple.iokit.IOAudioFamily 205.15

com.apple.vecLib.kext 1.2.0

com.apple.iokit.IOSurface 159.6

com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport 514.9

com.apple.iokit.IOAcceleratorFamily2 311.11

com.apple.AppleGraphicsDeviceControl 3.14.41

com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily 514.9

com.apple.driver.AppleSMC 3.1.9

com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIArchitectureModelFamily 394.50.1

com.apple.iokit.BroadcomBluetoothHostControllerUSBTransport 5.0.4f18

com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothHostControllerUSBTransport 5.0.4f18

com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothHostControllerTransport 5.0.4f18

com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothFamily 5.0.4f18

com.apple.driver.AppleUSBMultitouch 258

com.apple.driver.usb.IOUSBHostHIDDevice 1.1

com.apple.driver.usb.cdc 5.0.0

com.apple.driver.usb.networking 5.0.0

com.apple.driver.usb.AppleUSBHostCompositeDevice 1.1

com.apple.driver.usb.AppleUSBHub 1.1

com.apple.filesystems.hfs.encodings.kext 1

com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltDPInAdapter 5.0.2

com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltDPAdapterFamily 5.0.2

com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltPCIDownAdapter 2.1.2

com.apple.driver.AppleXsanScheme 3

com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltNHI 4.5.3

com.apple.iokit.IOThunderboltFamily 6.5.6

com.apple.iokit.IOEthernetAVBController 1.0.3b4

com.apple.iokit.IO80211Family 1200.12.2

com.apple.driver.mDNSOffloadUserClient 1.0.1b8

com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily 3.2

com.apple.driver.corecapture 1.0.4

com.apple.driver.AppleUSBMergeNub 900.4.1

com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireFamily 4.6.6

com.apple.driver.usb.AppleUSBEHCIPCI 1.1

com.apple.driver.usb.AppleUSBEHCI 1.1

com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIFamily 288

com.apple.driver.usb.AppleUSBXHCIPCI 1.1

com.apple.driver.usb.AppleUSBXHCI 1.1

com.apple.driver.usb.AppleUSBHostPacketFilter 1.0

com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily 900.4.1

com.apple.driver.AppleEFINVRAM 2.1

com.apple.driver.AppleUSBHostMergeProperties 1.1

com.apple.driver.AppleEFIRuntime 2.0

com.apple.iokit.IOHIDFamily 2.0.0

com.apple.iokit.IOSMBusFamily 1.1

com.apple.security.sandbox 300.0

com.apple.kext.AppleMatch 1.0.0d1

com.apple.driver.AppleKeyStore 2

com.apple.driver.AppleMobileFileIntegrity 1.0.5

com.apple.driver.AppleCredentialManager 1.0

com.apple.driver.KernelRelayHost 1

com.apple.iokit.IOUSBHostFamily 1.1

com.apple.driver.AppleBusPowerController 1.0

com.apple.driver.DiskImages 444.50.16

com.apple.iokit.IOStorageFamily 2.1

com.apple.iokit.IOReportFamily 31

com.apple.driver.AppleFDEKeyStore 28.30

com.apple.driver.AppleACPIPlatform 5.0

com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily 2.9

com.apple.iokit.IOACPIFamily 1.4

com.apple.kec.pthread 1

com.apple.kec.corecrypto 1.0

com.apple.kec.Libm 1

System Profile:

AirPort: spairport_wireless_card_type_airport_extreme (0x14E4, 0xF5), Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (7.21.171.124.1a2)

Bluetooth: Version 5.0.4f18, 3 services, 17 devices, 1 incoming serial ports

Thunderbolt Bus: MacBook Pro, Apple Inc., 25.1

Memory Module: BANK 0/DIMM0, 8 GB, DDR3, 1867 MHz, 0x80CE, 0x4D34373142314737334248302D594D412020

Memory Module: BANK 1/DIMM0, 8 GB, DDR3, 1867 MHz, 0x80CE, 0x4D34373142314737334248302D594D412020

USB Device: USB 2.0 Bus

USB Device: Hub

USB Device: FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

USB Device: USB 2.0 Bus

USB Device: Hub

USB Device: Hub

USB Device: Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

USB Device: IR Receiver

USB Device: BRCM20702 Hub

USB Device: Bluetooth USB Host Controller

USB Device: USB 3.0 Bus

Serial ATA Device: Samsung SSD 850 PRO 1TB, 1.02 TB

Serial ATA Device: ST2000LX001-1RG174, 2 TB

Model: MacBookPro9,2, BootROM MBP91.00D3.B15, 2 processors, Intel Core i7, 2.9 GHz, 16 GB, SMC 2.2f44

Network Service: Wi-Fi, AirPort, en1

Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4000, Intel HD Graphics 4000, Built-In


is it normal??

If you have this problem with the 34" external monitor, you can try to close the Macbook Screen, use only external monitor. It works for me.

Interesting that Apple would do this on purpose. What a ghetto solution to protecting the CPU from melting...

After two weeks of Sierra, I downgraded to El Capitan. I lost 2 weeks worth of Messages on my laptop but I can live with that (and couldn't restore them because Messages changed its DB format with Sierra).


I haven't looked back. I also had a weird Print Preview problem where things would take 5 minutes. Given these two problems, I'm not upgrading to Sierra or any other OS until Apple stops supporting El Capitan with security updates. There's nothing in Sierra I need.

It seems like you have the same problem that I had, which was that the mouse cursor was extremely delayed and the ui in general was really laggy. NOTE: If you are on MacOS El Captain or later, you need to boot into recovery mode before doing any of these steps, then go to the terminal in the recovery mode and type in: csrutil disable; reboot

When your computer finishes booting into the OS,login and use Shift + Command + G, you'll get the go to menu, and you should type: /System/Library/Extensions/IOPlatformPluginFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin.kext/Contents/Resources Once you've done that, take a second to go to About this Mac, then click system report, and take note of what your model identifier is. Now, in the finder window you just opened, you'll want to look for the .plist file that matches the model identifier name (My model identifier was MacBookPro8,1, so in my case the .plist I was looking for was MacBookPro8_1.plist) then copy that .plist file somewhere where you'll be able to find it again, such as Documents or a folder on your desktop. Once you've copied it, you want to trash the one in the finder window, then reboot your computer and it should be silky smooth 🙂 Optional: To re-enable the csrutil, go back into recovery mode, then terminal, and type: csrutil enable; reboot

External monitor was also bringing my kernel_task up to 500%.

So far I've had luck with the "graphics switching" fix.

Unplugged my external monitor, then (Settings > Energy Saver > uncheck Automatic Graphics Switching). Plugged monitor back in and things are okay so far - knock wood.

I take it back. Within 1/2 an hour it was right back up to 500%

This is a far superior blower: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SI67YRU/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It is designed particularly for blowing out dust from inside computers.

Is the kernel_task still running after this procedure?

It looks like kernel_task is Apple's feature to keep the CPU from being destroyed due to high temperature - slowing down the entire Mac in the process.


The probably best solution is to improve cooling of the Mac.


It makes sense now that this kernel_task problem is only occurring for me around 4 PM after 8 hours of work, with my MacBook Pro (15 inch Retina Late 2013) connected to 3 external monitors. The Mac is overheating and kernel_task is slowing everything down to crawing in mud. My Mac was getting overheated by the work, and the ambient temperature also was around its hottest.


1. REMOVE DUST: Using a blower to clear out the dust from the MacBook's rear fans helped a lot to silence the fans, improve temperature control.


2. COOLING PAD: Getting a better cooling pad under the MacBook and removing the bottom case to allow better contact with the cooling pad also helped prevent the kernel_task slowdown.


3. RAISE THE REAR: Raising the rear of the MacBook so air circulation could improve within the Macbook is also helpful.

The biggest problem I have with the kernel_task - now that is doesn't slow down my MacBook - is that it runs in the background and takes up 2+ GB of RAM. In the past 24 hours, it has also written 2 TB of data.


Since MacBooks are memory constrained - having 16 GB of RAM maximum, the kernel_task forces the use of swap memory. In the past 24 hours, I have had over 350 million page-ins from swap memory.


kernel_task is a memory hog and it wears down the SSD.


I'd like to find out how to reduce its memory use and disk use.