Open Activity Monitor. If kernel_task is the top of the CPU % list and hogging its cores, what should you do? Can Energy Modes help?
kernel_task
Why you shouldn’t try killing kernel_task, but take action to help cool your Mac and reduce the heat it’s producing.
Signs of thermal strain in a Mac, including what kernel_task is doing, how to encourage heat dissipation and reduce it production.
How do the SMC and CoreDuet manage the systems in your Mac, and should you fiddle with them?
The spinning beachball, a juddery interface, and fans running full pelt: what’s CPU doing in Activity Monitor, and what should you do about it?
Your Mac has slowed to a crawl, with spinning beachballs and a juddery interface. You open Activity Monitor and read this.
Your Mac goes all sluggish, you open Activity Monitor, and there at the top of the CPU list is kernel_task, taking 100% or more. Why?
What should you do with a Mac whose fans keeping coming on full blast, with high CPU loads from kernel_task, and sluggish performance?
It’s hot, you’re hot, and your Mac has slowed right down. Activity Monitor tells you that it’s kernel_task which is to blame. Is macOS playing up, or what?
