4 ms·

> kernel_task consumes insane amounts of CPU time If my understanding of how mac works is correct, this is caused by overheating and basically is throttle mode

• soneil 5y ago
  That's my understanding. It's how the OS accounts for the overhead that's unavailable. So if kernel_task is using 20% leaving 80% for userland, what's actually happening is your cpu is throttled to 80%. It's also why it's the go-to to blame for performance issues - it's the symptom not the cause. Your laptop isn't running warm because kernel_task is at 80% - but vice versa. Over 8 cores this figure can start to look crazy. (eg 80% kernel_task can be 8 cores * 10%)
• solarkraft 5y ago
  That's the main source of high kernel_task CPU usage on Intel macs, but M1s don't really get that warm, especially not with active cooling like my device has. So that's probably not it, though a glitching temp sensor might be at fault. What tends to speak against it is that the issue seems to mostly, but not fully, disappear once I stop ng serve (running on nodejs v16.4.0).