kernel_task very high memory usage

[kubad]

Hello,
From a few week I have a problem with kernel_task process. It takes very high memory ( today its near 4gb of ram , I restart Mac yesterday when it takes a lot of more ~8gb)
Is anyone has this problem?

 

[chabig]

Kernel_task is a system process on your Mac that helps manage CPU temperature and performance. If it's using a lot of memory, it usually indicates that your Mac is overheating or that there are resource-intensive applications running.

The graph at the bottom of Activity Monitor shows green memory pressure and you're using zero swap. The machine is fine and not at all memory constrained. You don't have a memory problem.

Is your Mac running warm, or do you have a lot of peripherals attached? Does the CPU tab show an active process using a lot of CPU? Maybe high CPU demand is causing this. Perhaps try closing the Messenger tab in Safari. Facebook (Meta) has a reputation for writing resource intensive code.

Either way, I would not worry about it. Kernel task is an automatic function of the operating system. It's doing a job to protect your Mac.

 

[!!!]

Kernel_task is a system process on your Mac that helps manage CPU temperature and performance. If it's using a lot of memory, it usually indicates that your Mac is overheating or that there are resource-intensive applications running.

No, it's the OS and is responsible for nearly everything, task scheduling, memory, hardware, etc. Its RAM use has no direct relationship with the heat of the computer.

It can appear to use a lot of CPU when your computer is hot and very slow. This is just a side-effect of the reporting when the computer is thermal throttling, however. It's not really using the CPU, it's just limiting how much other processes can use.

 

[polyphenol]

Hello,
From a few week I have a problem with kernel_task process. It takes very high memory ( today its near 4gb of ram , I restart Mac yesterday when it takes a lot of more ~8gb)
Is anyone has this problem?

View attachment 2587633

Only 8gb? On my M1 MBP with 16GB memory it is currently taking over 11 GB. 🙂

But memory pressure is green. And the machine is running fairly well. So, whilst I am noting the fact, and am curious why it is so high, I'm not currently worried about it.

[ Adding ]
On my mac mini with 24GB, kernel_task is currently using 4.3 MB. A gigantic difference.

 

[maflynn]

At time, I think this is the equivalent to pixel peeping,where people obsesss over the individual pixels. The kernel is the the very core of the OS, and its memory needs fluctuate throughout the day.

Unless you're seeing issues, I'd not worry about keeping an eye on the performance monitor and its metrics.

Kernel's main responsibilities:

• Memory management
• CPU scheduling
• Hardware control
• Process and thread management
• Driver handling

 

[polyphenol]

At time, I think this is the equivalent to pixel peeping,where people obsesss over the individual pixels. The kernel is the the very core of the OS, and its memory needs fluctuate throughout the day.

Unless you're seeing issues, I'd not worry about keeping an eye on the performance monitor and its metrics.

Kernel's main responsibilities:

• Memory management
• CPU scheduling
• Hardware control
• Process and thread management
• Driver handling

In general, I agree. But when I saw the memory usage of kernel_task on my MBP, I was surprised. A restart has dropped it to about 10 MB.

Around a thousand-fold lower. More or less identical to my mac mini. That is not normal variation.

 

[maflynn]

In general, I agree. But when I saw the memory usage of kernel_task on my MBP, I was surprised. A restart has dropped it to about 10 MB.

But were you running low on ram? Was the ram pressure yellow or red?

Just because its using a lot of ram means there's an issue

 

[polyphenol]

But were you running low on ram? Was the ram pressure yellow or red?

Just because its using a lot of ram means there's an issue

As I said earlier "But memory pressure is green." 🙂

I think that there is an issue when something uses so much memory. The question is whether that issue is causing, or will cause, performance problems. For what I was doing, it wasn't. But I wanted to know whether restarting dropped it, or not. At least I now know that if it happens again, and it does cause performance issues, a restart is likely to fix it, at least for a while.

 

[maflynn]

I think that there is an issue when something uses so much memory.

Please explain. I don't have an intimate knowledge of how the kernel works, other then a high level topical understanding, but I'd like to learn more, so please let me know what's occurring with the higher memory utilization in the kernel_task and why its.

 

[polyphenol]

Please explain. I don't have an intimate knowledge of how the kernel works, other then a high level topical understanding, but I'd like to learn more, so please let me know what's occurring with the higher memory utilization in the kernel_task and why its.

I have not the slightest idea why it was happening. Sorry.

Just it is clearly wrong. Equivalent to three-quarters of the total installed memory being being allocated to kernel_task on one machine, and just a few megabytes on another. With both being used pretty much the same.

 

[kubad]

Today its looks like that :

 

[kubad]

It's ridiculous, but why it is happen?

 

[benwiggy]

If you're not seeing any slow-downs, freezing, or stuttering, then it's fine. The OS will manage memory according to its needs. Memory pressure is low; you've still got room for cached files, and you're not using any swap. (Not that swap is inherently a bad thing.)

iStat is brilliant at giving you numbers to worry about that are just normal operation.