Why isn't my Mac really utilising its CPU

[SimonTT]

I have a 2021 16" MBP 10C 16C 32GB.
I am working with data logs with around 100k individual values.
I know that I can't expect it to work like normal at these dimensions but why is the CPU 84% idle while I get the beachball in Numbers?
BTW the Mac is lukewarm -as always- so its not throttling.

 

[mdnz]

If a process maxes out at 100%, it means 100% of 1 CPU. So in your case 1000% CPU would mean that it's fully utilized.

Looks like Numbers is single threaded (in layman's terms, uses only 1 core of your 10 cores). Not much you can do about it other than switching to software which supports multi threading.

 

[SimonTT]

how can an iWork software only support one Core, its 2023?!
I get it when Fusion 360 (pretty much the only Mac CAD Software) can't do that because it doesn't even have a stable Mac version let alone ARM optimisation, but Apples own Software?

 

[Honza1]

Many apps support only one core, if they can use multiple cores depends on many things. Effort by programmers is important consideration, but if it makes any sense and provides tangible benefits to make application multicore is even more important. Splitting job among multiple cores is difficult and adds overhead. One needs to have tasks which can be split in smaller pieces and each be done independently and out of sequence. Image processing often can be done this way, but spreadsheet? I am not really surprised that Numbers do not support multicore processing, it may not be worth the effort as there may not be much which can safely be done on multiple cores in it.

 

[SimonTT]

I Just realised that it couldn't have use multiple cores, since it had to solve ~5k calculations which each needed the previous result

 

[mdnz]

how can an iWork software only support one Core, its 2023?!
I get it when Fusion 360 (pretty much the only Mac CAD Software) can't do that because it doesn't even have a stable Mac version let alone ARM optimisation, but Apples own Software?

Guess Apple didn’t want to put in the effort. My guess is that the market is too niche to put many resources towards it.

 

[SimonTT]

Guess Apple didn’t want to put in the effort. My guess is that the market is too niche to put many resources towards it.

Pretty sure that's it, but that's also kinda justified: probably only very few people are pushing iWork Software really hard.

 

[Tagbert]

Pretty sure that's it, but that's also kinda justified: probably only very few people are pushing iWork Software really hard.

I’m pretty sure that Excel is also only single-core.

 

[SimonTT]

on Mac it is, but on windows it is multi-core

 

[Tagbert]

on Mac it is, but on windows it is multi-core

Multi-core can be complicated to get right and catastrophic if you don't. I'm not surprised that neither Apple nor Microsoft has prioritized it in this case. I had heard that Microsoft was in the process of unifying the underlying code of their apps across platform and separating out the UI code. Perhaps when they complete that, you will get multi-core support for Excel. That might be enough to push Apple forward on Numbers though I wouldn't hold my breath. iWork has generally seemed like their target user is not the big data, heavy number cruncher.

 

[SimonTT]

iWork has generally seemed like their target user is not the big data, heavy number cruncher.

100% iWork is for everyday use not for professional use

 

[Bento.Box]

I’m pretty sure that Excel is also only single-core.

Excel is the slowest DBMS I've ever seen.
In Datasets with a 5 figure amount of rows and semi-complex queries, it often takes minutes to yield a result. While even a basic MariaDB instance on one core will come back in a fraction of a second with the same dataset.

However, many companies prefer to use such software because free doesn't come with built-in "support" and their employees are paid anyway. For extra good measure, they make sure to force-install the 32bit office version for legacy CPUs.

Fun Fact: Excel frequently damages the clipboard system on windows. taskkill /f /im excel.exe usually fixes it.

@SimonTT I would most certainly assume that there is a better tool for the task you're trying to accomplish. The 103% figure shows me that there is only one core actually doing the work for iWork.
You could maybe also try to optimize your queries.

 

[bobcomer]

Excel is the slowest DBMS I've ever seen.

That's because Excel is not a DBMS in any way shape or form! It's far more versatile in a lot of ways and easier to use, but it's no DB.

 

[jchurchill]

That's because Excel is not a DBMS in any way shape or form! It's far more versatile in a lot of ways and easier to use, but it's no DB.

Indeed, @Bento.Box 's post was not very informed. But in fact since the 90s you can set up an excel workbook as a data source through ODBC and run queries on sheet contents ... very minimally it serves as a database.

 

[bobcomer]

very minimally it serves as a database.

If you're a patient person, I'm not.

 

[SimonTT]

I would most certainly assume that there is a better tool for the task you're trying to accomplish. The 103% figure shows me that there is only one core actually doing the work for iWork.
You could maybe also try to optimize your queries.

I really like Numbers, because I am relatively comfortable with it. I am certainly open for other options available, as long as they offer me the same quality UI and charts.

Not really sure how I could improve my queries.
I log my commute via a OBD Adapter and Bimmerlink.
Each drive gives me ~6k individual measurements with 10 values each.
I get my total fuel consumption in µl but want it in ml.
I just add a row with the function "x*10^-3"
There is probably a way to convert all the numbers in a column, but I couldn't find it.
Additionally I want to know the instant consumption so I add a row with the function "x2-x1"

 

[Bento.Box]

That's because Excel is not a DBMS in any way shape or form! It's far more versatile in a lot of ways and easier to use, but it's no DB.

Millions of users and managers world wide would disagree

 

[bobcomer]

Millions of users and managers world wide would disagree

And I'd still disagree with them. That said, Excel is extremely useful for a LOT of people, including me, and analyzing data is one of the things that it does well! Just don't expect it to be fast at it. There's a big tradeoff between usability and performance.

 

[Paradoxally]

Millions of users and managers world wide would disagree

They're using it wrong then.

The real reason is: they don't know how to use anything else.

Heck, I've had clients who stored passwords and other credentials in Excel when a password manager is what they needed.

 

[MacCheetah3]

And I'd still disagree with them. That said, Excel is extremely useful for a LOT of people, including me, and analyzing data is one of the things that it does well! Just don't expect it to be fast at it. There's a big tradeoff between usability and performance.

They're using it wrong then.

The real reason is: they don't know how to use anything else.

Heck, I've had clients who stored passwords and other credentials in Excel when a password manager is what they needed.

Yep. Spreadsheets are meant for calculating and depiction/analysis of short/condensed datasets (e.g., monthly expenses, quarterly sales). Ahem… “Workbook” They are not a DB.

P.S. Admittedly, I have used them as temporary, simple DB/log.

 

[Bento.Box]

They're using it wrong then.

Exactly

The real reason is: they don't know how to use anything else.

Not really. They are usually told by their coworkers, employees and consultants and just ignore it.

Heck, I've had clients who stored passwords and other credentials in Excel when a password manager is what they needed.

My current client officially doesn’t want password managers to be used despite requiring a dozen or so SSO accounts plus a further number of local accounts.

 

[Bento.Box]

(e.g., monthly expenses, quarterly sales). Ahem… “Workbook” They are not a DB.

There are things like SAP for analysing quarterly sales.

There's a big tradeoff between usability and performance.

I personally don’t find excel very usable. Due to the copy/paste issues it breaks easily, often yielding broken data. Beginners often insert special characters or whitespace where it doesn’t belong.
Especially when working as a team on the same set of excel files, frequent deadlocks occur when people open several files of the same set, but not all of them, so they need to figure out who has what open and who will defer his task in order to proceed.

It‘s like IT from the stone age. I always laugh when it happens.

 

[bobcomer]

It‘s like IT from the stone age. I always laugh when it happens.

It's more like non-IT people getting the job done when their IT department fails them. (And I'm in IT! But I don't laugh at all when they're just trying to do their jobs.)

 

[Bento.Box]

It's more like non-IT people getting the job done when their IT department fails them. (And I'm in IT! But I don't laugh at all when they're just trying to do their jobs.)

Oh, they were all IT people. It‘s usually management that fails them. And yes, internal IT as well because they are underfunded and the company is built to cater them rather than them enabling the employees and contractors to do their work.

That’s how you end up with windows workstations, strange keyboard layouts and ms excel that nobody wants.

It‘s always good to have a healthy amount of Humor dealing with corporate enterprises

 

[MacCheetah3]

There are things like SAP for analysing quarterly sales.

Indeed, other options exist. For example:

What Is SQL Server Reporting Services? - SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS)

Learn how to create, deploy, and manage reports by using SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) to deliver data insights through paginated reports to web portals.

learn.microsoft.com

Microsoft Report Builder in SQL Server - Microsoft Report Builder & Power BI Report Builder

Microsoft Report Builder is a tool for authoring paginated reports for SQL Server Reporting Services and Power BI Report Server. To create a report, you specify data to retrieve, where to get it, and how to display it.

learn.microsoft.com

Or stepping back, closer on subject:

Use Microsoft Query to retrieve external data - Microsoft Support

You can use Microsoft Query to retrieve data from external sources.

support.microsoft.com

You can use Microsoft Query to retrieve data from external sources. By using Microsoft Query to retrieve data from your corporate databases and files, you don't have to retype the data that you want to analyze in Excel. You can also refresh your Excel reports and summaries automatically from the original source database whenever the database is updated with new information.

What @jchurchill had mentioned but vice-versa.