NotchMindWhen your fans spin up or the Mac feels slow, the first question is what’s using the CPU. Activity Monitor has the answer, but there are quicker ways to keep watch.
Activity Monitor in the Dock
Activity Monitor can turn its Dock icon into a live graph:
- Open Activity Monitor (in Applications → Utilities).
- Choose View → Dock Icon → Show CPU Usage (or CPU History, Network or Disk).
- Keep it running; the Dock icon shows usage live.
To find the culprit, sort the CPU tab by % CPU.
In the menu bar
Menu bar apps put numbers next to the clock:
- Stats is free and open source, with CPU, GPU, memory, disk, network and battery modules.
- iStat Menus is a long-standing paid app with detailed graphs and sensors.
In the notch
NotchMind, which I make, has a Stats page on its Home with live CPU and memory graphs. Swipe to it when you want to check, and it’s out of the way when you don’t. You choose which graphs to show and how often they update. See CPU and memory graphs in the notch.
What counts as high?
Short spikes are normal while apps open or compile. Sustained high CPU from one app you’re not using is worth a look: quit and reopen it. If memory is the issue, Activity Monitor’s Memory tab shows Memory Pressure: green is fine, yellow and red mean your Mac is short of memory.