Is your Macbook dragging to a halt? Mine was too! Have you checked your Activity Monitor? If you have, you’ve probably noticed your Kernel_Task is hogging your CPU% somewhere in the HUNDREDS!!!

Recently, my MBP (2011 Late Model running macOS El Capitan) had become nearly impossible to use with Logic Pro X, which normally runs great. But lately, I couldn’t even run a SINGLE virtual instrument (using no plugins on the entire project) without getting unbearable amounts of clicks, pops and overload messages. Finally, using Activity Monitor, (User>Home>Application>Activity Monitor) I realized it was my Kernel_Task, and it was showing as much as 600% CPU!

So I searched all over the internet, looking for a simple fix. I tried resetting the PRAM and the SMC multiple times, (and even in different orders) but that wouldn’t work. Nothing seemed to help!

Then I found Viktor’s Petersson’s blog. I was originally hesitant because the instructions seemed a bit confusing and I didn’t want to risk damaging my system while also failing to fix the kernel_task issue. However, I managed to figure it all out and do everything in under 15 minutes. I’ll try to simplify those directions for you here:

Boot up the system in Recovery Mode (Cmd+R on boot) . Start a Terminal window and run: csrutil disable



. Start a Terminal window and run: Reboot the system as normal.

Find your Mac’s model number by going to Apple>About This Mac>Overview>System Report and look for “Model Identifier” .

and look for . Now, locate .plist file located here:

HD/System/Library/Extensions/IOPlatformPluginFamily.kext/

(Right-Click to Show Package Contents)

(You have to Right-Click the IOPPlatformPluginFamily.kext file and select “Show Package Contents”.)



Contents/PlugIns/ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin.kext/(Right-Click to Show Package Contents/Resources

(Again, Right-Click the ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin.kext file and select ‘Show Package Contents”.)



(Next, in the Resources folder, locate and move corresponding .plist file to a safe backup location (USB thumb drive, external drive etc.)



(You have to Right-Click the IOPPlatformPluginFamily.kext file and select “Show Package Contents”.) (Again, Right-Click the ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin.kext file and select ‘Show Package Contents”.) (Next, in the Resources folder, locate and corresponding .plist file to a safe backup location (USB thumb drive, external drive etc.) Reboot the system again into Recovery Mode. Open another Terminal window and re-enable your SIP by running: csrutil enable



Reboot the system as normal.

That’s it. You’re done! And now, you’re kernel_task will still run, but it shouldn’t get any higher than 30% MAX. Generally, I fluctuate between about 8-12%.

If you’re that intimidated by this process, maybe it’s better you don’t mess with it. But I’d be glad to help anyone having trouble. I know how aggravating kernel_task can be! And it’s probably worth your time to try this anyway if your computer’s already that bad. And I’m sure it probably is, or you wouldn’t still be reading. So again, e-mail me if you have any questions: (LIFEWHYZ@GMAIL.COM)

Or, I’m sure you could also ask Viktor himself. I’ll leave the link to his page below.*

It’s also worth mentioning that, in addition to editing the .plist file, I’m now using a free app to control my fans called “Macs Fan Control” available here: https://www.crystalidea.com/macs-fan-control

You may not need to take this extra step, but that’s a topic worth discussing in another post. However I can tell you this; in addition to controlling your Mac’s core temps, this app comes in handy when you need to silence noisy fans during a recording session.

But Viktor Pertersson’s fix worked for me, and it’s made my work a pleasure once again! Thank you Viktor. I hope this works for everyone reading this. Again, if you have any questions, send me an e-mail: LIFEWHYZ@gmail.com

Note*

This fix is for El Capitan. But I’ve also included links for both macOS Yosemite and Sierra.

Yosemite:

http://blog.viktorpetersson.com/post/100148585299/how-to-fix-kerneltask-cpu-usage-on-yosemite

Sierra:

http://blog.viktorpetersson.com/post/151192357764/how-to-fix-kerneltask-cpu-usage-on-macos-sierra

If you found this post useful or have any other topics you’d like to see discussed in the future, I can be contacted via e-mail here: LIFEWHYZ@gmail.com