MacOS Device Running Slowly? Try Restarting.

MacOS devices have a well-deserved reputation for power efficiency. Laptops, especially with recent model Apple Silicon chips, can run for up to 18 hours on a single charge, and devices in sleep mode use a minimum of power. While this is great for convenience, it can potentially lure users into a fall sense of security where they rarely fully restart devices.

The problem comes down to a bottleneck in MacOS where the usage of system resources such as memory and processing power accumulates the longer a device goes without fully restarting. One particular culprit is kernel_task, a process that runs baseline tasks in the background on MacOS, which is notorious for becoming a resource hog the longer a device is running. 

Restarting your device can flush your system’s memory, system caches, and stop extraneous processes, giving it a performance boost.

If you think your device isn’t running as smoothly as it once did, a quick check can let you know when it’s time to restart: Simply hit the Space and Command keys to bring up Mac OS Spotlight, type in Activity Monitor, and check to see which applications are running and how resource-intensive they are. If kernel_task or other processes are taking up gigabytes of memory and an incongruous percentage of your CPU, it’s time to reboot.

Not sure if your computer’s performance is dragging down your productivity? Does rebooting not seem to fix a sluggish device? Nodal can help! Contact us today.