- Activity Monitor allows you to view real-time CPU, memory, network, disk, and power usage.
- Diagnostics and performance tests can be run through Bus Terminal o apps specialized ones like Geekbench or Blackmagic.
- macOS offers native tools to analyze processes, performance of hardware and control background apps.
- It is essential to learn how to interpret system data to maintain the Mac in good condition and extend its useful life.
If your Mac starts to run slowly, runs hotter than usual, or you simply want to know which processes are running or how resources are being allocated, you've come to the right place. In this definitive guide, we explain how you can monitor CPU, RAM, network, disk, and even battery usage in macOS using the system's own tools and other advanced options.
macOS offers multiple ways to analyze your computer's performance, both through Activity Monitor and with external tools or even with the terminal. In addition, knowing how to interpret this information not only allows you to solve slowness problems, but also helps prevent future failures and prolong the life of your Mac, especially if you use a MacBook where the battery and storage internal are more delicate.
Monitor resource usage on macOS with Activity Monitor
One of the most powerful—yet underrated—tools included with macOS is the Activity Monitor. This app, similar to Task Manager de Windows, allows you to see everything that is running on the system, both visibly and in the background. From here you can control the usage of CPU, the memory, Energy, disco y NETWORK.
To open Activity Monitor, you can do so in several ways:
- From the Finder, go to Applications> Utilities and double-click Activity Monitor.
- Press Command + Space To open Spotlight, type “Activity Monitor” and press Enter.
- Launch the Dock and visually search for the icon if you have previously pinned it.
Once opened, you'll find several tabs at the top that allow you to navigate between different monitoring types. Each one offers specific data about system components, and it's essential to understand what each one indicates in order to interpret it correctly.
Analyzing the CPU from Activity Monitor
The eyelash CPU It shows you in real time how much processor resources are being used by each app or process. You can sort the results by CPU% to see which tasks consume the most resources.
Additionally, double-clicking a process opens a new window with additional technical details such as threads used, statistics, and open files. This is useful for detecting suspicious processes or tasks that could be slowing down your Mac.
Do you notice your Mac getting hot or hearing the fan constantly? An app is most likely using more CPU than intended. Check this tab and consider closing it from here or force quitting it if it's not responding properly.
Checking RAM on macOS
In the Conference proceedings, you will find in detail the consumption of RAM by each process and a lower part with a graph of memory pressure.
This visual indicator is very intuitive:
- Green: everything is under control.
- Yellow: RAM starts to become saturated.
- Red: high pressure, the system starts to resort to the disk (swap).
In this section, you can also view information such as:
- Physical memory: Total available RAM.
- used memory: includes apps, wired (system) and compressed.
- Cached files: to speed up repeated access.
- Swap used: space of the SSD used as temporary extra memory.
Special attention if you use a Mac with 8 GB of RAM or less. Seeing high swap values can mean you're overusing the SSD, which is affecting its lifespan.
Checking network usage on macOS
Another important tab in the Activity Monitor is the RedHere you can see the amount of data sent and received by each process or app in real time.
Why is this useful? If you notice that your connection is slow or your mobile data limit is running out quickly (when sharing internet from the iPhone, for example), you can identify if any app is downloading information without your knowledge.
Sort by columns like Bytes Sent o Bytes Received to find the culprit. As before, you can select the process and close it if you don't really need that active transfer.
Power Usage: Optimize your MacBook's battery
In the case of portable, like the MacBook Air or Pro, power consumption becomes crucial. That's why the tab Sustainable Activity Monitor tells you how much battery each app consumes.
- Energy impact: instantaneous measure of resource consumption.
- Energy in 12 hours: recent historical average consumption.
Is your battery lasting less than expected? This view can help you identify apps that consume a lot of power in the background. Quitting them can dramatically extend your battery life.
System Diagnostics from Terminal
If you feel comfortable using commandsYou can get even more information from Terminal. One of the most powerful ways is to generate a full system report with this command:
sudo sysdiagnose -f ~/Desktop/This will create a package with technical information that you can review or send to Apple Support if needed. You can also use commands like:
- top: lists the running processes in real time.
- top -o cpu: sorts them by CPU usage.
- top-o size: sorts them by memory usage.
- ps to: shows all system processes.
These options, although more technical, are very useful for advanced users or for keeping track of recurring failures.
Run hardware diagnostics with Apple Diagnostics
Apple includes a built-in tool on all of its computers called Apple DiagnosticsThis allows you to check the status of your computer and identify hardware issues such as battery, disk, RAM, GPU, or other failures.
The method varies depending on the model (Intel or Apple Silicon). For Apple Silicon:
- Shut down your Mac and disconnect external devices.
- Press and hold the power button until you see the Options.
- press Command + D.
- The system will display the results and any errors detected.
Some common codes:
- ADP000: everything correct, no problems.
- PPR001: possible processor failure.
- PPT001: : battery not detected.
- NDD001: hardware error USB.
Saving these codes is useful if you need to contact Apple Support later.
Test CPU, RAM, disk, and GPU performance
To go further, there are third-party applications that allow you to simulate extreme load scenarios on each component. Some of the most well-known are:
Geekbench
This app performs performance tests of CPU (single and multiple cores) y GPU.
- Simulates real tasks such as rendering PDF, browsing or editing documents.
- Allows you to compare results with other Macs or laptops on the market.
- Ideal for knowing if your equipment is performing as expected.
It can be downloaded from the App Store and offers a limited free version.
Blackmagic Disk Speed Test
This free tool allows you to check the read and write speed of internal storage from your Mac.
Very useful if you suspect your SSD is failing or if you notice slowness when saving or opening large files, such as videos or databases.
Statistics
A small app that integrates into the menu bar and displays the behavior of all the system's sensors in real time:
- CPU, GPU, RAM.
- Temperature, voltage, energy consumption.
- Network or battery activity.
It allows you to customize which metrics to display and is quite lightweight. Ideal for users who want to keep a constant eye on performance without opening Activity Monitor.
NovaBench
Another free solution that performs rapid tests of CPU, GPU, disk and RAM and compare the results with other users. Very useful if you want to know how well your Mac performs compared to similar models.
Other ways to see what's running on your Mac
Not everything happens in Activity Monitor. Here are some additional tips to help you find out which processes are active or slowing down your Mac:
- Force quit apps: Command + Option + Esc opens a window where you can close frozen or open applications.
- Application switcher: By pressing Command + Tab you can see which apps are currently open.
- Check the Dock: Open apps have a dot underneath.
How much memory do you really need on a Mac?
A big question that many people ask themselves. Although macOS manages memory well, if you have a Mac with 8 GB of RAM, it's easy to reach the saturation point with several tasks open (e.g.: browser with many tabs + video editing + background apps).
In those cases, you will see high values of swap and possibly memory pressure in the red. While the system will still run, you'll be putting a strain on the SSD and the system will become slow. With 16 GB there is much more scope, even for professional work.
If you already have 8GB and need to improve performance, consider closing unnecessary apps, restarting occasionally, or using optimization apps like CleanMyMac to monitor background items.
Regularly monitoring this data not only improves the daily experience but also extends the device's lifespan. Using tools like Activity Monitor, Terminal, or complementary apps, it's possible to identify what's consuming resources in real time and correct or anticipate them.
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