Watch CPU, memory and temperature from the menu bar
Activity Monitor tells you what is happening now; Stats keeps the numbers visible all the time.
Works on: macOS Monterey 12 and later · checked on macOS Golden Gate 27
Published: · Source: Genius Manu
macOS already ships with Activity Monitor, in Applications → Utilities. It lists every process with its CPU, memory, energy, disk and network use, and it is the right tool when the fans spin up and you want to know why. Sort by % CPU and the culprit is usually at the top. The Memory tab has the number that actually matters, Memory Pressure: green means you are fine regardless of how full the bar looks.
What Activity Monitor will not do is stay out of the way. For a permanent readout, Stats is a free, open-source app that puts CPU, GPU, memory, disk, network and sensor readings straight in the menu bar, and lets you choose which of them to show and how. It needs macOS Monterey 12 or later.
Install it with Homebrew if you have it:
brew install statsEither way, resist reading too much into a busy CPU. A Mac that is briefly at 100% while it indexes or exports is working, not struggling.
Apps mentioned
- Stats Free
Open-source system monitor for the menu bar.
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