macosactivity-monitor

Activity Monitor, what does %CPU represent exactly?

Here is what I see in MacOS Activity Monitor, note %CPU column.

First item (Xcode process) shows 122.4 value. Any idea what it represents? If it is 122.4% then percent of what exactly?

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Solution

  • The %Cpu usually represents the % usage of a single core on your processor. If you have a quad-core, you have a total usage possibility of 400%.

    Your first process in your list has 28 threads spread accross more than one core which are using more execution than a full single core.