Macs are powerful devices, and with the introduction of the custom Apple silicon M1 Macs and MacBooks, it has become more imperative that you manage the background apps and monitor power consumption.
If you are looking for a good hard drive speed test on Mac, feel free to use Blackmagic Disk Speed Test. It is free to download from the App Store, so take advantage of this tool whenever you need it. Geekbench 5 is a useful app for measuring the CPU performance and memory speed on your Mac. Download Internet Speed Monitor PC for free at BrowserCam. Published Internet Speed Monitor for Android operating system mobile devices, but it is possible to download and install Internet Speed Monitor for PC or Computer with operating systems such as Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10 and Mac.
Don’t get us wrong, the M1 SOC is fast and is the fastest of the chips that we’ve ever seen, but that doesn’t mean that you should leave everything to the computer and not do anything as it will consistently deliver poor results and keep on getting slower over time. However, using a system monitor brings a lot of benefits, and they are:
Open activity monitor in the same way as said above. Click the application which causes problems. Click the X button from the Activity monitor window. Tap quit for the second time and confirm it. You can also force quit the mac. Also Read: MacOs Catalina vs MacOS mojave. How to find mac address on mac. In fact, most Mac internal screens can not change refresh rates for those built-in displays, though that is changing with some of the Pro models. How to Change the Refresh Rate on MacBook Pro Display. For the latest MacBook Pro 16″ and newer models, and the Apple Pro XDR display, you can adjust the Mac refresh rate as follows. A URL Monitor window, shown below, lets you schedule repeating ping or http download tests and graphs the ongoing series. A URL Monitor Window: You can monitor as many devices simultaneously as you like. Just enter your URL or IP# and start, or customize a large number of parameters to your heart’s content.
- In-depth monitoring of apps and processes.
- Maintaining a smooth user experience.
- Helps terminate unresponsive and unwanted tasks and applications.
Are you currently taking full advantage of all the techy help you can get?
If you are not sure, I’m glad you are here. As a Mac geek, I have been testing some system monitoring tools and I’m happy to share my favorites with you.
Quick jump to…
Let’s start with the standard: Activity Monitor
Your Mac comes with a built-in system monitoring application known as Activity Monitor. It is excellent for closing unresponsive applications and seeing real-time CPU, Network, Disk status or Energy usage. So, how do you access the Activity Monitor? – Follow the steps below to get the activity monitor running for you.
- Firstly, Go to your “Applications” folder and then to the “Utility” folder.
- Then double-click on the “Activity Monitor”, which will bring up a window.
- This is the Activity Monitor app, and here you’ll see five tabs and a list of entries that changes every few seconds. The Tabs contain the following information – CPU, Memory, Energy, Disk Usage and Network.
Note: The Activity Monitor shows you real-time usage and power consumption. It also allows you to close and terminate all unresponsive tasks or tasks, hogging up too much performance.
Is the built-in Activity Monitor good enough?
The Activity Monitor is a decent app from Apple and is ideally suited to beginners. However, if you want to have extra control over what you’re doing and the processes running, you would have to opt for the third-party solutions listed below.
The Activity monitor helps you by displaying the main processes and the percentage load on the CPU and GPU. It can also force-quit any unresponsive application and help recover your Mac to a normal running state. However, there are many features and information that it misses or hides due to Apple’s clutter-free and simple design idealogy. Hence, third-party applications are better alternatives for the program.
Therefore, the built-in Activity is popular with beginners and casual users, while professionals use 3rd-party apps with more functionality and readily available data.
Try a better monitor: iStat Menus
Pricing: Free for seven days and then a $9.99 per month Setapp subscription, or you can purchase it for $14.15 and can be upgraded for $11.79 (includes six months of weather data)
iStat Menus is genuinely outstanding and deliver some of the best user experience possible. When it boils down to which app provides a better and robust customizable app experience, then the iStat menu shines the brightest and helps you monitor the system performance of your Mac. It works with recognizing all apps and integrating the charts in the menu bar on top of your Mac to access the numbers quickly. It is also lightweight and runs in the background with zero to no performance hit.
You can get started using the app by downloading and installing the app from the link above. After you’re done installing, you will be greeted with a pop-up window for all the settings and customizations that you can do. However, the main feature of monitoring will help you readily keep track of your Mac’s performance and allow you to see if anything is hindering it or not. Here is the complete list of items that iStat Menus keep tracks of and help monitor:
- Disk Usage
- Memory Consumption and Availability
- CPU and GPU performance
- Battery and Power Information
- Displaying data such as Weather, Network information and Sensor state
How can you use iStat Menus to manage processes?
iStat Menus has a straightforward UI that can help you manage operations and terminate unresponsive tasks or background running apps that hog up performance and memory. In addition, we use it to check the background apps and maintain all the processes that impact the performance. This helps us optimizing and planning our workflow and better improve the overall UI experience.
It also has a comprehensive graph page that helps us monitor the total time spent working and gaming, and this data helps me out by analyzing and taking out time for other day to day stuff. Finally, the weather information panel that we’ll discuss shortly works excellent to help us plan our day and move forward with our day.
You can also do this and enable the settings to make it more productive by:
- Go into the app and look for the CPU and GPU tab on the left-hand side of your screen.
- Click on the tab and now look for ‘Processes’ and clear any unwanted task or process you want to.
Note: You can also visit the other tabs. We recommend you check out the Memory tab to quickly and efficiently manage all the different processes and apps that can limit your performance by staying in memory.
Customization Options
iStat Menus use a menu bar integration method to display all the information. This can lead to problems such as a cluttered menu bar or accessibility concerns. However, you can lay these concerns to rest as iStat Menus is highly customizable. You can choose what to display on the menu bar and what to hide on the menu bar. You also have the option to hide the icons from your menu bar temporarily and customize the update frequency so that the icons aren’t disturbing.
It also allows the app’s accent colours and personalizes the icons according to your liking and preferences. The total amount of customizations it provides is immense, and you can change the menu bar colours, borders, and even the slightest of details in the shade of the drop-down that highlights the graphs and other information. The interface highlights how changing the colours will affect the app and the menu bar, and with this much customization at hand, iStat Menus becomes the go-to option for a distraction-free and clean activity-monitoring app.
Performance Monitoring
As we have already discussed, the CPU and GPU tab helps you manage your processes and activities. Finally, the memory tab enables you to manage RAM consumption to improve performance and responsiveness all around the UI.
However, this is the basic that iStat Menus is capable of. iStat Menus can also display various graphs and infographics of your workload so that you can manage and learn about your usage and ample insight on how your apps behave. The app is also quite a haven for developers and can help them check and stress test their app performance and requirements on the Mac.
Notifications and Weather Information
Finally, iStat Menus also provides many customization options for what notifications you want to receive. The notification feature allows you to have reports every time your Mac hits a specific condition or issue. For example, it helps you by notifying if your Mac heats up, overuses the CPU, or saturates the memory with background apps.
It also features a built-in weather information widget to help you monitor your area’s current and upcoming weather condition. However, some of the weather tool features are locked behind a paid upgrade which is a bummer considering it is handy. The module displays the daily forecast along with the maximum and minimum temperature based on your preferred units. Oh, and if you are a weather buff, you also get to see the dew point, wind’s speed and direction.
Oh, and the cherry on the cake is that the custom notifications settings and preferences also work with the weather module, which means if you are working on your Mac and the weather suddenly turns grey and stormy, a message pops up right away notifying you of the condition.
Pros and Cons of using iStat Menus
Pros
- It is feature-rich and can help you monitor a lot of stuff at once
- It has a menu integration system that displays data directly on every screen
- You can also set custom notifications, and it has a lot of customization settings for personalization
Cons
- The Pro package can get a little pricy
- Weather Information and Notifications can feel a little cluttered
- The design can feel a little dated and doesn’t fit in with the new macOS Big Sur menu icon set
In Short, iStat Menus is the perfect app if you want to monitor all your process activity and keep your device optimized for best performance at all times. In addition, it helps save battery and improves responsiveness across the UI.
Also great: iStatistica Pro for Mac
Pricing: Free – Trial Version with limited features, $5.99 – Full Package
iStatistica Pro is an excellent alternative for iStat Menus, but it lacks the customization options that iStat Menus provide. It also includes a widget and a status bar menu that comes in handly while displaying a lot of information at once. So, if you don’t need the customization settings and don’t mind downloading a plugin for additional features, then, by all means, get iStatistica Pro.
The full version for iStatistica Pro has a lot of features and can help you manage the following:
- A complete System Monitor dashboard
- Bluetooth device battery information
- Sensors and Fans data
- Network activity monitoring
- Remote access through your iPhone
- Widgets and instant notifications
How can you use iStatistica Pro to manage processes?
iStatistica Pro has many monitoring features to help you manage your apps to the fans on your Mac. So, how do you so?
- Well, Firstly, you need to download and install the app
- Secondly, you would be greeted with a homepage that would allow you to access all your data on a single screen
Note: You can access all the device information on a single screen which can be a little clunky, but after a bit of experience, you would easily be able to navigate the entire UI and understand all the information.
App Management
App Management is simple and straightforward, with the main features directly being listed on the app’s home page. Here you can manage all the settings and even kill misbehaving or performance hogging apps running in the foreground or the background. You also get a detailed analysis report for all the performance hits and CPU and Memory utilization. Finally, it has graphs and other information related to battery and temperature that can help you better analyze and monitor your Mac apps. We also enjoy the fact that you can manage all the tasks under the same section, and it proves helpful in killing apps and maintain good performance overall. Oh, and did we mention it also has fan controls and temperature monitoring capabilities for all the CPU cores, GPU and other inbuilt hardware.
Alerts and Notifications
Alert and Notifications are a big part of monitoring and getting crucial information right at your fingertips, and iStatistica Pro has a robust alert management system that allows you to get notifications regarding the CPU utilization limit and memory utilization limit instantly notify you if your device hits that threshold. Finally, you also get a companion app for your iPhone, and it lets you remotely access all the monitoring data right on your phone. It also has webhook commands and additional notification plugins, but it can get a little confusing for beginners, so try that when you get comfortable using the app.
Widgets
Widgets are a big thing for macOS, and iStatistica makes full use of them. It has multiple widgets that go on your home screen and provide you with crucial information regarding app, CPU and memory utilization. It also helps track your storage data and network connectivity with download and upload speeds for the entire time you’re using your device. You can also add additional devices for monitoring, such as your Bluetooth connected Apple Watch and headphones for easier access and battery management on the home screen.
Pros and Cons of using iStatistica Pro
Pros
- Easy and seamless widget integration
- Powerful alerts and notification options
- A clubbed intuitive app management and data monitoring system
Cons
- The initial experience using the app may feel a little clunky
- Most features are locked behind a payment
Other alternatives
MenuBar Stats ($4.99) – MenuBar Stats helps you monitor the performance of your Mac in a clean, sleek and straightforward interface. It has been ‘completely re-written from the ground’ and comes with modules such as CPU, disk, network, Bluetooth, fan, and more. Each of these modules can be accessed front he menu bar and/or the notification center of your Mac OS.
TG Pro ($10) – TG Pro is a diagnostics app that works the best with monitoring temperature and fan data. However, it also has system monitoring capabilities with CPU, GPU, Battery and storage information that helps you maintain your device with ease. Finally, it is the only app on the list that can accurately display all the temperature information for the new M1 Macs, including any older gen models.
XRG for Mac (free) – Talking about open sources, XRG for Mac is a functional system monitor tool that you could try if you do want to monitor your Mac’s performance for free. The UI is complex and needs a lot of time to get used to, and it also looks like something straight out of the 2000s era. This app lets you monitor your CPU and GPU activity, memory usage, machine temperature, battery status, network activity, disk I/O, stock market data, and current weather.
App Tamer ($14.95) – helps you tame the apps that hog your CPU. It’s a lightweight menu bar utility with the ability to detect the average percentage of your processor(s) being used by each app, or access a graphical history or your CPU usage.
Monity ($4.99) – Monity is an excellent app for those who want infographics to work as a widget. It is available in the ‘Today View’ section of your macOS UI and can oversee various device hardware components. Monity does not have menu bars and displays information straight through the widget without cluttering your menubar workspace. The app comes in fifteen languages and can be purchased from the app store for $4.99.
coconutBattery3 ($12) – coconutBattery has been around the battery monitoring space since 2005 and does a fine job displaying the health of your Mac’s battery. It also comes with a companion app for your iPad and iPhone to track and manage their batteries as well. However, it is strictly a battery-monitoring app and cannot work as a fully functional activity manager.
SMART Utility ($25) – All new Macs come with faster SSDs with high data transfer speeds and fantastic read and write rates, sometimes leading to drive management issues. SMART Utility is built to keep track of the health of all your drives and to diagnose any problem that may arise. It can also get information such as drive temperature, capacity, and health, making it great for Disk Utility software.
MenuMeters (free) – Finally, taking a look at MenuMeters, which looks like a simple Aciitiivty manager application but can get seriously complex and feature-rich with use. It has unique features and customization options and details every activity and process with graphs and memory colours.
FAQs
iStat Menus vs iStatistica Pro?
iStat Menus is a great Activity Monitoring application, and compared to iStatistica Pro can be a lot feature-rich. So, we would recommend you to stick with iStat Menus as it is impressive with what it does and is lightweight enough not to be a problem with the performance. See the detailed comparison here.
Why is my MacBook Pro so hot?
There can be multiple reasons for your MacBook Pro getting so hot, but the primary one is that it’s being stressed with all the performance demands from applications and tasks. So, a quick fix is to use an Activity Monitoring app to identify the most demanding app and terminate it for your device to cool down and regain all the performance is lost.
What should the CPU usage percentage be for my Mac?
Mac Download Speed Monitors
There is no set rule for what CPU usage percentage should be good for your Mac, but anything over 80% usage should be a cause for concern, and generally, you should max out the CPU at around 70-80% load and not more.
How to fix kernel_task CPU usage on Big Sur?
kernel_task is a variety of low-level processes that allow your computer to work and is a part of macOS. It won’t generally concern you, but it can sometimes be the biggest culprit of slowing down your Mac with utilizing the CPU to the max. However, you can fix this by restarting your Mac and updating it to the latest software update available.
How to get CPU temperature for the new M1 Macs?
The new M1 Macs aren’t compatible with most apps for temperature monitoring, but TG Pro works perfectly. So, you can download TG Pro from the link above and monitor your M1 Mac without and compatibility issues.
Before you go
After spending over 20 years working with Macs, both old and new, there’s a premium tool I think would be useful to every Mac owner who is experiencing performance issues.
CleanMyMac X is highest rated all-round cleaning app, it can quickly diagnose and solve a whole plethora of common (but sometimes tedious to fix) issues at the click of a button. It also just happens to make it very easy to free up disk space on your Mac by identifying junk files and allowing you to get rid of them with a click, so Download CleanMyMac X to get your Mac back up to speed today.
This refresh rate test is designed to accurately measure your refresh rate of your display in Hertz (Hz). Wait at least 30 seconds for an accurate measurement. For best results, close other applications & other browser tabs first. The longer this test runs, the more accurate the refresh rate test becomes. SolarWinds Real-Time Bandwidth Monitor is one of those tools. This free bandwidth usage meter allows you to check server bandwidth usage in real-time and monitor multiple interfaces simultaneously. All bandwidth usage data is displayed visually via graphs to help you perform more critical analysis.
In the past 30 days over 12,985,506 people have used speed tests to see their download speeds, upload speeds, and ping. Press 'Start Test' below to get started testing your connection.
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Average Internet Speed Test Result in the US 2020-2021
In this chart we show the average download speed across all users who ran a speed test in the last 12 months.
Is My Internet Speed Test Result Fast Enough?
Our speed test tool is designed to help you understand how your internet connection performs on a daily basis. As you can see from the data above, internet speeds are improving across the country in 2021. For a more detailed comparison, you can also view average speed test results for internet providers in New York, Denver, Atlanta, and every other city in the U.S. by visiting our dedicated city data pages.
1-2 Mbps
At speeds below 2 Mbps, you will be very limited in terms of what you can do online.
1-2 Mbps is suitable for:
- Basic web browsing
- Checking email
- Single-user homes
2–10 Mbps
Speeds of 2–10 Mbps offer a bit more flexibility than the bottom end, but you’ll still be limited if you want to stream HD media or download large files.
2–10 Mbps is suitable for:
- Basic web browsing
- Streaming standard or HD content on one device at a time
- Single or two-user homes
10–25 Mbps
At the 10–25 Mbps level, you should have little to no trouble performing basic tasks online, as well as streaming HD content. Keep in mind that large families or users with many devices may still experience slower-than-expected performance. Using WiFi can also reduce your performance in this range.
10–25 Mbps is suitable for:
- Streaming HD content on one to two devices at a time
- Online gaming
- One to four-user homes
25+ Mbps
Speeds of around 25 Mbps should be sufficient for the average internet user. You can stream HD content on multiple devices, play online games, and handle medium/larger downloads with relative ease.
25+ Mbps speeds are suitable for:
- Streaming HD content on multiple devices or 4K content on one device at a time
- Playing online games and downloading medium-sized files
- Medium-sized families of two to six people
50+ Mbps
Speeds above 50 Mbps should be more than enough for the majority of internet users, regardless of the task at hand. You can stream HD or even 4K content with ease, use multiple devices at once, and download large files without prohibitive download times.
Speeds of 50 Mbps or more are suitable for:
- Heavy streaming or gaming households, 4K content
- Large families of power users
- Frequent large downloads
Why Run An Internet Speed Test?
For one, it could potentially save you some money.
Yes, really. You may be paying for more speed than you actually need, and these additional fees could be costing you month after month. Based on the information above, if you find that your internet speeds are higher than needed, we’d recommend reaching out to your ISP (Internet Service Provider) and switching to a lower-cost plan.
Then there’s the flipside; you may be paying for speeds you’re not actually getting. Running our internet speed test is the best way to determine if your provider is actually holding up their end of the bargain. If you test your connection multiple times and find that you aren’t getting what you’re paying for, we recommend reaching out to your ISP for help. This will often solve the issue, but not always.
Monitor Speed Test
Keep in mind that using WiFi tends to reduce performance. The speeds advertised by internet providers are based on the speed you get with a device wired directly to the router using an ethernet cable.
How To Run A Speed Test
Before you start the test, there are a few things you can do to ensure you get the most accurate results.
- Be sure to place the laptop, tablet or smartphone you are using as close to your router as possible. Distance, walls, plumbing and other factors can all have an effect on your results.
- Be sure to turn off any other devices that might be clogging your connection. This includes TV’s, streaming devices, and other computers around your home.
- On the device you are using for testing, be sure that you aren’t actively downloading any files or updates before beginning the test.
Understanding Your Internet Speed Test Results
In order to better understand your internet speed test, it is vital to know the difference between upload speed and download speed.
Upload Speed
Upload speed refers to how quickly your connection can send something (data, in this case) from your device to the wider internet. This number is often not the one heavily advertised by service providers online, and this is on purpose. In short, most activities online do not require high upload speeds. Some do, however, including Skype and other video chat services, online gaming, and large cloud storage applications like Dropbox and Google Drive.
Download Speed
Download speed refers to how quickly your connection can retrieve data from a website or server online. Almost all activities require a certain amount of download speed, so this is the main number you’ll want to pay attention to when deciding how much internet speed you need. Streaming multiple TV shows or movies at the same time (especially 4K media) and downloading large files are both examples of activities that require higher download speeds than average.
How Much Internet Speed Do I Really Need?
Determining how much internet speed you actually need is really a matter of how you use the internet on a daily basis. For instance, a power user in a large family who all frequently stream movies and shows, play games, and download large files is going to need a higher download speed to accommodate them. Meanwhile, someone living in a one or two-person apartment who just checks email and occasionally watches a show on Netflix will need far less.
Lcd Monitor Speed Test
For more information, be sure to check out our guide to determining how much internet speed you need.
How Does An Internet Speed Test Work?
Though there are a variety of different internet speed tests available online, they all essentially operate in the same basic way. In essence, when you begin the test, our tool will upload a set of files from your network to the test server nearest your location. It will then perform the same test in reverse, downloading the set of files from the server instead. Throughout the process, our tool measures a variety of data points, including the speeds of both your upload and download.
Despite how useful this information can be, you will find that the speeds you see reported will almost always be a bit lower than you might have expected. These variations are to be expected, and for the most accurate results, we recommend running the test 3-4 times back to back to get a solid average.
Speed Test Terms: How To Understand Your Results
| Bits | Bits are foundational units of measurement for digital data. These are the ones and zeroes that make up binary code. For reference, there are 1,000 bits in a single Kilobit (Kb). There are 1 million bits in a Megabit (Mb). There are 1 billion bits in a Gigabit (Gb). |
| Bytes | A byte is a common unit of measurement for determining how large a particular piece of data is. Each byte contains 8 bits. Since bits are such a small unit of measurement, it makes more sense to use bytes when discussing file sizes. For example, there are 1,000 bytes in a single Kilobyte (KB). There are 1 million bytes in a Megabyte (MB). There are 1 billion bytes in a Gigabyte (GB). |
| Transfer Rate | Simply put, transfer rate refers to how quickly data is transferred between two or more devices. This can be done through the internet, or locally, such as transferring photos between a flash drive and your computer’s local storage. Transfer rates are commonly described using a bits-per-second measurement. |
| Kbps | Kilobits per second. Only the slowest connections are measured this way. |
| Mbps | Megabits per second. The most common unit of measurement for modern internet connections. |
| Gbps | Gigabits per second. Faster connections are measured this way. |
| GBps | Gigabytes per second. No currently operating consumer networks utilize this measurement. |
| Bandwidth | You can think of bandwidth as the total capacity a given network has in terms of data. ISP’s commonly advertise the best case scenario bandwidth when showing the speeds offered in their internet plans. For example, if a provider lists a download speed of 25 Mbps, this figure is based on the full capacity (bandwidth) of the company’s network. During certain times of peak traffic, you may experience slower speeds. |
| Throughput | Throughput is very similar to bandwidth, in that it is a measurement of the amount of data that passes from one point to another within a certain amount of time. Unlike bandwidth, however, this is a measurement of volume, not speed. |
| Ping | Ping simply refers to a signal that is sent from a given device to a server, and back again. You will usually see this represented as a “ping rate,” which simply measures how much time passes during the process of sending the signal and receiving it again. This measurement is reflected as latency on a network. |
| Latency | Often referred to as “lag,” latency is a description of the time it takes to send a ping to a given server and receive it back at your local device again. |
Does A Slow Speed Test Mean I’m Being Throttled?
Not necessarily. There are many reasons why you may not be getting the results you expected from your speed test. Once again, make sure you run the test multiple times to rule out any random dips in speed. Also be sure to double check that no one else is using their device on your network when you run the test. Even a single smartphone can measurably alter your results if it is downloading a large update or streaming content at the same time as your speed test.
If you’ve ruled out the above and are concerned that you aren’t getting the speeds you’re paying for, read this: How To Tell If Your Internet Is Being Throttled.
What To Do If Your Speed Test Is Much Slower Than Expected
Our first recommendation is always to contact your service provider directly for help. They will be able to alert you to any network outages or other issues in your area, and can often troubleshoot your individual connection over the phone or via a live chat service.
Beyond this, if you can’t get immediate help, try using an ethernet cable to connect your computer to the router directly, if possible. If this doesn’t help, there is almost certainly something wrong with your connection on the provider’s side. If it does help, you may be experiencing signal issues with your WiFi.
Internet Traffic Monitor Mac
How can I test my internet provider’s speed?
Mac Os Show Network Speed
You can check the download and upload speeds of your ISP by using their corresponding link below: