What is kernel task (0) and why does it hog so much RAM?!?

[jai bautista]

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Greetings fellow Philmuggers!

Just want to ask if anyone's familiar with kernel task (0) and why is it consuming so much RAM relative to other OS X apps. According to Activity Monitor, it's got around 600MB of my 8GB RAM. Also, I can't quit the process so it just continues eating precious RAM; the situation becomes more problematic when I'm running Parallels since it corners RAM that I could have used to keep the MBP running in tip-top shape.

A quick search in the forum reveals a similar query made years ago, but no one answered it definitively. I also tried looking for answers in various Apple forums but everyone's still stuck with the problem.

Does having a RAM-hungry kernel task (0) signal an existing hardware problem or point towards an impending one?

Thanks a lot in advance!

[briareos]

Short answer: kernel_task is the OS's heart and soul.

Long anwer: Kernel_task taking up RAM in OS X | MacFixIt - CNET Reviews

[chizbol]

Take note too that OSX use ram differently. Think of it as percentage, say 10% if you have 4gb ram it will use 400mb, if you had 8gb, it would use 800mb.

I think it is different for apps tho.

[jai bautista]

@briareos & @chizbol

Thanks a lot!