Beacon tips & how-to guides
Short, focused walk-throughs — each one solves a single task in Beacon, so you can land on a question and leave with an answer.
-
Better alternatives to Activity Monitor on Mac Read ›
Activity Monitor is fine for a one-off check, but it's a window you have to keep finding. Here are faster, ambient ways to see what your Mac is doing.
-
Is your Apple Silicon Mac thermal-throttling? Read ›
Apple Silicon throttles less than Intel, but it still throttles. Here's how to tell — and what it costs you when it happens.
-
Comparing Mac system monitors (iStat, MenuMeters, Beacon, etc.) Read ›
An honest look at the main menubar system monitors for macOS in 2026 — what each does well, what's frustrating, and how to pick.
-
See CPU usage in your Mac menubar Read ›
How to keep an always-visible CPU readout in your menu bar, without leaving Activity Monitor open in the corner of every Space.
-
Monitor disk I/O on Mac Read ›
Read and write throughput, IOPS, and per-process disk activity on macOS — using iostat, Activity Monitor, fs_usage, or a menubar monitor.
-
Find the process using the most CPU on Mac Read ›
Fans spinning, lap getting warm — here's how to find the CPU hog on macOS using Activity Monitor, the top command, or a menu bar monitor.
-
Find the process using the most RAM on Mac Read ›
Your Mac is swapping and slow. Here's how to find the memory hog in seconds — with Activity Monitor, Terminal, or a menubar monitor.
-
Track GPU usage on a Mac with Apple Silicon Read ›
How to see live GPU utilisation on M-series Macs — the metric Activity Monitor stubbornly refuses to put anywhere obvious.
-
Watch GPU usage on a Mac in real time Read ›
Apple Silicon and Intel Macs both have GPUs you can't see in Activity Monitor. Here's how to read live GPU load on macOS.
-
How to kill a runaway process on Mac Read ›
When an app pegs your CPU or eats all your RAM, you need to kill it fast. Here are the GUI and Terminal ways, plus when to use each.
-
Watch your Apple Silicon Mac's live power draw Read ›
Live wattage for the CPU, GPU, and whole package on M-series Macs — via powermetrics or a menubar readout.
-
M1, M2, M3 fan noise — what's normal, what's not Read ›
Apple Silicon Macs run cool, so fan noise is rare. When it happens, it's worth understanding — here's what's normal and what to investigate.
-
Find your Mac's battery cycle count and health Read ›
Check your MacBook's battery cycle count, max capacity, and overall health — and what the numbers actually mean.
-
Why is my Mac battery draining so fast? Read ›
Find what's eating your MacBook battery — background processes, screen brightness, an external display, or a chip that's stuck in a high-power state.
-
Track your Mac's CPU usage over time Read ›
Activity Monitor only shows live CPU. Here's how to get a rolling history of CPU usage on Mac, so you can spot the spike you missed.
-
Your Mac's fan is loud — here's what to check first Read ›
When your Mac's fans spin up, something is asking them to. Here's how to find the cause — CPU load, thermals, or a stuck sensor — before assuming it's broken.
-
Check Mac fan RPM Read ›
Read actual fan speeds on your Mac in RPM — using powermetrics, third-party utilities, or a menubar readout.
-
Check Mac fan speed and temperature without Activity Monitor Read ›
Activity Monitor won't tell you how hot your CPU is or how fast the fans are spinning. Here's how to actually see thermals on macOS.
-
Mac frozen with the spinning beachball — what to do Read ›
The beachball means a process is waiting on something. Here's how to find out what, kill the right thing, and stop it happening again.
-
How to keep an eye on your Mac's system health Read ›
Continuous, low-effort visibility into CPU, memory, thermals, and disk — without leaving Activity Monitor open all the time.
-
Mac drops to low battery quickly — what's consuming it Read ›
When your MacBook battery falls faster than it should, the cause is almost always a process or peripheral you can find in a few minutes.
-
Read Mac memory pressure like a pro Read ›
The macOS memory pressure graph confuses everyone. Here's what the colours actually mean and how to know when to worry.
-
What is memory pressure on Mac (and how to lower it) Read ›
Memory pressure is the metric that actually matters for Mac performance — not 'Memory Used.' Here's what it means, how to read it, and how to bring it down.
-
Show a CPU graph in the Mac menubar Read ›
Get a live, scrolling CPU usage graph in the Mac menu bar — not just a percentage.
-
Watch which app is hogging the most resources right now Read ›
Live triage on macOS: see which app is using the most CPU, RAM, network, or disk in real time — without bouncing between Activity Monitor tabs.
-
Mac overheating — what to actually fix Read ›
When a Mac genuinely overheats, the chip throttles and performance collapses. Here's how to tell true overheating from normal warmth, and what to do.
-
Mac performance monitoring — the practical setup Read ›
A no-fuss approach to keeping eyes on Mac performance over time, with the right balance of detail and overhead.
-
Get a clearer picture of Mac power use Read ›
macOS exposes detailed power data, but it's scattered across pmset, powermetrics, and Activity Monitor. Here's how to pull it together.
-
A modern Mac resource monitor (vs Activity Monitor) Read ›
Activity Monitor works, but it's a 25-year-old app with a few blind spots. Here's what a modern resource monitor adds and what to look for.
-
Mac running hot — what's actually happening? Read ›
Why your Mac gets hot, what temperatures are normal, and how to find the process or condition causing it — instead of just feeling the chassis and worrying.
-
Mac slow after a macOS update — quick fixes Read ›
Why your Mac is slow after updating macOS, why it usually fixes itself, and what to do if it doesn't.
-
Mac is slow to start up — find what's launching Read ›
If your Mac takes minutes to be usable after login, dozens of background apps are competing for CPU and disk. Here's how to find and trim them.
-
Put live Mac stats in your menubar Read ›
macOS doesn't show CPU, memory, or network usage in the menubar out of the box. Here's how to add them without bloating your top bar.
-
Mac suddenly slow — a 5-minute fix checklist Read ›
Your Mac was fine ten minutes ago and now it's crawling. Work through this in five minutes to find and fix the cause without restarting.
-
Your Mac is using swap — should you worry? Read ›
Swap on Mac isn't automatically bad — but persistent high swap is. Here's how to tell the difference and what to do.
-
The Mac system monitor I actually run all day Read ›
What to look for in a Mac system monitor when you want one that disappears into your workflow rather than demanding your attention.
-
Take a 'system snapshot' of your Mac when reporting a bug Read ›
Capture CPU, memory, disk, and network state on macOS so support or a developer can actually see what was happening.
-
Mac temperature monitoring from the command line Read ›
Read CPU and SoC temperatures on macOS using powermetrics and other CLI tools — no app required, all built in.
-
Monitor your Mac's temperature in real time Read ›
macOS hides thermal data by default, but it's readable. Here's how to see CPU, GPU, and SoC temperatures live — and what readings to expect.
-
Mac too slow with many browser tabs — what to do Read ›
Why dozens of tabs slow your Mac down (it's not always memory), how to find the worst offenders, and what to do without closing them all.
-
Check Mac uptime — and why it matters Read ›
How long has your Mac been running? Here's how to check uptime, and what 'too long' actually means in 2026.
-
Something is using too much CPU on my Mac — how to find it Read ›
Find the process burning your CPU — even when it's a system daemon, a hidden helper, or something that disappears the moment you check.
-
MacBook Air getting hot — what's going on Read ›
The fanless MacBook Air gets hot because there's nowhere for the heat to go but the chassis. Here's when that's normal and when to act.
-
MacBook Pro fan always on — diagnose it Read ›
When your MacBook Pro fan never quiets down, something is keeping the chip warm. Here's how to find it instead of replacing the fan or resetting random things.
-
Keep an eye on your Mac from your iPhone Read ›
Check on a remote or headless Mac from your phone — for long renders, servers at home, or just peace of mind while you're away from your desk.
-
Monitor RAM usage on macOS Read ›
How to keep a live eye on memory pressure and RAM usage on your Mac, instead of finding out only when the system grinds to a halt.
-
Monitor VPN bandwidth on Mac Read ›
Track traffic flowing through your Mac's VPN interface specifically — to test throughput, debug leaks, or just see what's actually tunneled.
-
Check live network bandwidth on Mac Read ›
Live up/down Mbps on macOS — via Activity Monitor, Network Utility's successors, or a menubar readout you can leave running.
-
Show network speed in your Mac menubar Read ›
How to keep upload and download speeds visible at the top of your screen — useful for spotting background sync, slow Wi-Fi, and runaway uploads.
-
See network usage per process on Mac Read ›
How to break down Mac network traffic by process — using Activity Monitor, nettop, lsof, or a menubar monitor.
-
How to check your Mac's SSD write speed Read ›
Benchmark your Mac's internal or external SSD with built-in tools and dedicated apps — and watch live write speed in the menubar.
-
See which processes are using the most CPU on Mac Read ›
How to quickly find the process eating your CPU — whether it's a runaway browser tab, a stuck app, or something you didn't even know was running.
-
Track total internet usage on Mac Read ›
Counting gigabytes used per day, week, or month on your Mac — for hotspot caps, ISP limits, or just curiosity.
-
Find what's slowing your Mac down right now Read ›
A quick way to triage Mac slowdowns by checking CPU, memory, disk, and network in one place — instead of bouncing between five Activity Monitor tabs.
-
Find which app is using your internet on Mac Read ›
Bandwidth disappearing? Here's how to see exactly which Mac app is sending or receiving data right now.
-
Why is my Mac slow? A diagnostic checklist Read ›
A practical checklist for working out why your Mac feels slow — CPU, memory, disk, thermals, and network — without guessing or reinstalling macOS.
-
Put your Wi-Fi speed in the Mac menubar Read ›
macOS shows Wi-Fi signal but not throughput. Here's how to get live up/down speed in your menubar instead.