When a key is continuously held down on a Mac, an interesting phenomenon occurs—CPU usage can increase significantly over time. I have observed that after about 20 minutes of holding a key, the CPU can utilize nearly an entire core. While I lack the patience to test how long it would take to max out all available cores, I have managed to push the CPU usage to approximately 400% simply by keeping a key pressed.
This rise in CPU usage raises a question: What is macOS doing in the background as the key remains pressed? It seems evident that the operating system is engaged in processing the increasingly lengthy “word” generated by each keystroke. However, the specifics of this process are not immediately clear.
As the key is held down, macOS appears to be accumulating the input over time, effectively creating a string of repeated characters. This ongoing input may lead to a series of actions that the system must handle as the word grows longer, increasing the demand on CPU resources. The sustained input requires continuous processing, including managing character encoding, updating the display, and potentially triggering additional functions or applications that rely on keyboard input.
Overall, it’s intriguing to consider how a simple action like holding down a key can place such a load on the CPU. It highlights the complexities of how operating systems manage input and the resources needed to maintain responsiveness and functionality in user interaction scenarios.
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