CPU & energy
Load average
The average number of tasks waiting for or using the processor over the last 1, 5 and 15 minutes.
What it is
Load average comes from Unix. Run uptime in Terminal and you'll see three numbers: the average over the last minute, five minutes and fifteen minutes.
Compare it with your number of CPU cores: a load average below the core count means the processor is keeping up; well above it means work is queuing.
Should you worry?
Only if it stays well above your core count while the Mac feels slow.
What you can do
- Find the busy process in Activity Monitor's CPU tab.