In Activity Monitor, is the percentage out of each core or out of each virtual core? I have my new MacBook Pro with 2 cores.

However, the Activity Monitor shows me 4 “virtual” cores. (I don’t really know what a “virtual core” is.)

If the processor is running at maximum, what percentages for processes would I have in Activity Monitor ?


A total of 200 % ?
A total of 400 % ?
The CPU percentages shown in Activity Monitor are 100% for each virtual core.

Therefore, for your hyper-threaded dual-core processor, 400% is 100%.

In my case, the hyper-threaded quad-core in my Mac means that 800% is 100%.