Mac guides

How to see CPU temperature and network speed in the Mac menu bar

By Qiffe · Tested on macOS 27.0.1,

If you want to know how hot your Mac runs or how fast a download really is, the menu bar won’t tell you: macOS has no menu bar item for CPU temperature, CPU load or network speed. As of macOS 27, Control Center and the menu bar have modules for Wi-Fi, Battery, Sound, Focus and more, but nothing for system stats.

Here’s what the built-in tools can tell you, and how to get those numbers into the menu bar.

CPU load: Activity Monitor

Activity Monitor (in Applications > Utilities) is the built-in tool for CPU and memory.

  • CPU usage in the Dock: in Activity Monitor, choose View > Dock Icon > Show CPU Usage. The Dock icon turns into a live CPU meter while Activity Monitor is open.
  • CPU History window: choose Window > CPU History for a small graph per core.

Neither appears in the menu bar, and both need Activity Monitor running.

CPU temperature: what macOS will (and won’t) tell you

macOS doesn’t display CPU temperature in degrees anywhere in its interface. The closest built-in tool is powermetrics in Terminal, and it needs an administrator password:

sudo powermetrics --samplers thermal

This reports thermal pressure, a level such as Nominal, Moderate or Heavy (powermetrics also knows Trapping and Sleeping), rather than a temperature. It tells you how much thermal load macOS sees right now.

pmset -g therm (no password needed) shows whether macOS has recorded any thermal or performance warnings.

Network speed: Activity Monitor’s Network tab

Open Activity Monitor and click Network. The bottom of the window shows data received and sent per second, with a live graph. Again, useful, but it’s a window you have to keep open.

Put the numbers in your menu bar

Two well-established apps cover all of the above:

  • Stats is free and open source (MIT license). It can show CPU load, temperature sensors, memory, disk, network speed, battery and more as menu bar items, each one switchable on or off.
  • iStat Menus is a paid app with similar coverage.

Reading sensors isn’t free: Stats’ own documentation says its Sensors and Bluetooth modules use the most energy, so turn off the modules you don’t need.

Pick only the readouts you’ll actually look at. Every item takes menu bar space, and on a MacBook with a notch that space runs out fast; see how to hide menu bar icons if things get crowded.

Questions

How do I check CPU temperature on a Mac?

macOS has no built-in way to show the CPU temperature in degrees. The powermetrics command reports thermal pressure (for example Nominal, Moderate or Heavy), not a temperature. To see degrees, you need a third-party app such as Stats or iStat Menus.

Can I show network speed in the Mac menu bar?

Not with built-in settings. Activity Monitor's Network tab shows live data rates, but it's a window, not a menu bar item. Menu bar apps such as Stats show upload and download speed next to the clock.

Is it safe to install apps that read Mac sensors?

The well-known ones only read sensor values. Prefer apps with a long track record or open source code, download them from the developer's site or the Mac App Store, and avoid tools that ask for your password without a clear reason.