So memory, CPU, battery can all be consumed.
Of course, in a memory tight situation, OS X automatically removes apps from memory which have been quit so that the memory can be available for something else.Īpps which you have closed all windows for, but not quit, can effect the system. If the app is still in memory, OS X only has to start it again. This is why quitting and reopening an app is faster than the first time you started it. Adding to the confusing around this is the fact that even though you quit an app, OS X doesn't remove it from memory until it needs the space for something else. Then you probably want to ensure apps are quit to make more memory available. It's going to depend on such things as how much memory your system has, what the apps are, how well are they written etc.įor example, if you have a small amount of memory and checking Activity Monitor shows little memory available, or a lot of swap space being used.
Features such as Compressed Memory and App Nap keep your Mac running fast, and save power when many apps are open. You don’t have to quit apps once you’re done working in them - OS X allows you to work with several apps open at once. OS X internally has a lot of optimisations like App Nap which help to keep background apps' effect on system resources to a minimum: In overall, to answer your question about how it hits system efficiency, memory and battery: OS X handles it properly and does as much as possible to optimize efficiency, unless the Application itself is written poorly. There are a bunch of those utilities that close applications when you click the the red close button. You may also want to overload the default behaviour, and to make it like in Windows OS, but you need to use separate utilities (like RedQuits).