There are two basic sides to every Mac. The outside- the parts of the Mac that are used or visible, including case, screen, keyboard, trackpad. The inside- typically made up of motherboard, CPU, battery, sensors, fans, connectors and all those hidden parts that make the Mac run.
That means there is much going on inside the Mac that we just don’t see but we can check on from time to time with the right application. iStatistica is a system monitoring tool probably unlike any you’ve seen or used or contemplated using in the past. Not only does it monitor your Mac’s system, it displays statistical information in real time. Uptime, RAM usage, CPU usage, Disk usage, battery status, and much more.
iStatistica displays itself in the Notification Center as a Widget, so details are a click away. Or, view the app from the Mac’s Menubar, again, a click away.
If ever your Mac had a dashboard that divulges more than the Dashboard in OS X, it would be iStatistica.
First, it’s graphical so it’s easy to get a quick view of what’s happening to your Mac without digging into Activity Monitor and sorting through an arcane list of statistical details that may not make much sense.
Second, iStatistica tracks all that moves inside your Mac beyond RAM, CPU, and Disk. It even displays a network map so you can see the external WAN IP address, the internal IP address assigned to your Mac, and the router IP address. Plus, it monitors, in real time, incoming and outgoing traffic in speed and data.
I’m not much for using Notification Center but iStatistica from the Menubar displays the same information in a window which, unfortunately, cannot be unhinged or moved around on the screen. That window, light or dark, gives a quick view of Memory, Processor, and Disk usage, remaining Battery charge (but also cycles, capacity, and overall battery health, thanks to sensors within the Mac).
Wait. There’s more.
Your Mac has plenty of built-in sensors which monitor temperature, fans, and other functions. iStatistica’s Sensor Plugin (free) is an extra step download which adds even more sensor data to the window display. Depending upon the Mac, the Sensor Plugin monitors fan speeds, CPU and GPU temperatures.
All those components make iStatistica more of an iDashboard, but remember- all it does is monitor what the Mac’s insides are doing, and doesn’t give you controls over any of the internal components. The most surprising aspect of iStatistica is the price tag. Lots of eye candy for a few bucks.