mediumMultiple Choice
220-1102 Practice Question: A user complains that their Mac running macOS Big…
A user complains that their Mac running macOS Big Sur suddenly shows a message 'Your system has run out of application memory' and applications crash frequently. Activity Monitor shows high memory pressure. What is the most effective built-in tool to diagnose the cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
CompTIA often tests whether candidates confuse 'Console' (log viewer) with 'Activity Monitor' (performance monitor), assuming that error messages logged in Console would be the primary diagnostic tool for a memory issue.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Activity Monitor
Activity Monitor is the correct tool because it provides real-time metrics on memory pressure, including the 'Memory Pressure' graph, which indicates whether the system is efficiently using memory or thrashing. High memory pressure, combined with the 'Your system has run out of application memory' alert, points to excessive memory usage or a memory leak, which Activity Monitor can pinpoint by sorting processes by memory consumption.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Console
Why it's wrong here
Console aggregates system and application log messages, which record events after they occur rather than live memory consumption per process. It is tempting for crash diagnosis, but identifying which process is exhausting memory needs Activity Monitor's real-time memory columns.
- ✗
Disk Utility
Why it's wrong here
Disk Utility verifies and repairs volumes and partitions; it reports nothing about per-process memory consumption. It is tempting because it is the go-to built-in for storage faults, but diagnosing memory pressure requires inspecting individual processes and their footprint in Activity Monitor.
- ✓
Activity Monitor
Why this is correct
Activity Monitor's Memory tab exposes memory pressure and per-process footprints, letting the technician identify which app or process is consuming RAM and causing the crashes. This directly satisfies the need to diagnose the cause of the 'out of application memory' error on macOS Big Sur.
- ✗
System Information
Why it's wrong here
System Information reports hardware, software and configuration details, not runtime resource usage. It is tempting when gathering machine specifications, but it cannot show which process is consuming memory, so Activity Monitor remains the tool for diagnosing memory pressure.
Quick reference
Access Control Model Comparison
| Model | Acronym | Who Controls Access? | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discretionary Access Control | DAC | Resource owner | Small teams, file shares |
| Mandatory Access Control | MAC | System / security labels | Classified govt / military |
| Role-Based Access Control | RBAC | Administrator (via roles) | Enterprise environments |
| Attribute-Based Access Control | ABAC | Policy engine (user + resource attributes) | Fine-grained, dynamic policies |
| Rule-Based Access Control | RuBAC | System rules / ACLs | Firewall rules, network ACLs |
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Troubleshoot: Application Compatibility Mode
Key term
Alert
An alert is a notification that something unusual or potentially harmful has happened in a computer system or network.
Key term
macOS
macOS is the operating system that powers Apple's Mac computers, providing a graphical interface, system management, and security features for users and IT professionals.
About these practice questions
One of 687 original 220-1202 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 220-1202 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 220-1202 exam.