Hi MPUers, I have a MacBook Pro 2018 (32GB, i7), and it seems even without running a lot of processes, its already hot, especially on the upper frame (meta bar frame above touchbar) and the sides (speakers). The fan is not running anytime though. Fan runs only when I export a very big video which is once a month.
I mostly run 3 apps, Firefox (max 7-8 tabs, half of them are suspended), Chrome with no tabs on (just to run a site which breaks on firefox) and, Finder. Background apps include BetterTouchTool, Alfred and Little Snitch. Other apps 3-4 are very tiny utilities.
Started using Orion Browser which is webkit based and allows Chrome/Firefox extensions, but not sure if I trust a small company with a closed source browser for my daily browser.
Do I need to buy a M1 now, is that the only solution? Don’t wanna spend money right now
If the fan isn’t running and it’s overheating, you have a problem. Can you confirm the fan speeds with something like TG Pro or iStat? Can you confirm the internal temperatures are excessive? Are you able to force the fans to spin faster via software?
An SMC reset could fix a software problem with the fans. But I’d have it looked at, assuming those diagnostics don’t work or are bad news.
Wow, I just installed this and ran the fans manually to max. They turned on the laptop cooled down within 3 mins. The initial temperature was 47 and went down to 38.
Can you share how do you use this app, like the settings to tweak?
Which of the two apps do you recommend? Any free and good apps for this, trying to lower software costs
It’s fun, isn’t it? 47C isn’t too hot. Are any of the individual temperature sensors getting unusually high? I don’t use any special fan control settings and just show Highest / Highest CPU in the menu bar.
It’s fine, though. Here’s what my M1 Max temperatures look like, and I’m only doing web browsing right now. I have a 2019 Intel MBP that hits 70-90C with fans at 4000-5000RPM when it’s busy, and I of course find that annoying, but it’s okay. Hitting 90+ without the fan responding accordingly would have me looking for fixes.
Hi Andy - I had the exact same computer - and mine also was constantly quite hot - under non-cpu-intensive conditions. In fact finally I saw the battery had swelled and bulged the bottom - to the point where apple repaired all free under apple care. Still ran hot - so I got rid of it and bought an M1 MBP 16". Occasionally it can get warm also - but mostly runs medium cool.
That’s what happened to my 2018 i7 16GB 1TB MBP. Got it into Apple just in time for a free battery replacement and a new keyboard (due to a misbehaving Touch Bar). Then, on the same trip to the Apple Store, I bought an M1 MacBook Air with 16GB and 1TB. When the repaired 2018 MBP shipped back to me from Apple, I gifted it to a young nephew.
P.S. My Intel MBP was at least as hot as yours, @andy4222 . Those things sold a lot of copies of iStat Menus so we could know when to apply outside cooling.
Yup, good recommendation. Dust was always a factor in older laptops and desktops that I could open up and get into. But aren’t bottom plates that open a thing of the past?
This for me was one of the major attractions of the M1 MacBook Airs – no fans!
Yes, that was the main difference between an M1 13-inch MacBook Air and an M1 13-inch MacBook Pro. The Pro was thought to be able to sustain a higher work load for a longer period of time due to its active cooling system (aka “fans”).
47C isn’t too hot. Are any of the individual temperature sensors getting unusually high? I don’t use any special fan control settings and just show Highest / Highest CPU in the menu bar.
. That’s news to me