Keep Your Mac From Overheating
Your MacBook can get warm or hot during normal use. Find out how you can manage its operating temperature and keep it working longer.
If your MacBook gets warm even when it isn’t doing tasks that are intensive, or it has fans that run for a long time, you can quickly use Activity Monitor to check CPU activity. Look for any malfunctioning apps and processes that can put a significant load on the CPU and check for unexpected fan use.
If any issues persist or your Mac becomes hot, close, and open the lid, or restart your computer. If you have an Intel-based Mac, you can also reset the SMC. If your Mac has fans, such as on the MacBook Pro, they’ll turn on automatically to cool critical components.
If you use a third-party app to measure the temperature of your Mac, it’s important to know they don’t measure the external temperature of the case, and this will be lower. If you’re aiming to diagnose possible hardware issues, such as a malfunctioning CPU or fan, it’s best not to use a third-party app.
If you need help with diagnosing or solving any issues with your Mac, you can bring it in-store for a diagnosis. Contact Us
Why Does My Mac Get Hot?
Your MacBook Air or MacBook Pro can get warm or overheat for many reasons. Some common reasons may be that the cooling vents are blocked, running intensive tasks or dust and debris in the fans.
Blocked Cooling Vents
A common reason your device may become warm is the cooling vents on the back or sides may be blocked. These vents can easily become blocked if your Mac is laying on a pillow or on a bed.
These vents move bring cool air into your Mac and push hot air out. If the vents are blocked, the hot air will stop circulating and overheat your device. Its best to use your MacBook at a desk, on a laptop stand or on a flat surface to keep the cooling vents clear.
Direct Sunlight Or Heat
Your MacBook has an ideal operating range of 10℃ and 35℃. If you work in direct sunlight or a space that’s very hot, it can cause your MacBook Pro or MacBook Air to overheat.
Don’t leave your Mac in your car too, because temperatures in parked cars can exceed this range and can damage the display, battery, or other internals of your device.
Intensive Tasks
Some resource intensive tasks can put a significant load on the CPU and make your Mac overheat. Running internsive tasks such as Photoshop or opening many tabs can put a load on your CPU and make your MacBook run hot.
If you’re running a resource intensive app, minimise you’re multitasking if your Mac becomes hot. If you have many browser tabs or running apps open, close some.
You can also use Activity Monitor to check for any malfunctioning apps that you don’t need running.
Keep Your Mac Clean And Up To Date
Over time your MacBook Pro or MacBook Air can overheat due to dust or debris, old thermal paste or a battery that needs to be serviced. If your Mac is older than 2 – 3 years, it may be time to bring it in-store for a diagnosis and device cleaning.
If your Mac has a battery that is less than 80% health, has a lot of battery cycles or doesn’t last as long as it used to it may be time to service and replace the battery. Replacing the battery can make your device faster as a newer battery is able to provide more power.
Every Mac can overheat due to dust and debris internally. If your Mac is older than 2 years, its common to have fans and cooling vents blocked by dust and debris. This can stop the fans from spinning as well as circulating cool air into your device.
After a few years of use your MacBook can become warm or overheat due to old thermal paste. Thermal paste or thermal compound is a substance used for better heat conduction between the CPU and the heatsink. With a device cleaning our team will make sure there’s no dust in your device and replace the thermal paste in your Mac. Keep your Mac up-to-date, contact us.
If You Don’t Think Your Mac Is Working Like It Should
If your MacBook isn’t working like it used to or how you think it should, contact our team or come in-store and we’ll be able to take a look at your device. We’ll be able to run our diagnostics on your device to check for any errors to get an idea of what may be the issue.
If it’s a software issue we can work with you to fix it, on-site or in-store and if it’s a hardware issue we’ll let you know and what your options will be. Many problems and issues can be solved with a diagnosis and device cleaning to keep your Mac and its apps up to date.