As the heat builds up, the fans kick in to disperse the heat. The more you tax the CPU by running apps, copying files, and multitasking, the more heat is generated. The Central Processing uUnit (CPU) is the brain of your computer. You’ll need a spare USB port to use a cooler like this. The metal acts as a heatsink, helping to disperse heat through conduction while the fans provide active cooling.
These take the form of metal stands with integrated fans. Laptop coolers (like this one from Thermaltake) can help cool down a MacBook that’s struggling in the heat. If you’re outside on a hot sunny day and you’re feeling warm, there’s a good chance your MacBook is, too. If the ambient temperature is hot enough, your Mac will reflect this by running the fans for longer and at higher speeds. You don’t necessarily need to be doing anything for your Mac to heat up. Make Sure Your Mac Can Cool Itself Properly There are some things you can do to help reduce this happening. macOS will temporarily underclock your processor to reduce heat, a process known as thermal throttling. Ultimately, you shouldn’t need to worry about cooling your Mac manually (though there are things you can do to help). Generally speaking, around 90ºc (194✯) isn’t unusual for a Mac under heavy load, but you want to keep things below 95ºc (203✯). You can also use a small app like smcFanControl to place a widget in your menu bar that displays how hot your Mac is running inside the case. Loud rattling noises are also a red flag and usually occur when bearings in the cooling mechanism work their way loose. What isn’t normal is a hot silent Mac, which could suggest that fans have failed. Remember that heat is a normal part of your Mac’s operation, and loud whirring fans means the machine is operating as normal in an attempt to cool itself down. I’m sure everyone will be fascinated at your next dinner party.The computer should never be too hot to touch, though certain processes may make it uncomfortably warm, particularly if it’s a laptop that you are using on your lap. If you want to impress your friends in conversation, you should keep track of your Mac’s fans and relay to them how fast they tend to spin during particular tasks. If that doesn’t solve your issue, consider heading to an Apple Store, or another authorized repair shop. In these cases, resetting the SMC often works-this is the low-level controller that manages thermal management and other things.
If the hardware report says everything is fine with your fan, your issue is probably a software one. But look at all the steps carefully, and only proceed if you’re completely confident you can get this done yourself.
It’s not impossible, however: check out iFixIt‘s guides if you want to attempt the repair yourself. I managed to replace my own broken fan on a 2011 MacBook Pro, but the internals inside more recent Macs are a great deal less friendly for home repair. My advice: head to the Apple Store or any authorized Apple repair shop. If you have a broken fan, you need to replace it. Your Mac will test your hardware, and let you know if your fan is broken. Turn your computer off, then hold the “D” key while turning it on. Think your fan might be broken? The first thing you should do is launch Apple Diagnostics, one of the hidden startup options on your Mac.
But for the occasional test, it’s nice to have control-just turn things back to automatic when you’re done. I really do not recommend disabling the automatic fan control: leaving your fans on constantly will wear them out and waste energy, and leaving them off will overheat your Mac over time. Turn the fan up and see if you can hear anything.