When you run a heavy application on your MacBook. It takes too much CPU usage, which can ultimately cause Mac overheating problem. The heat can also be caused due to overcharging, and it is quite normal that your device warms up while your running applications.
However, if you notice excess heating, you shouldn’t ignore that, it can damage your MacBook later. To know the cause of overheating, you can open up the Activity Monitor and check how many apps are running in the background.
If there are too many memory-consuming apps running, then the reason is obvious. Moreover, you can also check your MacBook’s fan, is it working well or not.
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How to Fix A Mac Overheating Problem
Macbooks come with excellent thermal performance. If your mac is getting unusually hotter than normal temperatures, then there must be a problem. Down below are some proven ways to fix Mac overheating problems.
Method 1: Resetting System Management controller
The thermal management, along with the fan control, is processed by the System management controller of your MacBook. It is possible that is some kind of bug or error for which SMC is acting in an unusual way and causing your device overheating. In such a case resetting your SMC is the best thing to do. This could solve your overheating issue.
Step 1) Firstly, switch off your Mac completely, using the Apple Menu.
Step 2) Once your MAc is completely turned off, press the shift+Option+Control buttons on your keyboard. Also, press the Power button simultaneously, at least hold all the keys for 10 seconds.
Step 3) Release all the keys, power on the Mac via Power button, once it turned on the SMC will be reset, and your overheating issue might disappear for good.
Method 2: Removing CPU and Memory consuming Apps Using Activity Monitor
There are plenty of Apps for MacBook, and all of them behave differently. Some apps consume more resources than others if such an app is running in the background. Then it can be the possible case that the app is overheating your PC. Not only one app, but any resource-hungry app can also overheat your Pc if it is running continuously in the background.
However, to resolve this issue, the method is very simple. Firstly, launch the Activity Monitor app from the launchpad, then look at the applications that are consuming most of your resources.
Select them and stop the program, by stopping the program from running, you can prevent overheating.
If the program or service starts running from the startup, then look for the application in the startup apps and disable it.
Method 3: Applying Energy Saver Settings
Mac has an Energy saver feature if in case you are on a low battery, and you want to save it to work on it. The Energy saver settings restrict unnecessary applications and services in the background and only run the necessary apps that you want to run.
Also, it dims the brightness and other necessary steps to make sure your Mac is consuming fewer resources. Thus, it gives you extended battery life, also it can solve the overheating issue.
To enable Energy Saver Settings on your Mac, click on the System Preference option from the Apple Menu.
Then go to the Energy Saver option and check the first option Automatic Graphics switching, you can also enable other options if you like.
Method 4: Testing MacBook Hardware & Cleaning your MacBook’s Fan
It is possible that your fan is damaged, thus it can’t do its job and causes your MacBook to overheat. Therefore, you can perform a test from your MacBook and check if every hardware components are doing fin, especially the fan. To do so first, you will have to unplug all the peripheral devices attached to your MacBook then follow the steps mentioned below.
Step 1) Reboot your Mac, while booting press the D key on your keyboard to open up the Apple Diagnostic App.
Step 2) Click on the Test button for a complete inspection of your Mac, if it has not started automatically.
Step 3) After the test is over, the results will appear on the screen. If you find any reference code starting with PPF, it means your fan is functioning abnormally, or it is damaged.
Well, after you get the PPF code from the Apple Diagnostic test, you can either go to your Apple Service provider, or you can look it for yourself. Try to unscrew the back of your Mac, and look for the fan. It is possible that due to the long time usage, the fan has accumulated dust and dirt. Thus, causing the fan to work improperly and overheating your MacBook. Take time and clean the fan completely; this should resolve the overheating issue.
Method 5: Remove Malware from your PC
If you often download and run third-party apps on your Mac, it is impossible to get infected by Malware. Malware is malicious files, which often hide once it gets into someone’s device, some malware steal information, and some just show ads. However, no matter what malware you have on your Mac, every malware consumes a great number of resources, which can be the very cause of overheating your MacBook.
Therefore, it is recommended that you get a good anti-malware application on your Mac, scan, and remove the malware from your device. This should solve the overheating issue once the malware is removed.
Conclusion
Overheating is mainly caused due to the resource-hungry applications that tend to consume most of the Memory and CPU. Therefore, to prevent it, you can stop such resource-hungry apps via Activity Monitor. If it doesn’t work, then try Energy Saver settings on your MacBook.
If the overheating is causing due to some fan issue, then the first thing you can try to fix it is to reset the System Management Controller on your MacBook. Also, you can perform an Apple Diagnostic Test and clean your fan manually if it has accumulated too much dirt and dust.
There are also some changes that malware is the cause of the overheating. So we will suggest having a good anti-malware application on your Mac.