While your Mac is a very reliable computer, the truth is that many times you can end up with it overheating. It’s a problem that any MacBook and also laptops in general tend to encounter. However, there are a few ways to get around that, and it all comes down to what works for you. Thankfully, even if you encounter such issues, there’s a fix for it.
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Why is the MacBook overheating?
There are different causes, either the CPU or GPU are under a lot of stress, or the ambient temperature is very high. Other possible causes can be clogged/blocked fans, frozen apps, malware and so on. If you have malware, a Mac cleanup tool might be able to help with that. However, it can also be a physical issue too, so you need to check for the software side of things beforehand.
Check the CPU usage
If the CPU usage is high, then an app or multiple apps consume a lot of CPU. Stopping those or using a Mac cleanup tool to help eliminate a virus that brings high CPU usage will help solve the issue. It always helps to do that, and it will make the process much easier.
Assess the room temperature
Sometimes these issues pertain to very high room temperatures, which can be an issue in their own right. When your ambient temperature is higher than normal, that can end up affecting your device’s ability to cool down. It tries to take air from outside, but that air is hot and it won’t do any good. That’s why a high ambient temperature is actually a problem and not something helpful.
Blocked fan
You also want to see if the fans are working properly or if there’s any dust/dirt/grime blocking them. If that’s the case, then you will need to eliminate those compounds and clear the room. Since the Mac itself doesn’t have a lot of space to push air away, it can be very easy for air to clog in and that alone will be a problem you have to deal with.
Unresponsive apps
Another thing to consider is the large number of apps you have on your device. If you want to run multiple apps at once that places a lot of pressure on your Mac. It also ends up overheating the device especially when we talk about memory or CPU intensive apps like Photoshop. Making sure you close unneeded apps is an excellent idea and it can deliver a great experience.
Close browser tabs you’re not using
Many of us end up opening way too many browser tabs, and that’s obviously an issue. Making sure that you close them properly and leave only the tabs that you need is always going to help. Plus, it will keep the temperature under control.
Browsers tend to have the most CPU usage on a computer, and the resource requirements increase the more tabs you open. That’s why you don’t want to open way too many tabs. Sure, modern browsers put unused tabs to sleep, but even then it makes sense to close unused tabs if possible.
Clean your Mac
Physically cleaning your Mac and removing any dust/dirt from it can help quite a lot. You particularly want to go to the fan area, so you can remove dust accumulations. Opening up the laptop and fully cleaning up your fans is ideal, so that should be helpful. Otherwise, do the best you can. Also, avoid direct sunlight, because high temperatures will end up overheating your MacBook.
Reset the SMC
The system management controller is in charge of the ventilation system. Resetting the SMC can be a great idea and even solve this problem so try it if you can. If your Mac has a removable battery you want to turn it off, remove the battery press the power button and then hold it for 5 seconds. Bring the battery back and start it up.
In case you don’t have a removable battery, shut down the Mac and then press Shift+Control+Option, and then you want to hold all these buttons down for 10 seconds. After that, all you need to do is to release them. Press the power button to start up your Mac and that’s it.
Remove launch agents and login items
Malware can be sneaky and it might be the cause behind your device heating up. What you can do is to check the login items and launch agents to see what stuff is not needed, and remove it from there. Doing that will help solve some of the problems, especially if you combine this idea with any of the others listed here.
It always helps to try and figure out why your Mac is heating, and then you have to take action. Whether it’s a physical issue or a software one, it’s possible that you can prevent Mac problems and it always comes down to taking the right action. Try all these tips shown above and see which one will help solve the issues for you!
