Why is My Macbook Overheating So Fast

Why is My Macbook Overheating So Fast
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If you use your MacBook on your lap, you might have noticed that it heats up a lot more than usual. It's important to keep your MacBook cool because high temperatures can be damaging and affect performance, slowing it down considerably.

First and foremost, you should get to the root of the problem: what is causing your MacBook to get so hot? We at OneHowTo will help you find out exactly why your MacBook overheats.

CPU Usage Causing Overheating

Some applications require a higher CPU usage which tends to increase the temperature of the MacBook. How can you find out which applications use the most CPU?

Go to Applications>Utilities>Activity Monitor. Click the "%CPU column" to sort the apps and processes in descending order. At the top are the apps using the most CPU power - simply close any that you're not using.

Dirt and Dust Causing Overheating

Often, overheating is a result of dust collecting in the laptop's heat sinks . When the laptop starts to heat up, the fan has to work harder to cool it down. This also means that the dust is blown around more and, unless you regularly clean your laptop, it could build up and clog your heat sinks, i.e. the cooling system. See if your MacBook performance improves and cools down after you've given it a good clean.

Manually Control Fans to Prevent your Macbook Overheating

Another way to fix this is to manually turn on the fans. MacBooks perform fairly well without manual intervention but, if you're about to run some applications you know will cause it to overheat, this manual feature can be useful. Programs like smcFanControl let you decide when and how fast the fans should run.

Is your MacBook actually Overheating?

Sometimes laptops feel hotter than what they actually are - especially the MacBook Pro which has an aluminium outer case. To be sure about whether your laptop is really overheating, or simply feels hot, you can check the CPU temperature with various utility apps such as smcFanControl. Once you have this information you can monitor the CPU temperature - you should make sure it never exceeds 60ºC.

If you want to read similar articles to Why is My Macbook Overheating So Fast, we recommend you visit our Computers category.