Mac overheating, loud fans: summer cooling and battery care

This article was first published on June 30, 2019, on the LIZHI.SHOP blog (lizhi.io, now offline), and is being republished with appropriate adjustments.

Summer is here. Is your Mac's fan whirring away, hot enough to explode?

Apple officially announced a recall program for the 15-inch MacBook Pro (mid-2015 model) because the battery may pose a burn risk.

Although only some users were affected, how can you monitor your computer's temperature in daily use and prevent your Mac from overheating? How can you keep the battery healthy? I'll show you a few tricks.

Rule out system abnormalities

With iStat Menus, the "Swiss Army knife of monitoring" on Mac, you can monitor a wide variety of system statuses in the status bar, such as temperature, CPU activity, and network speed. But buying an app just to monitor temperature is a bit of overkill.

Often, we don't need real-time temperature monitoring; instead, when we encounter abnormal situations like fans spinning wildly or the computer overheating, we want to know how to handle them simply. In this case, you can use Mac's built-in Activity Monitor to quit processes that are using a large amount of CPU.

Before quitting, don't forget to save your work—with a mysterious smile from me.

Except for kernel_task, any other process whose CPU usage consistently stays above 70% will put a heavy load on the CPU and may cause malfunctions.

Clean up and optimize the system

An overloaded system may also be one of the reasons your Mac's temperature stays high.

Keeping files tidy and organized, removing what's unnecessary and keeping what's useful, requires changing daily habits and will be a long process. But daily cleanup and optimization can be achieved with the following two tools.

If you want to learn about genuine tools with clear origins and reliable licensing, you can also visit the LIZHI.SHOP software store.

CleanMyMac X is a long-established system optimization and cleanup tool for Mac. In addition to detailed junk cleanup and freeing up disk space, it also offers a wealth of optimization options.

Every time I open the interface and see several GB of system junk waiting to be cleaned, I feel secretly satisfied, as if after cleaning, the running speed will soar.

With its more streamlined features, MacBooster may be better suited to this small but tedious cleanup task. It can clean up junk files and memory, and also meet advanced needs such as app uninstallation, privacy protection, and duplicate file search.

What else can you do?

My MacBook battery care ideas

1. Remember to remove the protective case while charging; otherwise, it may generate too much heat and affect battery condition.

1. When using your MacBook, don't keep it plugged in all the time. Remember to run it on battery for a while every week to avoid long periods of relying on a single power source.

1. The optimal operating temperature for a MacBook is between 10°C and 35°C (ambient temperature 50°F to 95°F), and the storage temperature is -20°C to 45°C (ambient temperature -4°F to 113°F). So in winter, remember to keep your computer in a warm place to reduce sudden battery drops.

1. If you won't use the device for a long time, don't fully charge or fully discharge it; the device should be charged to around 50%. If storing the device for more than six months, charge it to 50% every six months.

A few everyday usage tips

1. The vents on a Mac notebook are usually located on the back or sides. When using it, you can prepare a simple cooling stand; in addition, a keyboard cover is not good for heat dissipation and is not recommended.

The soft, sagging surface of a bed can also affect temperature; holding an iPad seems more suitable.

• Follow the LIZHI.SHOP official account (ID: shumalizhi) and reply “cooling stand”; I'll share a few personal recommendations.

In fact, there are many tricky issues that can be solved by resetting the SMC. For specific symptoms and operating steps, you can visit the LIZHI.SHOP software store to learn the relevant official operation guide.

• Follow the LIZHI.SHOP official account (ID: shumalizhi) and reply “SMC” to get the official operation guide.

So, after a thorough cleanup, has your Mac calmed down?

Just as we use “declutter, discard, and let go” to clear and organize our thoughts, I think developing the small habit of regularly cleaning system junk and organizing archived files is a reliable way to coexist peacefully with your Mac.

In the heat of summer, do you have any “cooling” tips to share with me?