You’re sitting on your couch watching a movie with your headphones on. You’re trying to relax and get comfortable, but you can’t because you’re unable to place your laptop on your lap.
The thing can’t sit on your lap because it’s burning your leg hairs off. Your beloved Macbook is overheating and you’re not sure why. Are you doomed?
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We’re going to take a look at what might cause Mac overheating, giving you some ideas on how to troubleshoot the issue. Hopefully, one or two of the ideas below is helpful in your search to cool your Mac down and bring it back to its former glory.
Let’s get started.
Mac Overheating: What’s the Problem?
So, why is my Mac overheating?
The first thing to think about is the fact that all laptops get warm from time to time. If you’re running the computer really hard for a period of time and it starts to get a little louder and warmer, that’s just because it’s doing its job for you.
That said, something simple like streaming a movie or doing some online research shouldn’t produce that much heat. It’s also important to note that there isn’t a clear way to know if your laptop is too hot unless it tells you otherwise.
If you feel like it’s too hot, it probably is. When it gets hot and stays hot on a regular basis, there’s definitely something up with the way it’s running.
1. Does It Have Room to Breathe?
The first thing to think about is whether or not your Mac has access to airflow. The fans and ventilation in the Mac are very effective, but only when they’re in contact with the air.
Placing your computer on a heavy blanket and running it for a few hours will almost always produce a lot of heat that has nowhere to go. When the computer sinks into the folds of the blanket it just traps all of that heat.
So, make sure that your issue doesn’t lie with where the computer is getting placed.
2. Check Your Activity Monitor
We’re all guilty of impulsively buying an app or two. the trouble is that the apps that are good at selling us a download without providing real value are the same ones that keep running and running.
Some apps take up a lot more energy than others. In a lot of cases, the applications that we use the most are the ones that are just running the computer dry all of the time. These apps can be dangerous leaks for your computer and its information as well.
The beautiful thing is that Macs come equipped with something called the “activity monitor.” It might look a little complicated when you first pull it up, but you’ll find that it’s easy to tell which items are using the most power and which are healthy.
If your biggest power suck is something that you don’t remember ever using, it’s time to get rid of that application. In fact, you should get rid of any applications that are taking up power but not getting used by you.
Be careful not to delete something that’s important, though. Doing a full sweep and deleting everything but Google Chrome might leave you without a lot of important functions.
3. Get All of the Dust Out
If you’ve got an old Mac and you haven’t cleaned the dust out, you might have found your problem.
One look at the Mac and you see that it’s got plenty of holes for little particles of dust to enter and do some damage. They might not seem like much at a glance, but bring a whole bunch of dust together and shove it into a finely-tuned machine and you’ve got problems.
Then, multiply that process over the two years you’ve had your computer. Mac products work on a very precise, mechanical, and minute scale. All of the pieces have to be clean and work well to function at the highest level.
When you incorporate dust and dirt into the equation, the computer has to work a lot harder and think more to achieve the same result. So, bring your computer in and have it cleaned up.
You could do this yourself if you wanted to as well. You just need to remove the bottom of the computer and apply a light touch with the proper brush. It’s a risky move if you don’t know what you’re doing, though.
4. How Many Programs Are You Running?
It hurts when you realize that your computer overheating has something to do with your own actions. When you step back and think about it, though, who else’s fault could it be?
One of those actions, unfortunately, is the habit of leaving dozens of applications, tabs, and pages open without clearing them out. You may have never once cleared out all of your open pages throughout the computer.
Go through your Macbook and exit out of all applications and delete all browser tabs that you have running. Everything can be saved, and you can bookmark a page if you really need to.
There are no excuses here, everybody.
Give your computer a minute to run without all of that weight on its shoulders and see how it does. It never hurts to delete your cookies as well, although that tends to affect the way the internet browser works, not the computer at large.
That said, getting rid of excess functions, data, and storage are all great ways to move forward. You could even go through your computer’s files and delete everything that you don’t see as necessary.
Cutting that weight might help your computer cool down as well.
Have More Macbook Questions?
Hopefully, your Mac overheating problems were aided by the information above. If you’re still out of luck, however, you can always take the device into a professional’s office and see what they have to say.
We’re here to help you with more ideas, though. Explore our site for more insight into troubleshooting, Mac mini overheating issues, and much more.
