Hi, my MacBook Pro M1 2022 has started running at maximum fan speed for no apparent reason recently. It only stops when I use Siri or lower it to half-speed using software like MacsFan. Is it safe to continue using it like this until I can send it in for repair? I can’t afford to be without my laptop right now due to upcoming exams. I tried talking with Apple support and no settings changing/resetting through safety mode works.
Temps are 20-40 celsius max, nothing hard working in the background, vents are clean.
What (exact) things did Apple Support have you try ?
“Fans running fast” is listed here as a potential thing related to SMC (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295) … however for the Apple Silicon instructions, all it seem to say is “shutdown and restart” (while plugged into AC Power cord)… “no other steps are necessary”.
The article here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202179 … also doesn’t really seem all that helpful.
You got plenty of free space ?.. OS fully updated ?
I paid for a copy of TG Pro (https://www.tunabellysoftware.com/tgpro/) on my M2 MacBook… mostly because it gives me a bit more details about what’s going on. (might not explain “why”… but if you pull it up side by side with Activity Monitor,… it might give you more insight into what’s going on ?.. just a stab in the dark.
We checked the system version(up to date), and battery settings(tried them all from system preferences), turned on the Mac in the safe mode, and reinstalled the whole system.
And I did CleanMyMac X cleanup, TG Pro diagnostics… Everything seems normal. But when I let the programs control the fans it goes literally 100%.
https://imgur.com/a/ugGq7uD
I like to think I have pretty good macOS experience (been doing it for about 10 years now)… but there are limits to my knowledge :P … so I’ll just throw some ideas out of things in my head.
I’d like to think in the Utilities \ CONSOLE \ System Log… there’s some way to Search or query there to see what’s invoking Fans… but I could be wrong ? (I’m googling this now but not coming up with much yet)
I would tend to believe that Fan-speeds and almost entirely controlled by system-temperatures ? (that an App cannot just request Fan spin-up,. the system would only allow that if Temps start to spike ?)…but I honestly don’t know macOS internals deep enough to say that for sure.
Your temps look fine,. which leads me to think maybe there’s an App or some system-hook running on your system that’s causing this,. but I’m kinda drawing a blank brainstorming how to track that down.
There’s been other questions like this in years past for things like “How do I figure out what App is waking up my MacBook when it’s asleep in my bag?”… and your question seems similar. I just don’t know (especially on newer Apple Silicon and newer versions of macOS) whether Apple even allows you to see what’s causing Fans to invoke at higher speeds. (especially since all the KB articles for Apple Silicon basically just say “Shutdown and Restart your system” (makes it seem like it’s all controlled by Firmware and there’s really no “user settings” for deeper fan control. )
https://imgur.com/a/vheQzIB
thanks for your help!
and yes, I have 100 gb free of 500. I didn’t download anything, it happened when I turned it on one morning.