*GUIDE* - How to do proper fan control on MacBooks

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

We all know Apple runs all computers in their line-up waaay too hot to be comfortable. My MacBook Pro on the stock fancurve doesn't ramp up the fan until it gets to 95 degrees, and i've seen it hold steady at 99 degrees. this is bad for obvious reasons, it's gonna cause the machine to fail sooner, and it's just straignt up uncomfortably hot around the keyboard and especially the bottom, i was scared it was gonna melt the plastic case i have on my laptop when i first got it... 

 

happily however there are apps that can help you set a custom fan curve. 

now, there are a few issues with the app i'm going to show you. it's designers say that you should only use it if you know what you're doing, for good reason. there is nothing stopping you for example to set up a 15" or 16" MacBook Pro to only ramp up the fans if the cpu is hot, but then you completely ignore the dGPU. i don't have that problem since i have a 13", and i would recommend watching the temperatures very closely if using it on a 15" or 16" MBP. 

 

also i'm not sure how apple does things with warranty and stuff if you use an app like this. my Mac is LONG out of warranty so that's not a concern to me... 

 

the program i'm gonna feature in this guide is Macs Fan Control - https://www.crystalidea.com/macs-fan-control

 

DISCLAIMER:

BEFORE PROCEEDING: NEITHER ME OR THE DEVELOPER OF THE PROGRAM IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR MACHINE IF YOU CONFIGURE THE PROGRAM WRONG. 

USE IT AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!!

 

disclaimer on CrystalIdea's website:

 

BY PROCEEDING YOU AGREE TO THESE DISCLAIMERS

 

when you first install it you will see something like this:

Mine is already set up, yours will be set to "auto". 

 

when you click the setting to configure it you will see something like this:

 

i just used the CPU temp and set it to temperatures i'm comfortable with. 

the first temperature is the one where it starts to ramp up the fans, so the start of the fancurve. i set mine to 50, and the second temperature is the max, so at that temperature the fans will be running at full speed. again if you have a Mac with a dGPU using a program like this is more complicated because you have to make sure the gpu is covered as well, but again, i don't have that problem. 

 

i also recommend setting it to display the temp and fan speed in the menu bar so you can keeep an eye on temperatures and fan speed. 

the settings for that are in the preferences: 

you can select the fan and sensor to monitor and it will look like this:

 

Edited March 4, 2020 by Twilight
typo

[aaradorn]

I still don't get why apple has suck a weird fan curve. When the fans on my Macbook pro 2019 are spinning I can barely hear them, comparing that to my Surface or my girlfriends Gaming laptop its a world of difference.

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

4 minutes ago, aaradorn said:

I still don't get why apple has suck a weird fan curve. When the fans on my Macbook pro 2019 are spinning I can barely hear them, comparing that to my Surface or my girlfriends Gaming laptop its a world of difference.

because muh quietness. also if a machine dies sooner then they can sell you a new computer... 

[VMX]

Hey, sorry to bring back such an old topic.

 

I recently got a new MBP 13", with Iris Plus graphics, and I'm experiencing exactly the same issue.

 

I know this is not a gaming laptop but I do like to play a bit of Football Manager from time to time to kill time, and I'm noticing that the laptop gets stupidly hot (90ºC+) during 3D matches while the fans just sit there doing nothing.

 

Like you, I also downloaded Macs Fan Control and I'm just setting the fans to max speed whenever I play a 3D match... which keeps the GPU and CPU at a comfortable 60-70ºC at the cost of making a bit of noise (as I would expect from any normal laptop).

 

However, there's something I can't figure out when trying to automate this:

 

I'm trying to keep the fans off (like they do by default) until the GPU/CPU reaches 60ºC, then spin them up at max speed when it exceeds 80ºC.

 

Unfortunately, regardless of the thresholds I set, the fans will start spinning slowly even when the temps are well below them (e.g.: at 40ºC). In other words, as soon as I change from "Auto" to Custom, fans will start spinning right away even before any kind of threshold has been reached. They're so quiet I can't even hear them, but I'm concerned that they'll wear out much faster if they're now spinning all day long vs just a few minutes a day like before.

 

I even tried setting the lower threshold stupidly high (e.g.: 80ºC), but the fans immediately start spinning even if temps are still at 40ºC.

 

Do you know if there's any way to keep the fans off until a certain threshold has been reached?