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Mac Tutorial: How to set up fan control on a Macbook Pro

iris7
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Background Information:  Macbooks are one of the many types of popular notebooks.  People spend lots of money for Apple hardware, and in this guide/tutorial I will show you the steps of setting up fancontrol on a Macbook Pro.  By setting up the fanspeed to something reasonable, it will greatly increase the notebook's lifecycle.  In this guide/tutorial, the Macbook I am using is the Macbook Pro 13"(9,2).  The steps that I am demonstrating should apply to most of the Intel based Apple portable notebooks.  The software that I am using is free, and it is called smcFanControl. 

 

 

Requirements:

  • An Apple branded notebook.(Hackintoshes, you are on your own)
  • Internet connection
  • Administrative permission
  • Computer running 1.4.x or higher.

Step 1: Aquiring the software

Go to http://www.eidac.de/ and download the most upto date version of smcFanControl.

post-10042-0-34523900-1375925402.gif

Click download to download the software.  In this case the most upto date version is the 2.4 release.

 

Step 2:  Installation of the software

Once the file has finished downloading, double click on the smcFanControl .zip file.  The file should automaticly unzip it self in the same directory that the .zip file is stored.  The contents of the .zip file should look similiar to this. 

post-10042-0-34756100-1375926025.gif

"smcFanControl" is the application that you should see inside of your folder

 

After you have confirmed that the file is still there, drag and drop the smcFanControl app into the "Applications" directory on your mac.  If your file successfully transfers into the applications directory, your are done with this step and can move on to running the application. 

 

Step 2-cont: Error when trying to move file because of permissions error.

If you have recently just purchased your mac or you have not installed any software that is not from the appstore, you will recieve a error that the firewall has blocked the copying of the file.  To fix this open system preferences and navagate to "Security and Privacy" in the personal row.  Once in the "security and Privacy" setting, you may have to unlock changes which would involve typing in your password.  Once you have made the lock appear unlocked, go to the general section to where "Allow applications to be downloaded from:" and select "anywhere"

window.tiff

 

Step 3:  Running the software

In your application folder doulble click on smcFanControl.  On first launch it should ask you if you want to run it(becuase it was downloaded from the internet).  Select yes and enter your password.  When the app first starts, you will see a new thing added to the bar on the top.  It should say the CPU temperature and the RPM of the cpufan.  Click on the widget on the top on the bar and click on preferences.  You should see this screen.

pref.tiff

Adjust the slider for the RPM to what ever you see apropriate to keep your Macbook cool.  Click save and you are done.  You have now adjusted your fan speed for your apple notebook.

If you never need to pull a server out of racks, you are probably doing something right.

 

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I downloaded smcFanControl a long time ago. So glad I did. Saved mine from overheating so much more. Idk why the fans dont ramp up on their own when it gets hot.

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I downloaded smcFanControl a long time ago. So glad I did. Saved mine from overheating so much more. Idk why the fans dont ramp up on their own when it gets hot.

I saw my macbook's processor temp idling at 75C and I saw this as a concern.  With smcFanControl my mac is now idling at 55C which is somewhat better.

If you never need to pull a server out of racks, you are probably doing something right.

 

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I saw my macbook's processor temp idling at 75C and I saw this as a concern.  With smcFanControl my mac is now idling at 55C which is somewhat better.

 

I've never seen mine go above 50C since I started using it. Totally must have program on a mac.

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Replace your thermal paste too, people. It'll make a difference. It's very poorly applied on Macbooks.

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Replace your thermal paste too, people. It'll make a difference. It's very poorly applied on Macbooks.

getting to your thermal toothpaste on macs is probably one of the most difficult things you can do on them. So many effin' screws...

But i should do that and post results...

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More worried about voiding my warrantee. If there was a service manual for my particular notebook. I also totally agree with the MacBook being very difficult to work with.

If you never need to pull a server out of racks, you are probably doing something right.

 

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I've never seen mine go above 50C since I started using it. Totally must have program on a mac.

 

This goes for every laptop except for gaming laptops.

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This goes for every laptop except for gaming laptops.

 

'Twas on my iMac. I am however using my macbook pro and it never seems to get too hot.

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mac's fans dont spin up to super fast levels until like 90 Celcius or so... which is pretty bad on apple's part. I know they want the Macs to stay quiet but this is ridiculous. anyway, great tutorial, hopefully more people will find out how to do this.

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thanks man, i never knew about this

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I saw my macbook's processor temp idling at 75C and I saw this as a concern.  With smcFanControl my mac is now idling at 55C which is somewhat better.

 

If you CPU idles at 75C (which I find hard to believe), then there might be somehting wrong with it. You are worried about warranty, so I assume you still have it. Might give Apple Care a call.

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If you CPU idles at 75C (which I find hard to believe), then there might be somehting wrong with it. You are worried about warranty, so I assume you still have it. Might give Apple Care a call.

I should of noted at the time that my house did not have any air conditioner on. So the air was already like 25C. Now with air conditioner it idles at 49. I think my notebook temps were especially high because my ambient temps were also high.

If you never need to pull a server out of racks, you are probably doing something right.

 

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thank you. my Mac was @ 100F which... is crazy, the fans have helped me a lot!!! Better gaming thats a fact! :D 

~FRED

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thank you. my Mac was @ 100F which... is crazy, the fans have helped me a lot!!! Better gaming thats a fact! :D

You are welcome!  I am happy that I could help you. :)

If you never need to pull a server out of racks, you are probably doing something right.

 

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Please don't go around asking for likes. 

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getting to your thermal toothpaste on macs is probably one of the most difficult things you can do on them. So many effin' screws...

But i should do that and post results...

I have a macbook pro from 2010, I replaced the thermal paste on the CPU and the GPU a while back (found a guide on http://www.ifixit.com/) with some noctua NT-H1. I have to say it was worth the effort :

-my CPU i7-620M, on average, ran 10C cooler at idle (43-44C instead of 53-54C) and about 5C cooler at full load (84-85C instead of 89-90C) (tested with prime95)

-my GPU Nvidia GT330M, on average, ran 12C cooler at idle (50-51C instead of 62-63C) and about 9C cooler at full load (69-70C instead of 78-79C) (tested with FurMark) 

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smcfancontrol & iStatMenu 4.

normally my CPU is at 85+ degrees celsius with 6500RPM (max)

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