Macbook gets hot: what to do?

If the Macbook gets too hot and shuts itself down, it's time to do something about it. Because overheating of the Macbook is not uncommon, especially in the summer months, we give you a few tips and hints in this practical tip on how you can avoid overheating.

Macbook and temperature

The processor, hard drive and graphics card of your Macbook produce a lot of heat, which must also be dissipated. According to Apple, all Macs are designed for operation at 10 to 35 degrees, but since the cooling method differs between the models, it is sometimes worse or better.

• PCs and notebooks as well as Macbooks are generally designed to withstand high temperatures and the casing of the Macook Pro also serves to dissipate the heat.
• One point, however, is that if the heat is permanently high, the internal components can be impaired. Therefore, it is good to counteract this a bit with a noticeably high heat development.
• Note: If you have already seen several crashes of your Mac or if your Macbook shuts down by itself, this may be due to overheating.

This is how the Macbook coolers work

As with other notebooks, the fans on the Macbook work constantly and are always active. However, if you work a lot on the PC and the Macbook is busy, the fan speed usually also increases. With older Mac models, however, the cooling speed may not increase sufficiently quickly, which may result in overheating. To counteract this, there are some freeware tools to control the fan speed. Fan Control is one of them.

• However, this option is less recommendable for newer models and only if you are familiar with computers, because this type of program deeply interferes with the system.

External temperature influences on the Mac

For overheating or sufficient cooling, it is also important where you use and position your Macbook.

• If you use your Macbook under direct sunlight, for example, you can no longer avoid overheating the casing because the heat can no longer be dissipated from the inside.
• You also need to make sure that if you have the Macbook on the carpet, the bedspread or the sofa, it will impair its cooling ability. This can clog the ventilation ducts in the housing, making cooling more difficult.

External cooling methods

If you use your Macbook continuously, or do processor-intensive or graphics-intensive work, external cooling should definitely be considered.

• There is now a multitude of notebook stands with integrated fans. These complement the internal fans very well, but are often a bit louder.