Macbook Pro 2019 Overheating Constantly

My computer has been overheating, with the fans running loudly even when the lid is closed. Over the last few months, this issue has become worse. It will run at 165 degrees F, sometimes reaching 200, and becomes uncomfortably hot to the touch. When I open the lid, the screen does not automatically come on, I have to press the touch ID button for it to appear. The battery will drain when this happens. I reset the SMC and did a diagnostic test, but the reset did not help and the test found no issues. I did an EtreCheck and here is the report:


MacBook Pro 13″

Posted on Apr 28, 2024 9:25 PM

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7 replies

Apr 29, 2024 8:33 AM in response to ainslie290

It is all right here:


Drives:

    disk0 - APPLE SSD AP0128N 121.33 GB (Solid State - TRIM: Yes) ⚠️


You have the tiny, entry-level 128GB SSD, and it is nearly full. That will absolutely prevent you from upgrading the macOS† and is likely the cause of your horribly slow drive scores, which should be in the 2500-3200mb/sec range.


The place from whom I order storage upgrades does not show any internal upgrade option for that model. You could buy a larger external ThunderBolt dive and have both speed and capacity, but the does not make the computer very portable.


Chrome is not doing your any favors. It is a known resource hog and will contribute to overheating.


† — you need about 2x the size of an OS installer free space to upgrade.

Apr 29, 2024 8:12 AM in response to ainslie290

Here are some observations:

  • Your drive speed is horrible. This could be Hard Drive failure or a lot of the times it is related to software that is installed to run on startup.
  • The Mac OS versions should be Sonoma
  • Express VPN is running on startup and should be removed. There are 2 files at ~/Library/LaunchAgents.
  • Google Chrome is using close to 3 GB of memory and is known to be a resource hog. Test using another browser to see if your fans calm down.
  • Do you need Cisco AnyConnect? You already have Zoom and TeamViewer. It has multiple files running on startup and also a System Extension that is being blocked along with a Kernel Extension. In addition it is running a VPN agent.
  • routined is the process consuming the most CPU and could be causing the high fan speed. This is most likely related to the multiple VPN services running.
  • If you have just started experiencing the high fan speed in the last week, look at OneDrive that was recently installed. The syncing of OneDrive could also be causing your poor HD performance. I did notice that you said the issue started in the last couple of months.
  • Turbo Boost Switcher? Not sure if it is necessary and not reducing your fan speed as advertised, so may not be working correctly.


You can try removing these items that are running on startup gradually to test for improvements or do a clean install. You won't be able to restore from backup as that will just load all the files back and will need to manually reinstall the applications needed. Test after each reinstall to determine if any particular app is giving you the problem. With the poor drive performance, I would also expect you are seeing a slow down on most operations and would also expect you are occasionally seeing the spinning beach ball.

Apr 29, 2024 11:45 AM in response to Mac Jim ID

The Cisco AnyConnect VPN is to connect to a SQL server for a class, unfortunately I cannot remove it. If I shut down the computer and it runs on startup, I always force quit it immediately if I do not need to use it. Would that still be contributing to the issue? I am not familiar with the purpose of Kernel Extensions and what they do, nor why these files are running on startup.

I remember when I upgraded to Big Sur in August, the computer ran noticeably slower. This is when the overheating issues started as well, which is why I have Turbo Boost Switcher installed. I am hesitant to upgrade to Sonoma because I feel like it will make it worse, and may be a chance Apple did not develop it with Intel processors in mind.

I stopped the OneDrive syncing last night, it seems a little bit better but it is still not a significant improvement.

Apr 29, 2024 11:53 AM in response to Allan Jones

There is over 19 GB of storage being used under the System category, and 31 GB in "Other", I never know what to do to decrease the size of that. 18 GB in applications, this is mostly due to Tableau, excel, word, SQLWorkbench, GitHub, and PowerPoint. I cannot delete any of those because of school, so I assume the easiest and most convenient way to fix this is by buying a new MacBook with a larger SSD.

I have reservations about upgrading the software, I replied to another comment:

I remember when I upgraded to Big Sur in August, the computer ran noticeably slower. This is when the overheating issues started as well, which is why I have Turbo Boost Switcher installed. I am hesitant to upgrade to Sonoma because I feel like it will make it worse, and may be a chance Apple did not develop it with Intel processors in mind.

Macbook Pro 2019 Overheating Constantly

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