OtisPJivefunk

Q: Fan almost always running since installing macOS Sierra and MacBook Air running hot.

Hi,

 

Since upgrading to macOS Sierra last night on my MacBook Air (2013, i7, 8gbRAM) the fans are almost always running, even when I am just using Safari.  Previously, the fans would only run when I was playing a game, or video editing.  The base of my Macbook Air is also much warmer than it was under El Capitan - again, just when using Safari.  As a consequence of this, my battery life is now appalling - dropped from 100% to 23% in just over an hour.  Again, under El Capitan, if I was just using the internet, an hour's use would see the battery drop 10-15% maximum.

 

I turned off my Macbook Air, and turned it back on again after fifteen minutes, but within about 10-15 minutes, the fans started back up again and the base (and top of the keyboard) heated up again.  Not to uncomfortable levels, but certainly to noticeable levels.

 

Just to reiterate - I am only running Safari when this happens.  Also, since starting this question 5 minutes ago, the battery % has dropped from 29% to 22% and the fans are whirring alway like the dickens.

 

 

Any idea why this might be happening?

MacBook Air, macOS Sierra (10.12)

Posted on Sep 22, 2016 1:40 AM

Close

Q: Fan almost always running since installing macOS Sierra and MacBook Air running hot.

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Ella Fitzgerald,

    Ella Fitzgerald Ella Fitzgerald Sep 22, 2016 1:42 AM in response to OtisPJivefunk
    Level 4 (2,853 points)
    iPhone
    Sep 22, 2016 1:42 AM in response to OtisPJivefunk

    Hello, take a look at this article http://www.macworld.co.uk/feature/mac/fix-overheating-macbook-3592266/ maybe it will help.

  • by William Kucharski,Helpful

    William Kucharski William Kucharski Sep 22, 2016 1:59 AM in response to OtisPJivefunk
    Level 6 (15,206 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 22, 2016 1:59 AM in response to OtisPJivefunk

    How much actual "on" time has your system had since the install?

     

    When installing a new OS like Sierra, Spotlight needs to reindex the universe, a task that is both processor-intensive and that will take a while, but cannot be done if your Mac was put to sleep by closing the lid post-install.

     

    If you can, leave your MB Air open overnight (while plugged into power, of course) and see if the behavior goes back to normal.

  • by OtisPJivefunk,

    OtisPJivefunk OtisPJivefunk Sep 22, 2016 1:52 AM in response to William Kucharski
    Level 1 (6 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 22, 2016 1:52 AM in response to William Kucharski

    A good few hours.  Also, I should add that I closed all open programs (other than system ones in the background) and just left my MacBook Air open on the desktop, with nothing running,  The fans are still going, and the battery is still plunging. 

     

    Looking at activity monitor, I see that cloudd and bird are taking up enormous swathes of my CPU time - a quick look at the internet told me these are iCloud syncing things.  I'm guessing it's because Sierra was just installed.  Any idea how long these things run for?

  • by William Kucharski,Helpful

    William Kucharski William Kucharski Sep 22, 2016 1:59 AM in response to OtisPJivefunk
    Level 6 (15,206 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 22, 2016 1:59 AM in response to OtisPJivefunk

    If you selected the option to move all your Desktop and Documents items to iCloud Drive, this can take quite a while, depending on the speed of your Internet connection.

  • by OtisPJivefunk,

    OtisPJivefunk OtisPJivefunk Sep 22, 2016 1:59 AM in response to William Kucharski
    Level 1 (6 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 22, 2016 1:59 AM in response to William Kucharski

    I did select that.  And yeah, there's quite a bit of stuff.  I didn't know uploading would impact CPU usage so much.

  • by Feriveramd,

    Feriveramd Feriveramd Sep 22, 2016 10:43 AM in response to OtisPJivefunk
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Sep 22, 2016 10:43 AM in response to OtisPJivefunk

    I had the same problem.  I ran Activity monitor from Utilities folder, and found that "cloud" was using 80-90% of the CPU.  I have had Sierra already for a couple of days so don't think its from downloading stuff.  I was only able to fix the problem by signing out of iCloud.  I'm going to try logging back in and see what happens...

  • by OtisPJivefunk,

    OtisPJivefunk OtisPJivefunk Sep 22, 2016 11:41 AM in response to Feriveramd
    Level 1 (6 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 22, 2016 11:41 AM in response to Feriveramd

    Well, mine has stopped whirring away and the Activity Monitor doesn't show cloudd or bird.  It took near enough 12 hours, but it seems to have finished whatever witchery it was doing.

  • by DrJus,

    DrJus DrJus Sep 23, 2016 7:46 AM in response to OtisPJivefunk
    Level 1 (45 points)
    Sep 23, 2016 7:46 AM in response to OtisPJivefunk

    I had this issue immediately after I installed Sierra on my MacBook Air.  First I tried resetting the SMC and the PRAM.  This did not stop the fans from constantly running.  I then used Activity Monitor to see what was possibly overtaxing my system.  I saw that the 'secd' process was consistently sucking up over 90% of my CPU usage.  Others however said that this is normal after an OS upgrade and should drop back down after the computer finishes its initial photo and file scanning.  I therefore let my MBA run plugged in nonstop for 36 hours straight and the fans just kept running while the 'secd' process continued to drain at >90% CPU usage.  I also looked closer at the Activity Monitor and saw that tasks like photo analysis had their own processes separate from 'secd'.  So I digged more into what the heck 'secd' was really doing with so much of the CPU resources.  Long story short, I found that there is some glitch in Sierra that causes the macOS to get stuck on a process involving the Keychain and iCloud.

     

    This is what I did to address this Keychain/iCloud issue that was leading to 'secd' overtaxing the CPU and triggering the fans to always be on:

    -I went to Keychain Access and reset to Default (after I created a backup of my important passwords)

    -In Activity Monitor, I used Force Quit to kill the process that involved the Keychain

    -In Activity Monitor, I then Force Quit the process that involved iCloud

    -In Activity Monitor, I finally Force Quit the 'secd' process. (I found that I could not simply Force Quit 'secd' without first killing the Keychain & iCloud processes first)

    -After all that, I restarted the computer and the fans were finally off!  I opened up Activity Monitor and saw that 'secd' was no longer hogging up CPU usage.  Processes like photoanalysis were still running in the background at 40-50% CPU usage with no unwanted triggering of the system's fans.  iCloud syncing and my Keychain were also functioning fine now.

     

    I finally am able to use Sierra without my fans blazing out of control.  Took me awhile to get this sorted out.  Hope this helps save all of you some headaches and time until Apple is able to realize that there is this Sierra software glitch they need to address.

  • by cayiry,

    cayiry cayiry Sep 23, 2016 12:53 PM in response to OtisPJivefunk
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 23, 2016 12:53 PM in response to OtisPJivefunk

    I saw your question and other people having similar issues. I had similar issues with hot running in my 2012 Macbook Pro also. I eventually did a clean install of Sierra. I don't think the hot running system is necessarily an indication that Sierra is too complex for older systems. I think it has some processes that have to run, such as the new Photos app. It does some really awesome things People albums, Places and Categories, all in device. This is better because I personally did not feel comfortable having other peoples faces recognized somewhere in Icloud etc. Once your system goes through this process, I think you will enjoy the benefits, so give it a few days until this process completes. Same process is happening in my Iphone 6 after installing iOS 10 independently from the Mac, an I really liked the results. It organizes my 15 years of digital pictures (150 gigs!) and even chooses better shots etc. (i.e, showcasing smiley poses, group pics and good portraits).

  • by boarderboybrand,

    boarderboybrand boarderboybrand Oct 2, 2016 9:31 PM in response to DrJus
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 2, 2016 9:31 PM in response to DrJus

    Thank you! This helped my computer as well!

  • by marcio f,

    marcio f marcio f Oct 10, 2016 10:33 AM in response to OtisPJivefunk
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Oct 10, 2016 10:33 AM in response to OtisPJivefunk

    Hi,

     

    here I have the same problem. What I noticed is that if I have any websites running Java or .NET the CPU sage goes to the roof and the fan goes with it.

     

    Marcio.