Loud Fan noise when using Microsoft Teams

I have a brand new MBA 2020 i5 16GB. To me the basic issue is that MS Teams triggers the Turbo Boost. Due to a design flaw the MBA 2020 just hasn't got the proper CPU cooling to back up the Turbo Boost. Maybe your Mac also suffers from poor CPU cooling. I fixed the issue with MS Teams by shutting down the Turbo Boost of the CPU, using the 3rd party Turbo Boost Switch app. With the TB off the temperature lowers from 100C to 80C, so the fan doesn't go crazy. With the TB off, MS Teams still works fine. PS Due to this design flaw, I now have turned Turbo Boost off permanently. If I knew about this design flaw, then I would not have spent €1,750,- on a MBA.

For anyone with this issue, a previous post has the solution.

Install Turbo Boost Switcher (there is a free version avalable) and turn off Intel turbo-boost.

If it solves the problem for me on a dual-core 2014 Mac Mini running Teams full screen on a 34" QHD monitor it will solve it on any 2019 or later MacBook.

It's expected behavior. Playing video can be resource-intense and video conferences even more so. The fan kicks in to cool the machine.

Won't affect the longevity, and if you try to stop the fan from running, you risk the CPU overheating and failing.

~Lyssa

The best fix for this I have found is to stop using the desktop application. Use the one on the web. It is a cut down version but at least it won't melt your mac. best of luck. Microsoft will never make mac friendly software. fact.

Hello karoline80,

Thanks for using Apple Support Communities. It sounds like your fans run higher when using a specific app on your Mac. I’m happy to provide some information.

When you run app that uses the CPU more, the fans man run at a higher speed. You can read more below:

See how apps affect Mac performance, battery runtime, temperature, and fan activity - Apple Support

You may also find helpful information here:

About fans and fan noise in your Apple product - Apple Support

Take care.

I have found that using just one screen really helps. I’m also wondering if turning off my Bluetooth keyboard (which I’ve had to buy because I can’t get my laptop repaired during lockdown) helps too.

This is a Microsoft Office Teams issue.

I don't have this issue when running Zoom, BlueJeans or other Video Conferencing Tools.

In regards to longevity, I'm not sure.

Obviously, less heat will put less stress to the MacBook's hardware.

Watch out for MS Teams Updates in hope this will be fixed soon.

Mine is exactly the same. I’ve even had some PC users tell me it happens with theirs as well. It seems to be a Microsoft Teams thing and somehow the video conference is consuming a lot of resource from somewhere. I’ve tried changing the settings in Teams including GPU usage (which is integrated in the MBA anyway) and no different.

I don’t believe it adversely impacts the hardware provided the fan is kicking in and doing what it’s supposed to do.

Working from home with mains power is not so much of an issue (although extremely annoying, especially when other video conferencing apps don’t seem to do this) but once I’m more mobile again it will be a big problem given how much battery it drains in one video call. Eye-contact in these meetings is important so not a simple case of switching the camera off. The technology should do what it’s supposed to do effectively and efficiently.

I have a new 2019 16" MacBook Pro and my fans were going crazy as well when I used Teams. I just switched from a USB hub that was powered by my laptop to a powered USB hub and that seems to help...so far. My guess is that maybe the USB hub was drawing too much power, thus causing the laptop to heat up?

It still doesn't explain why the issue affects Teams more than Zoom. But I thought I would share.

As always, your mileage may vary. Good luck.

Same issue, interesting though and still assessing, although when I switched to direct LAN rather than wifi my fans are not as loud. Only day one with this config but promising. I am on a MacBook Pro though.

I hope too that Apple comes up with a constructive suggestion. Like modifying the heatsink/ fan construction for free. If you do consider using the TB switch app, it’s good to know that it allows you to set specific apps (in this case MS Teams) to run with TB off, so for other use TB will be on.

thank you for mentioning the Microsoft discussion of this. I now have my GPU hardware acceleration disabled in settings. However I am not at all sure this has fully resolved the noise and heat—I will see tomorrow when I do three teams sessions in succession. I’m on a recent MacBook Air. I plug it in because my battery would be dropping like a stone if it wasn’t plugged in. And the issue is definitely eased by only using one screen, but that is ridiculous. This is as people are saying caught in the gap between Microsoft and Apple seemingly, with users floating in between!

I recently received a brand new MacBook Air 2020 in the mail, and set it up to begin using it 2 days ago. Yesterday I kept getting an alert saying that my computer was working too hard streaming a movie on Amazon. Just about 30 minutes ago I was on the Teams app, video conference, and the laptop started roaring...battery dropped rapidly. After the conference call it was a few minutes for the noise to stop. This is ridiculous. Also, the battery lasts only around 4 hours, when all I'm doing is web browsing and using Microsoft O365 and Zoom. I've always had HPs, this was my first Apple laptop...going to return it and get an HP again. It's too bad. I heard such great things about Macs. While it may be the fault of Microsoft, not Apple's fault...I can't work this way.

It's not an Apple Hardware issue, but software Teams issue. However, it's disappointing in which direction Apple is heading in regards to quality/price. To get decent hardware with a decent built quality (MacBook Air has heat problems) you need to get a MacBook Pro above $2K ...

Mine does the same! Also a MacBook Air 2019. I gets extremely hot to the point that if I touch it it actually hurts my skin.

It doesn't do this with apps like zoom, so my best guess is that because it's Microsoft the app just isn't as compatible with a Mac. So frustrating and ridiculous quite frankly.