Level 1

14 points

2020 Air Overheating

I'll try again, my last post was deleted, so I'll frame my questions at the top.

I'm really struggling with the 2020 Air. It's constantly overheating. It runs incredibly hot. The fan is almost always on. If I push it the fan is on. But even if I don't push it - the fan comes on. Every video call (Zoom, Hangouts) - the fan is on. General browsing in Chrome - the fan is on. There is nothing untoward in Memory, Energy Usage or CPU in Activity Monitor.

Is there an answer? Can I do anything? I feel I've made the wrong decision buying this - I'm pretty sure I couldn't last 2 years with this machine, let alone 7 - and it's one of the first times I'm genuinely disappointed in Apple. Any suggestions are really welcome.

I was super excited to get the 2020 Air. I've owned my last Air since mid 2013. It was an excellent machine. When the new one was released (with the better keyboard) I raced to buy it - finally the upgrade I'd been waiting for. I went fully spec'd with an I7 and 16GB of RAM.

I moved all my work over, I used it for more than the 2 weeks I could have sent it back, and really wanted to love it. I tried to love it. I spent nearly £2000 on it. But I can't love it. I'm really disappointed, I feel it was a bad buy. I'm not sure I could or would recommend it to anyone.

The screen is great, the keyboard is great, the size is great - but the fan. The fan kills me. It's on ALL the time. I've 'fed back' to Apple. I've asked a Genius. I've Googled for hours. But the fan. All the time. It's definitely on if I do anything punchy, like Logic. But it's on for every video call. Zoom, Hangouts, whatever - on it goes. And it just spins up all the time when you're using Chrome. And then it'll stay on for ages. (And the answer here isn't "use Safari" - my 2013 Mac coped fine).

This is meant to be a top of the line Air, and I really don't think I'm even pushing it that hard (but God forbid I do push it, because that's just fan fan fan). I'm doing more or less exactly the same thing I was doing on my 2013 machine - which didn't spin up the fan. And that's 7 years older!

I've read countless articles and watched countless YouTube videos of people moaning about the fan and the fan noise. "It's super, super distracting." "It comes on all the time." "There's a problem with the cooling the Air," etc etc.

What can I do?

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Aug 10, 2020 10:54 AM

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41 replies

aquellix

Level 1

4 points

Nov 19, 2020 8:55 AM in response to artdavis

Can you guys please all complain to Apple Support about this?? Maybe we can force them to make a recall and give us sth. nicer!!

yesiamben Author

Level 1

14 points

Aug 11, 2020 2:25 AM in response to Kappy

Kappy - thanks for your reply.

"One answer is that no matter what anyone does on any notebook Mac, the fans are on continuously and that is normal." - yes, I accept that - but the fan is not always distractingly audible and aggressive. It sounds like a hairdryer.

As I said originally, activity monitor is not showing anything unusual. I did, as per your recommendation, install a temperature and fan speed app. My 'CPU Proximity' has pretty consistent 'high temperature'. This is relatively consistent under mild load. With high temperature comes 6000rpm+ fan speeds (ie hairdryer noise).

Again - I'm not doing anything different on this machine than I did on my 2013 Air. I have the same programs running, the same amount of tabs open in Chrome (and sites!), etc etc. The older machine was an 8GB I7 from 7 years ago. The 2020 should be significantly more powerful - and yet doing the same things I'm getting unacceptably crazy fan.

It can't be a "you should be using Safari rather than Chrome" - because a) that's just a ridiculous answer on a 2 grand laptop, and b) my 2013 Air coped fine.

Very, very frustrating (but thanks for trying to help!).

yesiamben Author

Level 1

14 points

Aug 11, 2020 3:49 AM in response to yesiamben

Just to elaborate on this - again, I'm doing nothing right now (and over the last couple of months) on this Mac that I didn't do on my 2013 Air. I worked on that one, I'm doing the same work (same apps, same type of usage) on this one. But here's my CPU temperature and fan speed over the last hour or so.

The fan is pretty consistently over 6000, which means it sounds like a hairdryer. It's often above 7000, which sounds like a wind tunnel. Frustrating and becoming borderline unusable.

yesiamben Author

Level 1

14 points

Sep 4, 2020 7:21 AM in response to yesiamben

So did we get any further on this? Anyone had any bright ideas or updates? Apple made any comments?

The 2020 Air is an utterly frustrating machine to use. Half the time it sounds like I'm using a hairdryer when I'm trying to work - wearing headphones is the only thing that really helps.

yesiamben Author

Level 1

14 points

Oct 27, 2020 10:28 AM in response to artdavis

"That is patent rubbish. My mid 2013 Air ran perfectly -- and silently -- for seven great years while doing MUCH more than my "superior spec" 2020 Air, whose fan cranks merrily away full blast while I'm doing nothing but running a web browser."

Yep, same. 16gb of RAM, i7 here - my 2013 i7 with 8gb of RAM I barely heard the fan.

Also have no idea who to contact at Apple. Nobody seems to care, hence me moaning away in the forums.

aquellix

Level 1

4 points

Nov 10, 2020 7:45 AM in response to yesiamben

Hi,

I have the same Problem with mine, too. I have send it in several times to Apple Repair, but they were not able to solve the problem for me. I am sorry, but you are gonna have to live with it and I agree I am very disappointed by Apple and I would never have thought that they would let it get so far.

Cheers

yesiamben Author

Level 1

14 points

Nov 10, 2020 1:41 PM in response to artdavis

Yep. Just seen the new models. Galling. I've owned it for less than 6 months. A refresh after 6 months is a complete kick in the teeth, especially for all the people that waited to buy the Macbook Air that came out earlier this year.

Really, really disappointed Apple. Shame no one actually listens on this forum.

artdavis

Level 1

24 points

Nov 14, 2020 7:16 PM in response to John Scott1

Previous incarnations of the Air did not do this. I would run my Mid-2013 Air (i5, 8GB RAM) with -- and I am not kidding - 1,000 or more browser tabs (don't ask) -- and this was NEVER an issue. I'd still be using it now if the keyboard and battery didn't BOTH need to be replaced.

artdavis

Level 1

24 points

Nov 19, 2020 12:52 PM in response to aquellix

I have. They do not acknowledge even being aware that it's an issue, despite the fact that their own forums are rife with threads like this, and numerous major tech and business websites have done stories on the problem.

artdavis

Level 1

24 points

Dec 27, 2020 7:19 PM in response to shawn_bowen

It's great that this kludge is working for you, but paying customers shouldn't have to resort to workarounds like this, especially if they involve opening the unit and voiding the warranty to fix something that was flawed rolling off the assembly line.

yesiamben Author

Level 1

14 points

Dec 29, 2020 2:20 PM in response to yesiamben

Doesn't this all feel kind of mental that we've resorted to posting workarounds to a problem we shouldn't have?

Installing a thermal heatpad? Sitting it on box? Sending it back twice?

I've been talking to someone from Apple about it and despite sending many links, YouTube videos and forum threads it feels like I'm being gaslighted every time I send an email. I'll directly ask "did you read the links" and the question will be ignored or talked around. There is a flat refusal to acknowledge that this machine isn't very good (despite alllll the shouting on the web) - and it all comes back to "tech support will help you, they've never heard of anything like this before".

yesiamben Author

Level 1

14 points

Jan 30, 2021 11:36 AM in response to dorothea415

Yep, dreadful, isn't it? When I was on the phone to support they could literally hear the fan in the background, "Is that your fan?!" -- yes, yes it is. And yet in all my emails to the "Executive Relations" guy, he'll never admit there's a problem. It's always my machine that's the issue, never a bigger thing. Loved my last Mac and can't stand this one. What an utter let down, and how frustrating the problem is completely ignored.

Feb 12, 2021 1:51 AM in response to Kappy

Then it’s called a defect and should be advertised before sale ! They need to call them back and fix the issues we should not have to deal with a product that more expense but less efficient. I’m scared it will explode in my face !

Mar 27, 2021 6:28 AM in response to yesiamben

I have dat same issue here, but with my Core i3. Every time I use Google Chrome, the fans start turning on. This happens when Watching youTube or trying to sign in to Google. I don't know how to fix it. Every time I try to sign in to Google, the fans would start turning on like I said to at least 5000rpm, sometimes 8000rpm (max speed). I get "Something went wrong". The same applies for watching videos, it takes forever to load - the fans turn on. When the video finally finishes loading, it starts buffering a lot, but then returns back to normal with the fans still running at 3000-4000rpm. Also, when trying to load a video or a heavy website will cause my Google Chat to say "Unable to connect to chat". Dis had happened consistently. And is sometimes happens when loading any website, speaking of loading, some times when trying to load a Youtube video, I get "An error occurred. Please try again later.", and that can sometimes happen right away upon loading the video. Also, when using the notification center in Big Sur, the Notification Center will freeze and give me the rainbow pinwheel of death. I had to go into activity monitor and reset the Notification Center to normal, sometimes, parts of the MacOS system don't work unless reseting the Dock in activity monitor. I Restarted, I decongested everything, I did everything I could do and it still does this!

Arrrrrrrrrrrgh! You should never get the Core i3! >:(

yesiamben Author

Level 1

14 points

Mar 27, 2021 2:18 PM in response to funmilayo256

If anyone cares - I pushed this pretty far with Apple support.

There's a pretty much solid refusal to acknowledge any of the links/videos/forum posts/discussions I sent that cover the ridiculous fan noise. There's no official notes of any problems regarding this machine. The fan noise is "expected behaviour". My unhappiness has been noted, and that's all they're prepared to do or say - end of it.

Makes me genuinely unhappy - long time Mac buyer, this is the first one I've absolutely hated. £2000 and you have to wear noise cancelling headphones. Terrible.

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2020 Air Overheating