Overheating MacBook Pro after Big Sur instal

After every major upgrade there are processes that occur in the background such as new indexes and databases for such things as Photos or Search. These take time and the system needs to be up and running to resolve it. Try setting system NOT to log out or shut down for a day or so and you should see improvement.

I called Apple support team and we tried everything for 5 consecutive days. Nothing improved the situation. Lastly, my boyfriend did a search online and found the problem. In my case, after updating to Big Sur, the problem was Google Chrome Helper: https://www.wired.com/2014/10/google-chrome-helper/

Try removing it. You will find it in your Activity monitor. Good luck!

I've been struggling with the overheating issue and have tried everything listed on every page I could find. Nothing worked until today. I've noticed that the file structure has changed significantly with Big Sur (well, insiders knew this all along) and that after re-structuring my data the overheating problem went away.

I used to have all folders directly under my hard_drive. This is no longer desirable according to the new OS structure and the system expects all files to be in the documents folder under the users, that is /hard_drive/users/myloginname/documents/folder instead of /hard_drive/folder. This apparently caused to issues:

1) Sherlock constantly tried to update but couldn't quite come to an end because of permission issues. This also led to the fact that files that were there wouldn't no longer appear in a Sherlock search.

2) Word would always get messed up with permissions, wanting me to grant access to a file. Also, Word no longer was able to properly open files from the "recent" list.

After moving my folders to the appropriate location, all these issues, including the overheating disappeared. Running one day now with a cool mac and much less battery drain. Hope it stays this way.

I found this article worked: https://macpaw.com/how-to/reduce-mac-fan-noise

Specifically, I used CleanMyMac to find "Heavy Consumers" in the Optimization tab.

For me it was the Chrome Helper app. Once I closed that the fans stopped.

I suggest looking at your activity monitor (see my post above) as Big Sur seems to have trouble communicating with background task that might already have been running, causing an energy-sapping loop that you will need to force quit before things noramilse. If that doesn’t work, it is indeed a compatibility problem, but try this first - it’s not very difficult.

This is perfectly normal after a new MacOS update. There are numerous system tasks running in the background, preparing MacOS for normal use. It could take a while - even hours, particularly if you're using your Mac at the same time.

Run Activity Monitor and watch what processes are running if you so wish to see what's going on.

SOLVED.

Guys, had the exact same problem on my MBA 2019, say, for a week. I read and followed all the previous solutions you wrote down here (many thanks even if they didn't work for my MBA), finally found what I needed: just logged out and in again to my iCloud account, and miraculously both overheating and loud fan noise disappeared. Don't have an update on battery gobbling issue yet, but I assume a better battery performance after getting rid of the fan sound and overheating. CPU works normally, the "secd" process (which was draining it, despite I turned off and on KeyChain several times) is back to normal. I hope it may work for somebody who have been suffering from it!

I called Apple support's team, and we tried everything for 5 consecutive days. Anything improved the situation, my computer continued overheating seriously and its fans working constantly. Lastly, my boyfriend searched online and found the problem. In my case, after updating to Big Sur, the problem was Google Chrome Helper: https://www.wired.com/2014/10/google-chrome-helper/

Try removing it. You will find it in your Activity Monitor. Good luck!

I finally upgraded to Big Sur and noticed the fans running which was unusual after Catalina. Using Activity Monitor, I finally found an app I had installed previously called OverSight running a process called OverSightXPC which was using over 70% of CPU. I deleted this app since the privacy settings in System Preferences can control access to the microphone and camera and the fans have not come back on.

Throw Chrome away / empty trash / restart. Should fix the problem. Reinstall new Chrome download (big sur version)

Ok I found out that it probably is because of "Google Chrome Helper" running really intensively. I went in "Activity Monitor" -> double click -> End process. After 5min, the vent went down and it finally stopped

GUYS, CHROME . all has to do with chrome. Download the "intel version" from their download site and instal it over the one you have. Don't delete the old one. It will keep all your settings this way. Good luck!

I had same issue. I tried everything and even went up to senior technicians. I still do not know what was causing the overheating. but if you take the time to time machine backup. erase partition and then option command r to reload a clean version of Big Sur. no upgrades from previous versions. then restore from back up or simply restore desktop, documents, music, etc. then you will have a clean Big Sur install with all your important files. my machine can now have 10 apps open and cpu usage sits at 87%. I have not heard my fan increase since. I have better piece of mind knowing I have clean install of Big Sur and my pertinent files. yes, you will have to download apps so keep track. everything is working great and Apple tech support was very good. Hope this helps... There are no issues with clean Big Sur install.

I updated mine two days back and the fan is spinning like crazy, even when it’s sitting idle and even if I close the lid.

I did SMC reset, nothing.

Now I read something about database indexing over here and to just leave it running for a day or so, so I am going to try that. Let’s hope for the best.

Activity monitor showed massive energy impact by Google Chrome Helper so I "quit" that. Here's a good article to help you disable Google Chrome Helper. I think having done this may have solved the problem for me. Good luck everyone. https://www.wired.com/2014/10/google-chrome-helper/