MacBook Pro, 2020, overheating/ Loud Fan noise

My Macbook Pro has been overheating with very loud fan noise since I bought in last summer. I have contacted Apple several times, told to do a full restore, which I did and nothing changed. They then collected it to send away for repair. Received it back today and told they did not recreate the fault so sent it back without anything being done. As soon as I started to log back into apple ID, it started again. I don't even have to have much open, just emails and it can do it. If I have 2-3 apps open, such as calendar, mail, and word, it does it. If I open safari and go to a website, such as a newspaper site or similar, it does it immediately and gets very hot. I am really frustrated as paid a lot of money for this, it will be out of warranty in a few months and nothing has been done. I don't understand why Apple are not doing anything about this as I understand from the community comments that this is a very common issue - I know they are moving to M1, which I also have with the MacMini, but they should still honour the issues with the overheating Intel. Anyone solved this issue?

MacBook

Posted on Feb 15, 2021 7:28 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 17, 2021 10:03 AM

Hi there macflower70,


It sounds like you're hearing fan noise on your MacBook Pro and it seems to be overheating. We're glad you've joined us in Apple Support Communities, and we can provide some guidance.


"Some Apple products have vents that let fans bring in cool air and expel hot air. Make sure that the vents aren't blocked to allow your device to perform at its best. MacBook Pro has vents along the side and on the back. The surface your device rests on can block its vents, affecting fan behavior. If you use your device on a soft surface like a couch, pillow, bed, or your lap, its fans might run more. Using your device on a hard, flat surface like a table or desk is best for temperature control." Have a look at this support article to learn more about the fan noise from your MacBook Pro:


About fans and fan noise in your Apple product


"If the fans in your Mac run fast even when it isn't experiencing heavy usage and is properly ventilated, you might need to reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac" Learn how to reset the SMC here:


How to reset the SMC of your Mac


Also, "If your Mac notebook gets warm even when it isn’t doing tasks that require intensive calculations, or if it has fans that run for a long time, use Activity Monitor to check CPU activity. Look for malfunctioning processes that can put a significant load on the CPU, and check whether Spotlight is indexing your hard drive." The links below provide more information:


Keep your Mac notebook within acceptable operating temperatures

View energy consumption in Activity Monitor on Mac


Cheers.

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3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 17, 2021 10:03 AM in response to macflower70

Hi there macflower70,


It sounds like you're hearing fan noise on your MacBook Pro and it seems to be overheating. We're glad you've joined us in Apple Support Communities, and we can provide some guidance.


"Some Apple products have vents that let fans bring in cool air and expel hot air. Make sure that the vents aren't blocked to allow your device to perform at its best. MacBook Pro has vents along the side and on the back. The surface your device rests on can block its vents, affecting fan behavior. If you use your device on a soft surface like a couch, pillow, bed, or your lap, its fans might run more. Using your device on a hard, flat surface like a table or desk is best for temperature control." Have a look at this support article to learn more about the fan noise from your MacBook Pro:


About fans and fan noise in your Apple product


"If the fans in your Mac run fast even when it isn't experiencing heavy usage and is properly ventilated, you might need to reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac" Learn how to reset the SMC here:


How to reset the SMC of your Mac


Also, "If your Mac notebook gets warm even when it isn’t doing tasks that require intensive calculations, or if it has fans that run for a long time, use Activity Monitor to check CPU activity. Look for malfunctioning processes that can put a significant load on the CPU, and check whether Spotlight is indexing your hard drive." The links below provide more information:


Keep your Mac notebook within acceptable operating temperatures

View energy consumption in Activity Monitor on Mac


Cheers.

Feb 22, 2021 4:06 AM in response to oneinamelon

I know, mine overheats just with emails or safari open. Thankfully I have videos and apple support accessed my computer virtually and also saw the change. Mine was sent away, but since then Apple has got me an appointment with a local repair company and I am awaiting the laptop going into them. They are going to run a thorough diagnostics but the good news is I will have direct contact with them to discuss what is happening. Fingers crossed. It seems to be an issue with the intel MacBook pro, I am told due to one fan, so why Apple appear surprised is beyond me. I have 9 apple products and this is the first time I have had a big issue and I must say I have lost a little respect for the way I am being pushed from one person to another and, like you, time is moving on and soon my 12 month warranty will expire and I will be left with a laptop that overheats so much it becomes unworkable, plus worrying about what damage the heat does to the inside of the computer. It is so hot you can't have it on your lap.

Feb 21, 2021 11:23 PM in response to macflower70

I have the exact same problem. I am so frustrated. I had a 2916 mbp and it didn't nearly make as much noise as this 2020 mbp. I went and chatted with the genius bar and they said it was normal and that's how fans work. News flash, it shouldn't be going off every single day from light internet browsing. In fact, i use it less than when I used my old MacBook pro. Do you think we can get it exchanged? I don't want to run out of warranty either.

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MacBook Pro, 2020, overheating/ Loud Fan noise

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