My Macbook fan is running kinda strange

Hello everyone, I own a Macbook air 2017 and today I noticed a weird behavior of my fan while I was using it.

I was working on my laptop, while all of a sudden the screen froze 2 times out of nowhere for a couple of seconds (2-3 seconds max) and got to working again.

After that, I checked my CCleaner system monitor (which shows you CPU Usage/Temp, Fan Speed etc.), which showed me "NaN", and my CPU Temperature was quite high.

I thought this was a problem with the CCleaner app, so i also downloaded the Fan Control app which was showing me that my fan was indeed running at about 1200 RPM, but this value rarely changed even though the CPU temperature would climb up to 80-90 degrees Celsius.

I tried running the full blow on the fan and can confirm that it runs on full blow, it runs when I monitor a certain sensor with the Fan Control app such as the CPU Proximity, but when I let it do it's automatic run it stays at 1200 RPM mostly.

The fan is also pretty much dead silent at around 1200 RPM , I can't even tell if it's running or not (MDS Stores also uses my CPU way too much.)

Is this a serious issue or is there something I can do?

Thank you in advance.


MacBook Air 13″, macOS 12.6

Posted on Apr 20, 2023 11:40 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Apr 21, 2023 7:27 PM

I would advise you to uninstall CCleaner. Anti-virus apps, cleaning/optimizer apps, and third party security software are not needed on a Mac. These types of apps usually causes more problems than they solve since they interfere with the normal operation of macOS. In addition, CCleaner is now owned by a different company, Avast which also makes an anti-virus app. CCleaner has been compromised at least two times, and Avast has been known to sell user information on multiple occasions. Avast is not the company it once was either.


See the section at the end regarding the malware infection of CCleaner:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CCleaner


https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/09/ccleaner-malware-outbreak-is-much-worse-than-it-first-appeared/



Avast selling user information:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/01/avast-kills-off-jumpshot-the-subsidiary-that-sold-all-your-web-data/


macOS already has great built-in security especially when the user also practices safe computing practices such as those outlined in this excellent article written by a respected forum contributor:

Effective defenses against malware and other threats - Apple Community


After uninstalling CCleaner and any other anti-virus, cleaning/optimizer apps, or third party security software...if you still have issues, then run EtreCheck and post the report here so we can examine the report to see if anything stands out.


FYI, the USB-C Intel Macs do run hot and is perfectly normal for those laptops. These USB-C Intel Macs will not speed up the fan until the system temp gets to over 95C and will keep the temps in the 80C to 90C range if possible. Just about everything you do will have the CPU temp jump to 80-90C, even just moving the mouse pointer. I personally like to use MacsFanControl when I monitor the computers I'm diagnosing.


If a Mac is running overly hot with the fan(s) running at high speed when you don't seem to be doing much, then it is usually due to some app running out of control (usually a third party app such as those I have already mentioned which interfere with the normal operation of macOS).


It is not worth using a fan/temperature monitoring app except to learn about how the computer works.


If you feel there may be an issue with the cooling system, then run the Apple Diagnostics. The diagnostics are usually pretty good at identifying any cooling system issues if any exist.


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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Apr 21, 2023 7:27 PM in response to elird

I would advise you to uninstall CCleaner. Anti-virus apps, cleaning/optimizer apps, and third party security software are not needed on a Mac. These types of apps usually causes more problems than they solve since they interfere with the normal operation of macOS. In addition, CCleaner is now owned by a different company, Avast which also makes an anti-virus app. CCleaner has been compromised at least two times, and Avast has been known to sell user information on multiple occasions. Avast is not the company it once was either.


See the section at the end regarding the malware infection of CCleaner:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CCleaner


https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/09/ccleaner-malware-outbreak-is-much-worse-than-it-first-appeared/



Avast selling user information:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/01/avast-kills-off-jumpshot-the-subsidiary-that-sold-all-your-web-data/


macOS already has great built-in security especially when the user also practices safe computing practices such as those outlined in this excellent article written by a respected forum contributor:

Effective defenses against malware and other threats - Apple Community


After uninstalling CCleaner and any other anti-virus, cleaning/optimizer apps, or third party security software...if you still have issues, then run EtreCheck and post the report here so we can examine the report to see if anything stands out.


FYI, the USB-C Intel Macs do run hot and is perfectly normal for those laptops. These USB-C Intel Macs will not speed up the fan until the system temp gets to over 95C and will keep the temps in the 80C to 90C range if possible. Just about everything you do will have the CPU temp jump to 80-90C, even just moving the mouse pointer. I personally like to use MacsFanControl when I monitor the computers I'm diagnosing.


If a Mac is running overly hot with the fan(s) running at high speed when you don't seem to be doing much, then it is usually due to some app running out of control (usually a third party app such as those I have already mentioned which interfere with the normal operation of macOS).


It is not worth using a fan/temperature monitoring app except to learn about how the computer works.


If you feel there may be an issue with the cooling system, then run the Apple Diagnostics. The diagnostics are usually pretty good at identifying any cooling system issues if any exist.


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My Macbook fan is running kinda strange

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