2011 Mac mini overheating

Years ago I was given a 2011 Mac mini that had the same problem. I replacing the thermal paste and that helped some. In the end I determined that the heatsink was warped and no longer seated flat across the GPU and CPU. With some further twisting and over-torquing, I was able to get it to stay cool but the toasted CPU never preformed as good as my 2010 Mac mini.

Have you checked one of the simplest things, the fan? Is it clogged with dirt or simply no longer functioning or functioning poorly due to worn out bearings? Considering it is a 2011 that could very easily be an issue.

If it is getting as hot as you say, the fan should be really loud. If not, that is likely your over heating issue

Could very well have been MacFanControl, if it is not being used correctly.

After quitting and removing MacFanControl, you should reset the Mac mini's SMC.

as per > Reset the SMC of your Mac - Apple Support

Desktop computer

1. Shut down your Mac, then unplug the power cord.
2. Wait 15 seconds, then plug the power cord back in.
3. Wait 5 seconds, then press the power button to turn on your Mac.

mac minis as far as I am concerned are always overheating (at least intel-based ones). My 2018 is even worse than my 2012.

You may wish to consider Macs Fan Control app, although this is not an official recommandation of Apple.

Same with a physical fan underneath that you can find on Amazon. Personally (and again, not an official recommandation), I have removed the cap under, so the fan can ''pull out'' heat.

Of course, the very first step - especially if the problem is new to you - is to find if there are specific apps that generate such levels of heat. Some apps such as Skype, MS Teams, tend to overheat macs (MBP or minis or else), although I tend to notice that M-based macs are much better.

gwb21471 wrote:

Well the heatsink was little out of shape. It was on the cpu but the chipset in front of it wasn’t being touch by it. I clean of the paste again straighten out the heat sink. Cut out two pieces of aluminum foil. Put paste on it aluminum foil and little paste on heat sink. Put it all together and turn it on and tried to upgrade to Mac OS 10.13 and it over heated and just restarted. So I turn on my AC unit sat the Mac on floor over the vent blew cold air in it and it went great. It installed Mac OS 10.13 just fine with the updates too. My paste was cheap off of Amazon. I need to buy the good stuff or see about getting a motherboard off of eBay.thanks for the help.

Good work, however... IMHO a 13 year old 2011 Mac mini is not worth spending any money on and you should be looking at replacing it with a newer or new Mac mini.

Throwing a $40 fix at the 2011 Mac mini is your choice.

Personally I think that I would rather spend $50 or $60 on a working 2012 or 2014 Mac mini.

see > https://eshop.macsales.com/configure-my-mac/mac-mini

You do not need both MacFanControl and MenuMeter.

You can use MacFanControl to monitor both the fan speed and the temperature sensors.

If the fan is not running at default speed of 1800 rpm or faster, then the Mac mini will overheat.

If the fan is running at 0 rpm and you can not speed it up to 1800 rpm or higher, then the Fan is disconnected or busted.

You're welcome.

I would be very carefully using tin foil and excessive amounts of thermal paste.

Better to straighten out the heatsink, clean and use a minimum amount of thermal paste.

Good work. 140 degrees F is normal under a heavy load.

If you want a little extra cooling, set the Exhaust Fan up to between 2000 and 2200 rpm.

You're welcome.