MacBook Pro is hot when in sleep mode

My wife's MacBook is warm when using it, which is to be expected, but when it gets put it to sleep it stays warm (even feels hot sometimes) and I can hear the hard drive spinning occasionally. This does not seem right. Why would it do this in "energy saving" mode?



MacBook Pro (2017 – 2020)

Posted on Apr 12, 2024 8:27 AM

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Posted on Apr 12, 2024 9:14 AM

...and I can hear the hard drive spinning occasionally.


Macbook Pros have not used mech hard drives since 2012 so that could be the fan which, in sleep, should be off.


In many Macbook Pros, magnetic switches sense the lid position and invoke sleep mode. If something magnetic is nearby, that could cause the computer to not be properly sleeping.


If the battery is swelling, that can prevent the lid from closing enough to trigger the magnetic switch. Battery swelling can be evidenced by:


  • Uneven gap between display and chassis when the display is closed.
  • Uneven gap between the chassis and the bottom plate.
  • The computer rocks whe set on a know-flat surface. Solid-surface or granite countertops are usually reliably level.
  • The trackpad bulges out.


LuckyLion21 wisely mentions other apps and processes. Are you running any anti-virus or so-called "cleaning" apps? Private network software (VPNs) can be problematic as well.


A sleeping computer is not "off" but in standby mode. The macOS has run automatic self-maintenance scripts for 24 years and those happen in the small hours of the morning. However, these run only for minutes and have never caused battery drain or heating on my Macbook Pros.




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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Apr 12, 2024 9:14 AM in response to Marcus_Barcus

...and I can hear the hard drive spinning occasionally.


Macbook Pros have not used mech hard drives since 2012 so that could be the fan which, in sleep, should be off.


In many Macbook Pros, magnetic switches sense the lid position and invoke sleep mode. If something magnetic is nearby, that could cause the computer to not be properly sleeping.


If the battery is swelling, that can prevent the lid from closing enough to trigger the magnetic switch. Battery swelling can be evidenced by:


  • Uneven gap between display and chassis when the display is closed.
  • Uneven gap between the chassis and the bottom plate.
  • The computer rocks whe set on a know-flat surface. Solid-surface or granite countertops are usually reliably level.
  • The trackpad bulges out.


LuckyLion21 wisely mentions other apps and processes. Are you running any anti-virus or so-called "cleaning" apps? Private network software (VPNs) can be problematic as well.


A sleeping computer is not "off" but in standby mode. The macOS has run automatic self-maintenance scripts for 24 years and those happen in the small hours of the morning. However, these run only for minutes and have never caused battery drain or heating on my Macbook Pros.




Apr 12, 2024 8:39 AM in response to Marcus_Barcus

  1. Check if there are any background process or tasks running. Some apps draw significant battery which results in MacBook becoming warm
  2. Powered apps such as video editing softwares, photo editing softwares, developer tools, video games etc if not quit for long will also cause this issue
  3. Disable any external devices if attached to it while not using
  4. Sometimes, even room temperature effects in heating a MacBook

Apr 12, 2024 9:19 AM in response to LuckyLion21

Thank you for those tips. The only apps that are typically open are a browser or Quick Books and there are no external devices except an apple mouse.


Something I just noticed since I posted the question is that "System Data" is taking up almost ALL of the room on the hard drive yet there's no way to see what that is (no information icon). Could this be causing the hard drive to run all the time? How do you reduce the size of this, it seems ridiculously large.


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MacBook Pro is hot when in sleep mode

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