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Intermittent high fan RPM on Mac mini M4Pro

I received Mac mini with M4Pro chip today. I use iStat to monitor temperature and fan RPM. I found that the fan stopped for a very short time and then immediately ran at high RPM and then returned to 1000 RPM. The whole cycle happened in less than 1 second. This regularly happened around 5-10 minutes. I was not doing anything and CPU/GPU temperature were 40C and 30C. Is this an intended behavior? Or is there something wrong with my Mac mini?


[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Posted on Dec 21, 2024 8:51 AM

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Dec 21, 2024 9:20 AM in response to SHTsai

Sounds like maybe a brief power loss, that is not completely turning off the Mac mini.

Check your power cord connections on both ends to make sure that it is fulling inserted and tight.


Uninstall iStat and get a second opinion from another monitoring utility.

For example: MacFanControl from > https://crystalidea.com/macs-fan-control


If those do not help or fix the problem..?

Contact Apple > Contact - How to Contact Us - Apple

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Dec 21, 2024 6:58 PM in response to SHTsai

SHTsai wrote:

I did check the activity for CPU, Disk, and Network using Activity Monitor, but I saw no spiking. I think it may be malfunctioning is that the fan always dropped to 0 RPM before it goes to >4000 RPM even there is no spiking. And since this is a brand new device and I haven't installed or using other Apps, I was also expecting there is no spiking for all those components.

Yea' sure sounds like something is malfunctioning or not working right.


Don't wait, you only have 14 days to return it for a full refund.

see > Apple - Legal - Sales Policies - U.S. Retail Sales

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Dec 22, 2024 8:46 AM in response to SHTsai

SHTsai wrote:

Thank you for the suggestions. I will return it tomorrow and buy a new one to see if the issue is still existing

You're welcome. Yes that is the best corse to take from this point.


Just make sure that you deauthorize and remove your personal data before returning the Mac mini.

see > What to do before you sell, give away, trade in, or recycle your Mac - Apple Support

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Dec 21, 2024 9:21 AM in response to den.thed

I checked power connections and reboot, but it still happened. I also tried MacFanControl. It showed the same behavior. I also tried to fix the RPM at 1500RPM. This intermittent high RPM still happened. The difference was it returned to 1500 RPM

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Dec 21, 2024 9:56 AM in response to SHTsai

Check you Activity Monitor for spiking CPU, Disk and Network Activity.


Keep in mind that macOS has a lot of background work to do after a setup and migration, which could easily be causing the Fan to occasionally ramp up and down.


If the Fan doesn't settle down after that initial setup activity has passed..? Then recheck you Activity Monitor.

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Dec 21, 2024 5:38 PM in response to den.thed

I did check the activity for CPU, Disk, and Network using Activity Monitor, but I saw no spiking. I think it may be malfunctioning is that the fan always dropped to 0 RPM before it goes to >4000 RPM even there is no spiking. And since this is a brand new device and I haven't installed or using other Apps, I was also expecting there is no spiking for all those components.

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Dec 22, 2024 4:53 AM in response to SHTsai

Great, in that case I would uninstall all 3rd party monitoring apps - unreliable, unnecessary and can’t be used for problem reporting. All they do is sow doubt and little else. If it bothers you and you’re within the return window, return. Good luck!

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Dec 23, 2024 4:35 AM in response to SHTsai

Great, thanks for updating. If I were you, I would not install any 3rd party apps for monitoring temperature, speed, statistics etc. If the Mac is noisy, that’s sufficient in itself to report it to Apple and have them fix.


All the best!

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Intermittent high fan RPM on Mac mini M4Pro

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