User profile for user: Shaya88
Shaya88 Author
User level: Level 1
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Why is my 2019 MacBook Pro overheating during basic tasks?

I have a 13-inch MacBook Pro (2019) with two Thunderbolt 3 ports, a 1.4 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5 processor, Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645 (1536 MB), and 8 GB of 2133 MHz LPDDR3 RAM.

The back of my MacBook has gotten so hot that the grey color has turned yellow. I mostly use it for watching YouTube videos, web browsing, or simple tasks.

Unfortunately, I don’t believe I can upgrade the RAM on this model. My storage isn't full—I have 25 GB free out of 256 GB.

Is there anything I can do to diagnose the problem? The built-in MacBook diagnostics couldn't find anything. I noticed that as soon as I open Chrome, 5 GB of RAM is already in use, which doesn’t make sense.



[Re-Titled by Moderator]

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 15.3

Posted on Feb 17, 2025 5:30 AM

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User profile for user: D.I. Johnson
D.I. Johnson
User level: Level 7
33,701 points

Posted on Feb 17, 2025 8:20 AM

25GB free space on a 256GB startup drive is the bare minimum. If it falls much more you run the risk of the computer being unable to boot properly. You would be wise to offload some of your data to an external drive for storage. A rule of thumb for happy computing is to keep a minimum of 10% of the startup drive's total capacity free at all times. You are at that minimum now.


As for the RAM usage: 8GB is about the minimum necessary to run macOS Sequoia. You can check to see if what you have is suitable for your tasks by launching Activity Monitor and selecting the Memory tab at the top of the window. At the bottom you will find the Memory Pressure graph. If this remains green while you use the computer, then the RAM is adequate for the tasks you are running.

Activity Monitor User Guide for Mac - Apple Support


Chrome is a known resource hog on the Mac. Better to use a different browser. I've never had any problem over the years with Safari or Firefox. I understand that Brave is very similar to Chrome, but better.

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User profile for user: D.I. Johnson
D.I. Johnson
User level: Level 7
33,701 points

Feb 17, 2025 8:20 AM in response to Shaya88

25GB free space on a 256GB startup drive is the bare minimum. If it falls much more you run the risk of the computer being unable to boot properly. You would be wise to offload some of your data to an external drive for storage. A rule of thumb for happy computing is to keep a minimum of 10% of the startup drive's total capacity free at all times. You are at that minimum now.


As for the RAM usage: 8GB is about the minimum necessary to run macOS Sequoia. You can check to see if what you have is suitable for your tasks by launching Activity Monitor and selecting the Memory tab at the top of the window. At the bottom you will find the Memory Pressure graph. If this remains green while you use the computer, then the RAM is adequate for the tasks you are running.

Activity Monitor User Guide for Mac - Apple Support


Chrome is a known resource hog on the Mac. Better to use a different browser. I've never had any problem over the years with Safari or Firefox. I understand that Brave is very similar to Chrome, but better.

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Why is my 2019 MacBook Pro overheating during basic tasks?

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