Hi! For the past two months I have my MacBook Air 2020 overheating while I’m doing everyday tasks using simple programs, like Keynote, Word or just watching movies etc. Sometimes its cooling system starts to work when I’m not using it, while it’s just charging. Can you please tell me what can be a problem and what can I do. Thank you!
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 15.3
... overheating while I’m doing everyday tasks using simple programs, like Keynote, Word or just watching movies etc.
"Just watching movies" is a high-demand task. I can run up temps on demand on just about any Mac by firing up a movie or video-conferencing. Your GPU and CPU are on the same chip and both have to work hard to decode and display video content,
I have serious concerns with your storage:
Performance:
System Load: 398.85 (1 min ago) 305.22 (5 min ago) 151.44 (15 min ago)
Nominal I/O usage: 46.73 MB/s
File system: 44.04 seconds
Write speed: 336 MB/s
Read speed: 1146 MB/s
I do not have drive performance data for many Macbook Air drives, but I do know that a Apple SSD-only system like yours should have Write and Read speeds that are nearly the same. Yours differ by a factor of 3.5x.
⚠️ First, faced with a potential storage problem, install a backup drive running Time Machine TODAY! Do NOTHING until you have a reliable backup.
Once your drive is backed up, remove the interferences that my trusted colleague rkaufmann87 has identified. I also see WireGuard which I believe is another unneeded "Security" app.
I see a Norton extension in Safari that could be causing your WebKit diagnostic flag for high CPU ise. The last Norton product the did not make life difficult for Macs was released about 1999.
Do you have a stalled update? This:
Top Processes Snapshot by CPU:
Process (count) CPU (Source - Location)
com.apple.MobileSoftwareUpdate.UpdateBrainService 75.10 % (Not signed - /private/var/db/com.apple.xpc.roleaccountd.staging/exec/16777223.55425435.xpc/Contents/MacOS)
That's using a huge amount of a very limited processor. You've not restarted in eight days. Please restart the computer and see if that flag goes away.
Now to those wonky SSD speeds. If if removing all the fearware and restarting do NOT change those drive speed scores, try a Safe Mode Boot:
Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support
When you get the SAFE Mode desktop, STOP and go get a cup of your fav beverage or walk the dog. Let the computer "soak" in Safe Mode for about 30 minutes. Then do a normal restart and another EtreCheck run. Are the new Drive Performance values at leas close to each other?
This Apple article has good tips for controlling internal temps:
Keep your Mac laptop within acceptable operating temperatures - Apple Support
Most deal with placement and workstation issues.
... overheating while I’m doing everyday tasks using simple programs, like Keynote, Word or just watching movies etc.
"Just watching movies" is a high-demand task. I can run up temps on demand on just about any Mac by firing up a movie or video-conferencing. Your GPU and CPU are on the same chip and both have to work hard to decode and display video content,
I have serious concerns with your storage:
Performance:
System Load: 398.85 (1 min ago) 305.22 (5 min ago) 151.44 (15 min ago)
Nominal I/O usage: 46.73 MB/s
File system: 44.04 seconds
Write speed: 336 MB/s
Read speed: 1146 MB/s
I do not have drive performance data for many Macbook Air drives, but I do know that a Apple SSD-only system like yours should have Write and Read speeds that are nearly the same. Yours differ by a factor of 3.5x.
⚠️ First, faced with a potential storage problem, install a backup drive running Time Machine TODAY! Do NOTHING until you have a reliable backup.
Once your drive is backed up, remove the interferences that my trusted colleague rkaufmann87 has identified. I also see WireGuard which I believe is another unneeded "Security" app.
I see a Norton extension in Safari that could be causing your WebKit diagnostic flag for high CPU ise. The last Norton product the did not make life difficult for Macs was released about 1999.
Do you have a stalled update? This:
Top Processes Snapshot by CPU:
Process (count) CPU (Source - Location)
com.apple.MobileSoftwareUpdate.UpdateBrainService 75.10 % (Not signed - /private/var/db/com.apple.xpc.roleaccountd.staging/exec/16777223.55425435.xpc/Contents/MacOS)
That's using a huge amount of a very limited processor. You've not restarted in eight days. Please restart the computer and see if that flag goes away.
Now to those wonky SSD speeds. If if removing all the fearware and restarting do NOT change those drive speed scores, try a Safe Mode Boot:
Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support
When you get the SAFE Mode desktop, STOP and go get a cup of your fav beverage or walk the dog. Let the computer "soak" in Safe Mode for about 30 minutes. Then do a normal restart and another EtreCheck run. Are the new Drive Performance values at leas close to each other?
This Apple article has good tips for controlling internal temps:
Keep your Mac laptop within acceptable operating temperatures - Apple Support
Most deal with placement and workstation issues.
It will help us get a good idea of what is causing your problem if you provide a report of your system, that way we do not have to play 20 questions with you. The report we are requesting does NOT provide any personal information and is extremely safe to use. Please navigate towww.Etrecheck.com and download the free version of EtreCheck. Once you have you downloaded the app and installed it, please run the report and save it. This report will help us get a good idea what has been installed on your system and help us be able to diagnose what may be wrong.
When you have your report, you can attach it when you reply to this message and we can then review it and help you determine what is needed to get your system running well again.
For instructions on how to download your EtreCheck report and attach it to your reply to this message please click How to use the Add Text Feature When Post… - Apple Community It is helpful to us if you download the report to your Desktop.
Mac OS does not require nor does it benefit in ANY way by having ANY of the following types of third party apps installed:
Your machine as at least 3 third party VPN's installed:
In addition there is no evidence that you backup your computer which is short sighted and a 100% guarantee that you will lose data. At the very minimum you should be using Time Machine which requires and External Hard Disk. If you somehow have never heard of Time Machine then please read the information carefully in the following link: Back up your Mac with Time Machine
The first thing you should do is locate the uninstall instructions for each of the wothless VPN's and uninstall them. After you have done so, please restart the computer in Safe Mode and then restart normally. The next thing you need to do is begin backing up the computer using Time Machine!
All that Mac OS requires in order to remain fast, stable, secure and generally trouble free is to simply keep Mac OS up-to-date and restart the computer about 1x per week. Other than that please leave Mac OS alone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you for the advice!
I attached the report.
I’m only guessing but MacBook Airs don’t have fans for cooling them it could be that
Why is my MacBook Air 2020 overheating during everyday tasks?
