Mac hot (80°C), CPU high after update

If you want you use Chrome, you are "gonna need a bigger boat." Chrome is a notorious resource hog and your Macbook Pro is light on resources. This should not be:

Top Processes Snapshot by CPU:

Process (count) CPU (Source - Location)

Google Chrome Helper (6) 110.26 % (Google LLC) ⚠️

Google Chrome Helper (Renderer) (7) 41.88 % (Google LLC) ⚠️

WindowServer 14.30 % (Apple)

EtreCheckPro 8.88 % (Etresoft, Inc.)

kernel_task 3.45 % (Apple)

Creative Cloud is also resource-intensive

Something is slowing your SSD. In that model I expect to see both Reads and Writes between 2200 and 2700MB/sec. Yours are far from the nominals:

Write speed: 1162 MB/s

Read speed: 1567 MB/s

The could reflect a safety function: automatically down-clocking the processor speed as part of a temperature control protocol managed by the System Management Controller reading heat sensors on various components.

15-inch Macbook Pros that year had two cooling fans plus side vents for cool air intake. 13-inch models had one fan and no side vents. Those design-based cooling limitations can be exacerbated by physical factors as well. Your Macbook Pro must breathe in and out through the hinge area, with a little intake help from the keyboard area. Ramifications:

— Anything in your work area touching or near the hinge will seriously reduce cooling capacity.

— Keyboard covers can also increase temps.

— If using an external monitor with the computer display closed, the computer must NOT be placed hinge-down on a desk or shelf surface. The hinge MUST be UP when a closed 13"Macbook Pro is set vertically.

These are Apple's comments on the subject:

Keep your Mac laptop within acceptable operating temperatures - Apple Support

Your Mac is considered vintage, and even when new, it was at the very low end of resources with only 8 GB RAM and a 250 GB drive.

Your Mac is barely capable for appropriately-responsive use with recent MacOS such as Tahoe, when you are running an ordinary Browser and simple additional apps. (Adobe apps and music creation Apps are not simple apps by that standard.) Today, the only Mac Apple Sells with only 8 GB RAM is the entry-level MacBook Neo, which serious users consider deliberately "hobbled".

What happens when you run extremely resource-hungry App like Chrome, is that -- by itself -- Chrome quickly runs your Mac out of RAM, and the excess demanded is spilled into Swap files on your Boot drive. But your boot drive is an older, slower model, and using it for a lot of Swapping causes it to produce delays and additional heat.

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¿What is the date of your most recent backup, and by what method?

There’s a new update for Chrome browser, try that.

In addition to the excellent post provided by Allan Jones, get rid of MacFans Control. You don't want anything interfering with the operation of cooling your computer and counting on a third party to do that can certainly be problematic and has in the past for that app.

Along with removing the Chrome app, you also need to remove the launch items Google has added to your computer. Go to Finder > Go > Go to Folder and enter ~/Library/LaunchAgents. Don't forget that little "~" character at the start. Then remove:

• com.google.GoogleUpdater.wake.plist
• com.google.keystone.agent.plist
• com.google.keystone.xpcservice.plist

To get rid of the Mac Fans Control process running on startup, go to the same Finder menu and enter /Library/LaunchDaemons. There is no "~" character at the start of that path. You will want to remove:

• com.crystalidea.macsfancontrol.smcwrite.plist

Iam_Shun wrote:

System Software:

macOS Sequoia 15.7.5 (24G624)

Installed 2026-04-04

Time since boot: About an hour backup.

Have you shut down and restarted more than once since your update...this will sort many update issues.

>Shut down

Certain amount of resource will be used in re-indexing via Spotlight both internal and external attached drives— this typically ramps up the temps and fans.