Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT
The fan on my new 11" MBAir is almost constantly running while connected to the new Thunderbolt Display even while nothing cpu intense is happening. I've never heard the fan run when not connected. Software is all up to date including the Thunderbolt firmware update. Anyone else with MBA fan issues?
MacBook Air, Mac OS X (10.7.1), Thunderbolt Display
I have the same problem.
There isn't a solution? 😟
I have a 2011 13inch Macbook Air and have the same fan issues when running Windows 8 in Bootcamp. The fan stays quiet or off most of the time. The thing that always sets it off is watching Youtube videos fullscreen. The same thing happens when running in Moutain Lion.
Resetting the smc seems to do the trick if the fan goes on interminably. However , any strain on the processors (a vm) or on graphics (video on thunderbolt even on a reduced window) seems to start it up. Since resetting the smc though it quickly stops if that process is quiesced for any reason.
For anyone else who has been experiencing this issue I just wanted to report that upgrading to Mavericks (10.9.0) has resolved this for me. My fan used to crank up after just a few minutes of being connected to the Thunderbolt display & now it appears to run much cooler unless I'm doing something that is actively exercising the CPU (compiling, etc).
Hope this helps!
I have suffered with a noisy fan for the past two years whenever I plugged into my Thunderbold display. I have finally solved the problem. I sold my MacBook Air to a friend who does not have a thunderbolt display. She is happy as her the fan never starts up. I bought a new MacBook Air - the G7 with 8 gigabytes of RAM. Now my computer is silent all the time. There is nothing I can do to get the fan to start up when I'm plugged into my Thunderbolt display. It doesn't matter how many apps I have open my computer stays silent.
Apple has not been helpful in solving my problem. Initially the the staff of my local mac store denied it was a problem. They told me my computer was fine and the fan was supposed to come on to cool my computer. When I went to buy my new computer I asked whether I would have a problem with the fan. They told my that a new computer would not solve my problem. I asked the salesperson to check with the "genius" and he confirmed that more power (the G7 chip) and more RAM (8 gigabytes) were unilkely to make a difference in the fan noise.
Well Apple was wrong. I have a beautifully silent computer when I'm plugged into my Thunderbolt. It was an expensive solution but I'm happy. Apple needs to give it's head a shake on this issue.
Jo Hauser
MacBook Air i5 fan & Thunderbolt Display
