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Fan running constantly and loudly

I recently purchased a new Mid-2015 MBP that is either an upgrade or the same in all specs as my Mid-2012 MBP. I moved a backup from the 2012 to the 2015 and I've noticed that the fan runs significantly more often (nearly all the time) and louder than the 2012 (which is nearly silent all the time). It seems to me that this is probably a problem given that this should be a more performant environment.


Is there anything I can do to diagnose and solve this issue?

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.3), Mid 2015

Posted on Feb 24, 2016 11:39 AM

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11 replies

Feb 24, 2016 11:47 AM in response to shastings1287

You could download and run SMC Fan Control to monitor the fans and temperature. You can use the activity monitor in the utilities folder to check memory cpu power and network usage to se if anything is using to much power, memory or cpu. Or since your computer is new, you have 90 days free phone tech service and one year of coverage from apple. You could use this to find the problem.

Feb 24, 2016 12:03 PM in response to my ginger

Taking a look at Fan Control, both fans are running nearly at 100%. The temps also seem to be very hot with CPU Core 1 temp at 180+, GPU Diode at 150+, and the SSD at 100.


Looking at the Activity Monitor, the main offenders are kernel_task at 76.9% CPU and multiple Google Chrome tabs at 50-5% CPU, however these percentages are kind of misleading because in total all the running processes are only taking up ~14% CPU on average and average idle CPU is at 75%, so the system is hardly pegged.


My next step will definitely be the Apple tech support, but I tend to like to DIY things if I can, so hoping maybe this community will have some ideas.

Feb 24, 2016 12:27 PM in response to shastings1287

Kernel Task is a combination of all the processes running that are root. Google Chrome can be an energy hog. Your fan should not run a 100%.The temp, if you have it set for Fahrenheit, that is a little bit too warm. If it's Celsius,that is very hot.You may have some startup items or launch agents that are causing this. Was the 2012 also running El Capitan? Is everything installed updated? How full is the hard drive?

Feb 24, 2016 2:21 PM in response to stedman1

Was the 2012 also running El Capitan? Is everything installed updated? How full is the hard drive?

The 2012 is also running El Cap, same version. Everything is installed up-to-date, and the hard drive is about 90% free.

Have you tried a SMC reset?


I did try the SMC reset with no luck.

An Apple Diagnostics Test may offer a clue:

Just ran an diagnostic test with no issues found.

Quit or force quit Chrome. Does performance improve? Does fan speed decrease? If so, as advised by my ginger, Chrome is the culprit.

There was never a performance issue so I can't comment on that, just the fans run obnoxiously loud. If I quit Chrome the fans do get quieter, and after playing with it some more, the fans go to turbo mode anytime I do anything remotely CPU intensive whether that be a video conference, Youtube video, more than 3 Chrome tabs open, but I'm not sure still if that makes any sense. If Chrome is such a CPU hog that it causes my laptop to sound like it's about to take off, why can my 2012 MBP handle 20x the tabs in Chrome while still remaining silent and cool? Also just to check I loaded the same tabs in Firefox and Safari and the same thing happens. I've looked at the metrics and when the 2015 reaches about anything less than 75% idle CPU that's when the fans go crazy, whereas the 2012 is able to get to less than 5% idle and not make any sound whatsoever.

Otherwise, download etrecheck at the link below, and post back with test results.

It's pretty lengthy so I copied the report over here:

http://pastebin.com/JdMNLzLU

Not sure if it makes any sense to mention but I ran the same thing on my 2012 and the report is nearly identical. Thanks for all the help and suggestions everybody.

Apr 12, 2016 7:13 PM in response to shastings1287

Hi Shastings,


I have a:

MacBook Pro Mid 2015 ( had it for 2 weeks )

2.8 GHz Intel Core i7

16 gig ram and 1TB internal

Basically the best laptop on the Mac market today and it runs VERY hot and VERY loud nearly all the time.

I have a 30" Cinema display plugged in through Thunderbolt and a 24" HDMI monitor

1 x 3TB thunderbolt drive and 1 x 3TB USB3 drive for backup


I am having the EXACT same issue you describe and more with the fans. It appears though I have done a lot more troubleshooting so far with both Apple and Adobe. My system is running less than 5% CPU right now, but my temp is 126F and fans running at 3000rpm all the time when idle.


Here is what I have come up with:


1. It appears that my 30" Cinema display causes the video card to heat up and thus makes my machine run at 126F when idle no matter what. The temp will drop to 117F idle when not plugged in, but either way, the fans will rarely go below 3000rpm according to SMC Fan Control.


2. The CPEhtmlengine issue of Adobe was causing the main issue. You can read about it below:

https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1961935?tstart=0

https://forums.adobe.com/thread/2097750?start=0&tstart=0


So, I got on with top Adobe tech, they remoted into my machine and put in the patch for this issue. They say they are working on a solution that will come out in the next version of CC. But, this solved the issue of this file taking up more than 100% CPU when Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Dreamweaver running. It does happen in Muse too, but the fix for this is to ALWAYS have the CC Libraries panel turned off and then it stops using so much CPU.


3. The Chrome issue is also a culprit, but I found if I turn off auto plugins and only allow them when needed, the CPU of Chrome drops a lot, but the Ram usage of Chrome is crazy. Over 1 gig just for a browser.... WFT Google?


4. The Kernal_Task also uses over 1gig of ram right when the system starts. WFT Apple? Why would you need 1gig Ram just to start and run the OS?


5. The system right when you start the machine jumps to 140F+ and the fans run 6200 rpm for 2-5 minutes with NOTHING running. When I launch Activities all I see is a task called "mds_stores" writing over 1gig of data to the HDD on start up. Research shows this is a spotlight scan, but why would it cause the system to overheat and the fans to go full speed every time I restart? Also, why is it showing 1gig data transfer on the Drives panel for this time frame right on start up? I need an answer on this...


6. Just so you know that I have FULLY trouble shot this, I swapped this machine with another brand new one in the store with Apple Genius people ( since they thought the issue was the internal SDD) and migrated over all my stuff in store. Smae issue occurs with this machine. I am a 20+ year MacHead and have built dozens of machines over the years. I have never seen one do this right out of the box, twice.


In conclusion, If I don't run the Cinema display, and just the HDMI, the machine is less hot (117F), but still runs hotter once ANY software is running on it. Performance is fantastic and I have put it through it's paces with numerous 1080p edits, over 2 gig billboard designs in Photoshop, large Muse projects etc., etc. since I have owned it and it handles all, but it sounds like a jet engine to do it. When I monitor the CPU, even when using Photoshop and Muse, I am less than 10% CPU nearly all the time (even right now just running Chrome) and the fans are over 3000+ rpm ... way more the moment I actually task something to open. I am VERY concerning this system will not last my normal 5-10 year lifespan of every mac I have ever owned with the system and fans this hot all the time. It NEVER cools down to the documented 95F and 2000rpm, ever since I owned it.


I have a 2011 Mac Tower (loaded to the nines) and a 2011 MacBook Pro (8 gig ram). All with the same latest OS (10.11.4) and same software from Adobe and others since I need to be able to do multiple jobs at once... The speed is far less than this new machine, but neither of them have this same fan issue when running the exact same software and OS.


This is just crazy Apple. This is a brand new machine and should handle everything I can throw at it and more. What is going to happen when I start editing 4K, the reason I bought this machine (just bought a Sony AR7sII and a drone, both with 4K) This Thunderbold drive can handle it, the processor can handle it, Premier can handle it, but will the machine just blow up from over heating since the fans can't run any faster than they do now when running the basics?????


One last thing to note: I have Apple engineers saying they are looking into this, according to the senior tech I have been talking to, and all they have told me is to reinstall, rebuild, reset the SMC and zap the PR.... all of which I have already done (and more with Adobe to insert the patches) plus swapping machines and I still have the same issue. THIS IS A PROBLEM APPLE! Please solve it. I have just 2 days to return the darn thing and I REALLY don't want to, but I don't like working with a jet engine when it should be the fine tuned MacBook Pro I expected for this crazy amount of money I paid.


PLEASE HELP!!!!

May 6, 2016 5:49 AM in response to Schiemer

To anyone reading


I have a 2015 MacBook Pro Retina with the latest El Capitain. It has Firefox and Libre Office installed. Other than these -- nothing else has been installed. This computer has been very lightly used.


I was using it a bit this afternoon (no problem) from its battery pack. I turned it off and put it in its case. Two hours later I have switched it on and the fan sound is HUGE, plus the battery power is perilously low (5% left with the warning icon and message to reconnect to a power supply). So I did and the light on the power adapter does not switch on, though it should be fine. I'm guessing it isn't recharging. So I can't really switch the computer on for fear of it running out of power! WHAT GIVES!😠


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Fan running constantly and loudly

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