Run your MacBook Pro cooler with a simple application.

aryayusharyayush
Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
Hello!

I bet many people here have been very frustrated with the fact that their MacBook Pro runs very hot and that there is no simple, straightforward solution. Well, there is now.

If you haven't heard of it as yet, smcFanControl is a small application that allows you to define the minimum speed your fans should rotate at. You can set it to execute on system startup and stay hidden. And if you want to go back to your hot notebook, simple restore the sliders to the defaults. The results are instantaneous. My MacBook Pro used to run at an average of 72-78 ˚C and now it runs at a cool 45 ˚C - such is the difference!







Here is the description from the developer:

Quote:

• Let's you set the minimum speed for each fan individually.



• Adjust fan speed until the Macbook(Pro) is finally comfortable on your legs again



• Auto apply mode to set the new fan-speeds after a restart



• Sourcecode included! Extend it and change it to your needs



Approach of the program:

FanControl lets the user set the minimum speed of the build in fans. So you can increase your minimum fan speed to make your macbook run cooler. However in order not to damage your machine FanControl let's you not set minimum speed to a rate under Apple's defaults. To change fan-speeds you need to authenticate with valid credentials of an user-account with admin privileges.



DOWNLOAD!



Visit the Website



Just give it a try and you'll love it!
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 33
    drnatdrnat Posts: 142member
    Does it affect battery life much?



    Anyone else tried this?
  • Reply 2 of 33
    aryayusharyayush Posts: 191member
    Didn't affect mine and I have read hundreds of reports on the net confirming this.



    I am surprised people are not interested in this application when so many MacBook Pro users are complaining about the heat.



    Plus, if you find that it is consuming too much battery, you can restore the normal speed when your notebook is running on batteries.
  • Reply 3 of 33
    eckingecking Posts: 1,588member
    Hey man thanks for this I just downloaded it, looking forward to a cooler mbp!
  • Reply 4 of 33
    macanoid(tm)macanoid(tm) Posts: 344member
    Be sure to also have a look at this: Fan Control



    Fan Control is a prefpane than goes into your System Preferences and requires a restart after installation whereas smcFanControl is a standalone application.



    Instead of only setting a fan RPM speed (like with smcFanControl) Fan Control 1.1 allows you to set an upper and lower fan threshold in degrees for your MacBook Pro.



    The software then dynamically adjusts the fans speeds to keep your MBP the temperature that you want it. Plus it uses a nice GUI with a graph to show you what is happening.
  • Reply 5 of 33
    aryayusharyayush Posts: 191member
    I hate installing things into my System Preferences because they are generally very dificult to get rid of. But I'll give this a try. Thanks for the link!
  • Reply 6 of 33
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by aryayush


    I hate installing things into my System Preferences because they are generally very dificult to get rid of.



    Secondary mouse button, a particular item, contextual menu, "Remove [..] Preference Pane" is hard?
  • Reply 7 of 33
    aryayusharyayush Posts: 191member
    No, it isn't but I did not know I could do that. Thanks a bunch!
  • Reply 8 of 33
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    I agree it's not the most obvious feature (and it wasn't added until 10.3 Panther, as far as I recall).
  • Reply 9 of 33
    funklordfunklord Posts: 37member
    Does this work well on the new Core2 Duos?



    I'm thinking it should, but I just wanted to check from those of you who know best
  • Reply 10 of 33
    aryayusharyayush Posts: 191member
    It was released after Apple released some sort of speed controller for the fans with the Core 2 Duos. It is designed for them and works well.

    But now that I have used Fan Control, I would recommend it over smcFanControl.
  • Reply 11 of 33
    doeordiedoeordie Posts: 5member
    I jut got the 13.3" 80gb Macbook. I installed this program but this message came up. "You are running FanControl on an unsupported machine!"



    Can anybody help me with this?



    Thanks!!
  • Reply 12 of 33
    aryayusharyayush Posts: 191member
    Did you try smcFanControl or Fan Control?
  • Reply 13 of 33
    doeordiedoeordie Posts: 5member
    smcFanControl
  • Reply 14 of 33
    skatmanskatman Posts: 609member
    45 C is hardly a "cool" temperature IMHO.

    I would not call it a "solution", but rather a bandaid.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by aryayush


    Hello!

    I bet many people here have been very frustrated with the fact that their MacBook Pro runs very hot and that there is no simple, straightforward solution. Well, there is now.

    If you haven't heard of it as yet, smcFanControl is a small application that allows you to define the minimum speed your fans should rotate at. You can set it to execute on system startup and stay hidden. And if you want to go back to your hot notebook, simple restore the sliders to the defaults. The results are instantaneous. My MacBook Pro used to run at an average of 72-78 ˚C and now it runs at a cool 45 ˚C - such is the difference!




  • Reply 15 of 33
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by skatman


    45 C is hardly a "cool" temperature IMHO.

    I would not call it a "solution", but rather a bandaid.



    That's the CPU temperature, not the surface one.
  • Reply 16 of 33
    eckingecking Posts: 1,588member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by skatman


    45 C is hardly a "cool" temperature IMHO.

    I would not call it a "solution", but rather a bandaid.



    It's not too bad a solution or temperature. I used to be at 54C and now I'm at 45C because of fan control with no audible change. So I'm pretty happy, but I just don't know why apple keeps the original speed of my mbp at a painful 1000rpm.
  • Reply 17 of 33
    aryayusharyayush Posts: 191member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DoeorDie


    smcFanControl



    Well, I don't know what's the problem then. It works pretty well for me. Try out Fan Control once, I found it to be better than smcFanControl. Follow the link given by macanoid?.
  • Reply 18 of 33
    gwoodpeckergwoodpecker Posts: 367member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by skatman


    45 C is hardly a "cool" temperature IMHO.

    I would not call it a "solution", but rather a bandaid.



    HELLOOO?!? You have one of the most modern two-core processors in a notebook - that's at least as powerful as the 2 GHz Dual-Core G5 introduced only one year ago - and you think 45 degrees C is too much?



    Do you know that AMD desktop processors work perfectly at up to 85 C and that even notebook processors still work well at that temperature? In the average desktop PC, processor temperature of 45 C is perfectly normal, in a modern notebook, however, this is a phenomenally low temperature. Almost every other mobile processor gets hotter than 45C.





    ecking, Apple decided to have the fans turning at 1000 rpm all the time to reduce the heat at the bottom of the case to an acceptable level. So yes, MacBooks (or Pros) are a bit noisier than before, but at least they're now usable as laptops again...
  • Reply 19 of 33
    eckingecking Posts: 1,588member
    No that's not what I was saying...I was saying that 1000rpm wasn't fast enough to begin with.
  • Reply 20 of 33
    gwoodpeckergwoodpecker Posts: 367member
    Oh, I thougt by "painful" you meant it is too loud. Well, then smcFanControl is also a good thing for you!
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