Question about fans and temperature in macbook pro 13

Joined
Oct 22, 2010
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Hi there! How are you?

I was told that some people use programs like "smcfancontrol" or "fancontrol" to control the speed of the fan in the macbook pro 13. Mine usually gets to 4792 rpm just by watching a movie online...I dunno if it´s normal and it annoys me a bit since I wat the pc to be quiet...

Do you know if by using this kind of program I can damage the pc?? I mean, If i say to this program to stay at 3500 rpm maximum, can i damage the pc?? It gets kind of hot and it is totally new...:(

What configuration do you recommend me if I eventually use this kind of program?

Apart of this, I would also like to know what is "Kernel_tast" or "Kerneleventagent" and "windowserver". When I see that my laptop´s fan is running fast i go to the process window to see what is going on...Of course google chrome takes memory but this kernerl thing for example sometimes use 30% of the memory...it is normal? coz I have no idea what it is!:(

Btw, I had another question...I´ve heard next year the new OS is coming...It will be compatible with this current mac? It will run smoothly? I got the macbook pro 13 2010.

Thanks for everything in advance and sorry for the inconvenience!
 

cwa107


Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 20, 2006
Messages
27,042
Reaction score
812
Points
113
Location
Lake Mary, Florida
Your Mac's Specs
14" MacBook Pro M1 Pro, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD
Hi there! How are you?

I was told that some people use programs like "smcfancontrol" or "fancontrol" to control the speed of the fan in the macbook pro 13. Mine usually gets to 4792 rpm just by watching a movie online...I dunno if it´s normal and it annoys me a bit since I wat the pc to be quiet...

If they're Flash videos (like YouTube or Hulu), know that Flash is extremely resource intensive, so that's entirely normal.

Do you know if by using this kind of program I can damage the pc?? I mean, If i say to this program to stay at 3500 rpm maximum, can i damage the pc?? It gets kind of hot and it is totally new...:(

Damage? No. Prematurely wear the fans? Probably.

What configuration do you recommend me if I eventually use this kind of program?

Don't bother with it. The fans are thermostatically controlled and the thresholds are set by the same engineers that designed your notebook. There's simply no need to second guess them. There's a mentality amongst hardware hackers (like those that build custom PCs that are overclocked) that you need to constantly watch the temps and fan speeds. In notebook where the tolerances are much tighter, this is simply not necessary. Let the machine run the way it was designed to and ignore the stats.

Apart of this, I would also like to know what is "Kernel_tast" or "Kerneleventagent" and "windowserver". When I see that my laptop´s fan is running fast i go to the process window to see what is going on...Of course google chrome takes memory but this kernerl thing for example sometimes use 30% of the memory...it is normal? coz I have no idea what it is!:(

The kernel is the core of the OS. It is normal for these processes to spike from time to time depending on what you're doing with your machine.

Btw, I had another question...I´ve heard next year the new OS is coming...It will be compatible with this current mac? It will run smoothly? I got the macbook pro 13 2010.

Thanks for everything in advance and sorry for the inconvenience!

Hard to say since it isn't here yet, but if history serves as a guide, then yes, it will run just fine.
 
OP
D
Joined
Oct 22, 2010
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Thank you very much for your reply! I really appreciate it!!

You know how can i identify if the video is flash? Maybe I can find other websites where they use html? ( I´m new on this so maybe im saying sth stupid...lol)

Thanks again!
 
C

chas_m

Guest
I'm hesitant to correct cwa107, but if I understand what you (derfel) said correctly, then YES forcing the fans to run SLOWER than they want to run automatically CAN IN FACT do a great deal of damage to your machine.

Using a fan control program to make the fans run MORE than they want to by default would wear them out prematurely as cwa107 suggests.

Bottom line:

1. Apple designed the machine, and designed it to cool itself appropriately. Fan control programs aren't needed -- and if used inappropriately can ruin your computer.

2. If you're taxing the processor, the fans will run a lot. There's no getting around that.

3. If you're watching videos using a web browser, there are plug-ins for Safari and FF that will substitute the less-intensive HTML5 player for the Flash player wherever possible, but you're still going to run into flash video and its still going to make the fans run from time to time. There's no (fully) getting around that.
 
OP
D
Joined
Oct 22, 2010
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Ok...Thank you very much!!

Somehow I expected something different when I bought this new laptop...Mine was almost 5 years old and I expected to have with this laptop something different when it comes about heat and fan speed...The macbook pro 13 is amazing and I love it...But it is a bit annoying to get it a bit hot when I watch movies :(...

Anyway...Thank´s a lot for your advice!!
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top