Macbook Pro fan keeps coming on

Can anyone help?
Just recently, my fan keeps coming on when connected to the internet or using Word/Excel. I live in Spain, and it is now hot, but no hotter than it has been for a few weeks now. When I shut my Mac down and turn it back on again the fan doesn't come on. The only thing I've done differently recently is take my Mac to work, and this strangely triggers off the fan! What's going on?

The fan or fans running on an Apple laptop computer are nothing unusual. When the computer get very warm/hot...the fans turn on...that's the way it cools itself.

Why are the fans coming on. You could be doing something different or it could be that the environment you're working in is warmer...or a combination of both.

Do not worry about the fan(s)...it's completely normal (that's why the fans are there).

- Nick

Thanks Nick!

I've been using my computer today - the same as I have been for the last couple of days, doing more or less the same tasks too - and the fan(s) didn't come on. I accept it's normal, it's just that since switching to the Mac that faint noise of a fan has been a thing of the past.

Let's see what happens tomorrow.

Joe

Scalp Hunter said:

Thanks Nick!

I've been using my computer today - the same as I have been for the last couple of days, doing more or less the same tasks too - and the fan(s) didn't come on. I accept it's normal, it's just that since switching to the Mac that faint noise of a fan has been a thing of the past.

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If you're doing the same things on your computer from day to day...it really can come down to how warm/hot the room is you're working in.

If the fan(s) didn't come on today...the room temp. may be just below the threshold for the fans to kick in to a higher rpm. Yesterday (when the fans came on)...maybe the room was a little bit warmer.

But also consider...that just because you think that you're doing the exact same things on the computer from day to day...the computer may not "see" it that way. You may miss small things that you're doing that the computer doesn't miss...which makes it run warmer...and thus the fan(s) kick in.

By the way...your computers fan(s) are always running...it's just that they may only be running at like 1500rpm (which is almost silent). When the computer starts to get warm/hot...the fans will increase rpm to maybe around 4500rpm (which you can definitely hear). And when the computer is really working hard (getting hot)...the fans will increase to max. speed...which is usually around 6000rpm (then you will REALLY hear some fan noise).

Play some high end games...or watch a lot of YouTube videos...and usually this will "heat up" the computer enough to get the fans "screaming"!

- Nick

Unfortunately I'm not playing games or watching vids; just tedious things like writing end-of-year reports, updating excel files, and other 'teacher' stuff. Only thing is I'm doing this in classroom with about 20 students giving off serious heat (due to exam stress!), and the air-conditioning does little to chill things down.
Joe

Scalp Hunter said:

Unfortunately I'm not playing games or watching vids...

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I never said you were doing these activities...I was suggesting them as a way for you to see just how hot your computer can get...and how fast/loud the fans can become.

It's called an experiment! After you do this...the fan noise you're currently experiencing will seem trivial.

- Nick