Mac Mini getting too hot

[Norbert Mikołajczyk]

So, I don't think 50c is too much, on the contrary, I think it's normal. What bothers me is that the machine is idle without any program open and it's still very hot (when I put my hand on it) while when the machine is idle but with the user logged out it's cold.

Please describe what "very hot (when I put my hand on it)" means.

 

[crashwarez]

**example--I am sitting in a 73 degrees Fahrenheit room, with Safari open with 4 tabs (including this one) and Terminus and Apple Music in the background, and my processor usage is hovering at 12% and my temperature is a steady 60C. My idle is frequently 40-50 degrees C, but it is ALWAYS much warmer than my M1 or M2 Airs doing the exact same idle stuff and with zero fan. For that reason I believe this is normal M4 pro behavior

Well, if this is normal behavior, there is nothing to be done. I was worried about whether this behavior is really normal and whether it could affect the lifespan in the future. Before this Mac Mini M4, I had a 2011 Mac mini server that lasted 9 years. It was in a much less ventilated place where the M4 is now.

 

[crashwarez]

Please describe what "very hot (when I put my hand on it)" means.

Hot to the point where I can't keep my hand on it for long.

 

[Norbert Mikołajczyk]

Hot to the point where I can't keep my hand on it for long.

Very interesting because your readings are normal.

 

[dmccloud]

I still have yet to have any major problems with the heat out of the M4 mini. I wrote back in December my experience with temps. When gaming yes I have seen temps hit 100 degrees. Though I have also heard that that is not unusual behaviour for modern chips. I saw an article sometime last year that was posted either here or somewhere on Reddit where an AMD engineer was talking about CPU temps. IIRC modern chips are designed to hit their thermal limits sooner and maintain those temperatures. I could absolutely be misremembering though.

I may be worth investing in TG Pro for anyone anxious about temperatures. You can set a more aggressive fan curve with it. Personally I let the system handle the fan itself unless I am doing something really intensive like Handbrake. While gaming, usually with WoW, I have yet to see any throttling negatively impact the performance.

The only time I change fan settings to let TG Pro handle things is when I am either gaming (usually WoW), video editing, or running some LLM tasks. I actually have identical TG Pro profiles set up on my Mac Mini and MBP, because I have not run into any significant issues with overheating of either machine.

 

[dmccloud]

Well, if this is normal behavior, there is nothing to be done. I was worried about whether this behavior is really normal and whether it could affect the lifespan in the future. Before this Mac Mini M4, I had a 2011 Mac mini server that lasted 9 years. It was in a much less ventilated place where the M4 is now.

M4 is known to run at higher temperatures than M1/M2/M3, but that's within the design specifications for the SoC. To be honest, it is better for the aluminum case to dissipate heat from the machine than to hold in the heat, so if anything the behavior you describe should be contributing to extended life of the machine rather than shortening it.

 

[spatlese44]

🤷‍♂️

Burn Exposure Chart

antiscald.com

Thanks for that link. It’s a really interesting read. Note that chart is for water and plumbing related. Putting your hand on a computer isn’t the same as submerging it in water. I think the real point should be that there’s some reason he’s seeing 50c rather than more like 40c others are seeing. Maybe something is wrong.

 

[Norbert Mikołajczyk]

Thanks for that link. It’s a really interesting read. Note that chart is for water and plumbing related. Putting your hand on a computer isn’t the same as submerging it in water. I think the real point should be that there’s some reason he’s seeing 50c rather than more like 40c others are seeing. Maybe something is wrong.

Yes, for example his room temperature is 6C higher than mine...

 

[cogzero]

Another data point from my base Mini M4 Pro.

Room temp: 20C 68F 293K
Idle CPU: 40C 104F 313K
Very light usage: 50C 122F 323K
Full load: approx 110C 230F 383K

When high usage ends, the CPU rapidly returns to 50C and then takes longer to reach 40C when left alone.

To the touch, the mac is slightly warm like a cat's belly under normal usage.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

Thanks for that link. It’s a really interesting read. Note that chart is for water and plumbing related. Putting your hand on a computer isn’t the same as submerging it in water. I think the real point should be that there’s some reason he’s seeing 50c rather than more like 40c others are seeing. Maybe something is wrong.

Except that the authorized repair folks said nothing is wrong. Why are we wasting all this bandwidth?

 

[M4th]

don't try this at home...

(apologies for the wasted bandwidth)

 

[hobowankenobi]

Back in the bad 'ol Intel days, I was very happy with Macs Fan Control (free version), both to monitor temps and change fan speeds and thresholds. Might be worth trying on M series.

 

[jdavid_rp]

Also me can also talk about how every one feels temp? Maybe other people have same 50 temps but they don’t feel the temperature that much and don’t get “alarmed”

 

[Engender]

Does

pmset -g thermlog

work on M-series Macs?

 

[LelandHendrix]

So, I don't think 50c is too much, on the contrary, I think it's normal. What bothers me is that the machine is idle without any program open and it's still very hot (when I put my hand on it) while when the machine is idle but with the user logged out it's cold.

When I first got my mini, for several days (3-5 if I remember) the machine was constantly using idle time while logged in to do "media analysis" and that kept it more active than it seemed to be. To make things more strange, the behavior would stop as soon as soon as I started using the machine in any way and the cpu usage would drop. This will only happen while the user's files are unlocked, and is especially heavy on a brand new installation. I also have a rather large collection of media, so this might've caused mine to go on for days longer than most.

But I remember during this period, the machine felt more noticeably warm to the touch than it does today. But it's a potential explanation of what your computer is doing to develop heat while you're logged in and idle, but not when the user is logged out. If you can get confident of its behavior, I think you're going to love the machine. This m4 pro mini has me thrilled for the first time since my first "pro" Mac--a late-08 unibody MBP.

 

[Eriamjh1138@DAN]

Just bolt a giant CPU cooler to the top of your mini so it can dissipate the heat, stop touching it,

and you’ll be ok.

 

[Xials]

Hello, my mac mini m4 It's getting too hot even when it's idle without any programs running. The only way to stop it from heating up is to log off the user. I've already taken it to an authorized Apple technical support center and they said everything is ok. Does anyone else have this problem? I've tried leaving it in 'low power' mode but the problem persists.

The fact that the problem is resolved by logging your user out tells you that it is your user account. Something is running, or has been corrupted, or is otherwise in a state that will not let it finish something.

My guess is that you are hoping that you don’t have to do what Apple asked, and create a new user and transfer your files.

If they have not asked you to try that, do it. It very likely will solve the problem.

It’s also possible you have an iCloud syncing issue, and if that is the case, it might carry over, and then you probably would need to escalate to Apple Support Engineering to have them look into your iCloud account specifically.

All signs point to a software issue with your user, not a hardware problem.

 

[adib]

My M4 Mini routinely shoots past 80C when running Affinity and some other stuff (safari with a couple of tabs, etc.,) using that Hot program to monitor. The whole time it is still cold to the touch? Haven't noticed a single issue...

It's hotter than my M1 mini, which only goes to 40–50 ºC on similar tasks with a 30–34 ºC room temperature.

 

[wanha]

50c isn't even hot enough to cook an egg.

#eggfacts

 

[August West]

Do you have a Kill-A-Watt or smart plug with power monitoring you could use to check the current draw of the mini? It would be interesting to quantify the numbers are between being logged into your account and newly created fresh account. Something doesn't sound right though if the case is that warm while idling. I don't have an M4 mini but my M2 stays close to room temp while doing normal net surfing.

 

[Fishrrman]

If the Mini is "too hot", there's SOMETHING running on it -- one or more "runaway processes" -- that is the likely cause.

I'd try this:
- back up personal data
- use the "erase all content and settings" option to restore the Mini to "moment zero" (i.e., the moment it came out of the box).
- restore personal data and "try again".

I've had a new m4 Mini (32gb/1tb) for a couple of weeks now.
Granted, I haven't pushed it, but...
I don't recall it ever even getting slightly warm.
Just felt the case, and it's COLD...

 

[Edouard Perreault]

Hot to the point where I can't keep my hand on it for long.

I recommend downloading CleanMyMacX (free version) and checking if your CPU temperature exceeds 50 degrees Celsius while idle. If so, there may indeed be a problem.

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macpaw.com

Here's the temperature of my M4 mini (base model) while idle.

 

[LelandHendrix]

Well, if this is normal behavior, there is nothing to be done. I was worried about whether this behavior is really normal and whether it could affect the lifespan in the future. Before this Mac Mini M4, I had a 2011 Mac mini server that lasted 9 years. It was in a much less ventilated place where the M4 is now.

I honestly share concern on this, but from what I can tell, the machine is happy to keep things toasty and only ramp the fan under heavy use above 80°. I confirmed this by watching my processor temp and rpm consistently since I got this m4 pro mini on release day last year.

This along with reading other user reports indicates to me that the behavior reveals the engineering designed to operate at these temperatures. I put mine through tremendous heavy workloads for hours at a time, and it maintains initial benchmarked performance.

The short of it—I’ve gotten accustomed to seeing higher numbers in my sensor readings. I trust it now.

 

[nathansz]

I recommend downloading CleanMyMacX (free version) and checking if your CPU temperature exceeds 50 degrees Celsius while idle. If so, there may indeed be a problem.

Mac Cleaner Software: Mac Cleaning Made Easy. Get It Free.

Meet Mac cleaner software that makes Mac cleaning as easy as a click. CleanMyMac X is safe, powerful, and free to try. Download the Mac cleaner free!

macpaw.com

Here's the temperature of my M4 mini (base model) while idle.

OP already knows the temps

They have no need of extra software

 

[MacCheetah3]

With the 2024 Mac mini, the power supply is above the logic/mainboard. So, what you’re feeling when you place your hand on the top of the mini’s enclosure has a lot to do with power supply heat.

Back in the bad 'ol Intel days, I was very happy with Macs Fan Control (free version), both to monitor temps and change fan speeds and thresholds. Might be worth trying on M series.

It appears to be compatible.

My own samples:

Room/ambient: ~23.5ºC / ~74ºF

First up: Messages, Mail, Safari (MacRumors Forums)


I did a shut down, allowed the mini to cool down for at least 30 minutes, booted and logged into my “Test Bench” account (in practicality a ‘fresh’ account), and let the mini sit idle for about 10 minutes with a display sleep after 2 minutes.


As for enclosure temp… I didn’t measure it with any tool. During the Web browsing usage, I would describe the case as warm. Following the cold boot into an idle, fresh account, I’d say it was very slightly warm.

P.S. The case has felt hot but that’s only under high/heavy load tasks.

ADD: Handbrake transcode