Hey everyone! Quick question, how do I keep my Macbook Pro 2015 15inch from sounding like a jet engine? I'm using a cooling fan my parents used for one of their previous laptops, however it only mitigates maybe around 60% of the sound from the MacBook's fan. This issue mainly occurs when I am using Final Cut Pro, playing a game, or downloading software or effects from safari.
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MacBook Pro Sounding Like A Jet Engine
- Thread starter CinemaMaker97
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2015? Stop using Final Cut Pro and playing games on it, and uninstall Flash if you have it installed. The Final Cut Pro one has a good chance of being an obvious thing that you can't stop using, so ...
Those things are using a lot of CPU, and GPU if it's dedicated, so the fans will turn on to reduce risk of your system overheating. From least to most invasive:
1. You could get a cooling pad, even one with its own fan(s), to assist keeping the temperature from getting high enough to speed up the internal fan(s), but one with its own fans could end up just making the whole thing even louder.
2. Take the bottom cover off and clean out any dust that may have accumulated there since you got it, using a can of compressed air.
3. Some people have re-applied the thermal paste inside the system, but if you're not familiar even with that phrase, then don't bother doing it yourself ... Better off asking apple to do it at one of their stores. If you have AppleCare, they might do it for you ... It depends on the person that helps you. At any rate, this option has mixed reports of success, so I'd only consider it as a last resort, and wouldn't bet on it helping in every case.
Have you tried getting a stand to keep the system elevated off the table or desk surface? Some people claim that helps. I keep mine elevated, but I never had a problem like yours (I use a PC for gaming), even before I got the stand, so nothing to compare it to in my case.
Those things are using a lot of CPU, and GPU if it's dedicated, so the fans will turn on to reduce risk of your system overheating. From least to most invasive:
1. You could get a cooling pad, even one with its own fan(s), to assist keeping the temperature from getting high enough to speed up the internal fan(s), but one with its own fans could end up just making the whole thing even louder.
2. Take the bottom cover off and clean out any dust that may have accumulated there since you got it, using a can of compressed air.
3. Some people have re-applied the thermal paste inside the system, but if you're not familiar even with that phrase, then don't bother doing it yourself ... Better off asking apple to do it at one of their stores. If you have AppleCare, they might do it for you ... It depends on the person that helps you. At any rate, this option has mixed reports of success, so I'd only consider it as a last resort, and wouldn't bet on it helping in every case.
Have you tried getting a stand to keep the system elevated off the table or desk surface? Some people claim that helps. I keep mine elevated, but I never had a problem like yours (I use a PC for gaming), even before I got the stand, so nothing to compare it to in my case.
Haha, so much for the Pro moniker then lol
OP, it's just the way the Macbooks are. They're silent for people who don't use their machines, but if you try and use a decent percentage of their CPU envelope then the cooling starts to kick in, in a big way. And because their fans are optimised for Facebook they have a very blustery component, much more distracting than many other laptops, to their noise when they're worked hard. This has been typical of any Mac cooling system for years, and it's the same limitations as I run into when I build a low-power, super silent PC for simple duties with fans which are primarily designed to be run slow and to work noiselessly at those RPM's. At least the Retinas do actually do a reasonable job of keeping themselves cool through, unlike older Macbook Pros.
Other hardware which is designed to be used to a reasonable degree to being with usually strikes a better balance of work vs idle, even though they might not be silent in idle - and some can be just outright better: I can for example be pegging a Surface Book to it's max, and it's a lot more silent than an Air - and when idle, it's as quiet as the Air. Interesting how a lot of reviews don't mention stuff like that and just praise the Macs silence in idle.
You could try using external cooling solutions, but contact solutions won't work very well: the simple fact is that the aluminium body on a Macbook isn't there for heat dissipation but rather the look and feel (if it was for dissipation, Apple would be facing lawsuits of course), so passive heatsink solutions or stands which expose more of the body to the air aren't going to help a huge amount: What you need is already moving air to be taken up by the vents. What you'd want is a cooler with a) big and comparatively slow fans which move a lot of air for less RPM's for silence and b) an oversized cooling area that moves air around the side vents as well. Something like a Notepal X3.
Failing that, put it further away from you: The rMBP can be used lid-closed without affecting cooling unlike the nMBP's, so get a display, keyboard, mouse, stick it on a BookArc or something and move it behind the screen or even further away.
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Being an owner & user of the 15" MacBook Pro forever; Over the years the 15" has frequently struggled with it`s thermals, especially when an external display is connected as the dGPU switches on by default, internal temperatures soar, equally there are some steps that can be taken to reduce the systems temperature;
For the most part your MBP runs hot as that`s how Apple designed it, the trade off for form over, function, thin & light...
The old adage still applies; it`s easier to keep a system cool, than cool-down an already overly hot machine. This being said it`s not strictly necessary, equally it`s nice to know that there are some options for reducing temperature out there.
Q-6
- Elevate the rear, aluminium passive coolers generally work best (I use RainDesign`s mStand & iLap)
- Increase base fan RPM to 3K or as much as you are comfortable with (MacsFanControl or SMC Fan Control)
- Limit the dGPU`s usage with gfxCardStatus
- Swap out Chrome for Chrome Canary as it`s way more optimised for OS X and will extend battery run time, reduce thermals
- Swap out VLC for Movist as again it`s a reduced load on CPU/GPU
- Uninstall or block Flash
- Install an ad blocker Wipr or AdGuard works well
- Powered coolers are very much a "mixed bag" when it comes to Mac portables, you need one that has a high capacity (100 CFM minimum) and preferably a large single fan, this can help to keep the 15" internal fans below 4K which for many is good enough as often it`s this point and beyond where the fans become intrusive. Don't expect a powered cooler impact internal temperatures, beyond a couple of degrees
- Older notebooks can benefit from cleaning of the cooling system
- Retina`s can benefit from cleaning of the cooling system, as the heat syncs are far smaller and loose efficiency faster, due to build up of dust
- Replacing the thermal paste has been hit & miss, some with very positive results, some with no improvement over stock. Personally I would only do this on a Mac Portable that was either very old, or one that I can confirm was definitely running hotter than stock.
- If your MBP has a discrete GPU, it will fire up when an external display is connected as default, temperatures will rise rapidly.
- Consider a specific vertical stand when using a MPB in "Clamshell" mode allowing for greater circulation of air. Some recommend inverting the MBP in the stand with the exhaust at the top & intake at the bottom (Retina`s)
For the most part your MBP runs hot as that`s how Apple designed it, the trade off for form over, function, thin & light...The old adage still applies; it`s easier to keep a system cool, than cool-down an already overly hot machine. This being said it`s not strictly necessary, equally it`s nice to know that there are some options for reducing temperature out there.
Q-6
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My unit that is running hot is a 2015 rMPB. If this is Apple's best cooling, I can't imagine what it was like in previous generations.
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The key to a quiet life with a 15" MacBook Pro is several incremental changes that do add up to reduce thermals. From my experience over the years if your going to push a 15" hard the fans are going to max out fast, with associated noise. If your using it with a moderate load life can be made quieter
That is disappointing. This is PRO system. If I just wanted to browse I would have gotten a MacBook, not a rRMB 15.
Maybe Apple should look at Microsoft Surface and Book designs. They use the metal body as a secondary heatsink.
Nothing fantastic I'll tell you that
- MacBook Pro 2006 6000RPM from these fans will make you want to chuck the MBP out the window. I also upgraded my fans (took them from a MBP 4,1), sounds much quieter to me. Not sure if you can do the same with a 2015 MBP, this caught my eyes though(people reported that it was quieter in reviews, I have no idea if this is an OEM fan or not).
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Nothing fantastic I'll tell you that
6000RPM from these fans will make you want to chuck the MBP out the window. I also upgraded my fans (took them from a MBP 4,1), sounds much quieter to me. Not sure if you can do the same with a 2015 MBP, this caught my eyes though(people reported that it was quieter in reviews, I have no idea if this is an OEM fan or not).
It is only a few weeks old and I suspect replacing my fans with some other brand (to get a quieter fan) might violate my warranty and/or Apple Care agreement.
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Unfortunately the radiated heat to the unibody adds little to nothing to the cooling effort. In all transparency I have stopped updating my 15" as the newer models offer very little, just run hotter or throttle more aggressively.
I tried everything I could think of, just to keep the fans down to a reasonable level, especially at night working late the noise they generate is plain irritating. I had a level of success, equally I simply tire of babying Apple`s finest as in many respects they are flawed from the point of design, solely due to Apple`s obsession of thin & light being the focus of design not usability.
If I had more use for this class of notebook I would very likely look to one of the Windows OEM`s for a solution, preferring a vendor that puts the engineering first, faster, cooler running with adequate ports and options. Upcoming 2016 rMBP I expect very little, as once again thinner will be the number one priority & defining factor not performance, usability, utility or reliability.
Q-6
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I use my 17 quad for mostly surfing the net and still have the problem with the fans going from "idle" at 2000 to max speeds. Occasionally I run a movie that I download through iFlicks and the fans will spin up to maximum speeds doing that but it's to be expected.
I have a 2012 non retina MBP 13" that I bought a month after buying my 2015 and the fan on it rarely spins up from 2000.
Obviously you have never heard a jet engine before.
Pro does not equal quiet, quite the opposite actually. The more power you pack into a small form factor machine the more cooling you are going to need to keep it within its operating temperature.
If you want a machine that will be quite as you do intensive work then you need to get a desktop.
Pro does not equal quiet, quite the opposite actually. The more power you pack into a small form factor machine the more cooling you are going to need to keep it within its operating temperature.
If you want a machine that will be quite as you do intensive work then you need to get a desktop.
Your 2012 has an i5, dual-core processor. They have less performance, and produce less heat
Makes sense. If I am just browsing and watching movies, my iPad is fine for that. I use my MacBook Pro for the heavier tasks.
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