6/3/12 13:33 PMFix Fan Noise & Overheating After Upgrading to Mac OS X 10.7 Lion with SMC Reset

Page 1 of 5http://osxdaily.com/2011/09/20/fix-fan-noise-overheating-mac-os-x-10-7-lion/

Sep 20, 2011 - 16 Comments

Fix Fan Noise & Overheating AfterUpgrading to Mac OS X 10.7 Lion withSMC Reset

A fair amount of users are reporting that upgrading to MacOS X Lion has caused their Macs to run hotter in generaland their fans to constantly engage, creating excessive andunusual fan noise. For users who have just performed anupgrade from 10.6, this is usually because of Spotlight andthe mdworker & mds process combination, which ironsitself out over the course of an hour or so.

If waiting it out hasn’t resolved the heat and fan noise for you, or those Spotlightprocesses aren’t running, you might want to try resetting the System ManagementController, or SMC. This seems to be particularly effective for MacBook Pro andMacBook Airs that are running hot with considerable fan noise after the Lion installation.

Fix Fan Noise & Heat in OS X Lion by Resetting SMCFor MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air models with internal batteries:

Shut down your MacPlug in the MagSafe adapterPress and hold Shift+Control+Option+Power button at the same timeRelease all keys and buttons simultaneouslyPress the power button to turn on your Mac as usual

Apple notes that the little LED light on the MagSafe adapter may change colors orstates, or even briefly turn off when you reset the SMC, which could be an easy way totell if it’s be done successfully.

This tip was left in our comments recently and several readers have responded oremailed us with positive results. To give further backing to the solution, Apple’ssupport doc lists the following as the first reason to reset the SMC: “The computer’sfans run at high speed although the computer is not experiencing heavy usage and isproperly ventilated.

Resetting the SMC is a fairly common trick to fix some of the quirkier power and

Follow Follow @OSXDaily@OSXDailyLike 8.7kWebRep

Privacy

USB Sync and Charging Cable Compatible with …Generic

$0.92

Apple MacBook Pro MD313LL/A 13.3-Inch Lapt…Apple Computer

$1,099.99

Apple MacBook Pro MD311LL/A 17-Inch Laptop …Apple Computer

$2,233.57

Stereo Headset /w Microphone for Apple iPhon…Oriongadgets

$1.80

Showing 1 - 4 of 50 results

Shop at Amazon Ad

Subscribe to OSXDaily

Search Amazon.… Apple

1 2 3 4 5 >

Shared on Facebook

Steve Jobs: “Your phone is the dumbest f***ingidea I have ever heard” 401 people recommend this.

If Apple Made iOS In 1986 This Is What ItWould Look Like 305 people recommend this.

Absinthe 2.0 Jailbreak for iOS 5.1.1 Released[Download Links] 47 people recommend this.

Why Steve Jobs Always Wore a BlackTurtleneck 334 people recommend this.

Steve Jobs Planned Out 4 Years of NewProducts Before Death, Apple’s Future Will“Blow Your Mind” 161 people recommend this.

Is It Better to Shut Down, Sleep, or Leave a MacTurned On When Not Being Used? 98 people recommend this.Facebook social plugin

SearchHome Mac OS X iPhone iPad Tips & Tricks Jailbreak OS X Lion iOS 5

WebRepcurrentVotenoRatingnoWeight

WebRepcurrentVotenoRatingnoWeight

WebRepAds by Google Apple Macbook Pro Apple Macbook Air Macbook Air Macbook Air Pro

WebRepcurrentVotenoRatingnoWeight

WebRepcurrentVotenoRatingnoWeight

6/3/12 13:33 PMFix Fan Noise & Overheating After Upgrading to Mac OS X 10.7 Lion with SMC Reset

Page 2 of 5http://osxdaily.com/2011/09/20/fix-fan-noise-overheating-mac-os-x-10-7-lion/

battery related problems on a Mac, and in many cases it works. If all else has failed, trythis out, it just may solve your heat and fan noise issues with Lion.

Note: Anytime the SMC is reset you will typically lose custom power settings, so beprepared to go back into System Preferences to readjust Energy Saver settings again.

1

Related articles:How to Check Wireless Signal Strength and Optimize WiFi Networks inMac OS X LionIncrease the Contrast of a PDF to Sharpen & Darken TextMac OS X Lion Developer Preview 2 Update 2 Released to DevsMac OS X Lion Dev Preview 2 Adds Graphite Appearance Option Again

Posted by: William Pearson in Mac OS X, Tips & Tricks, Troubleshooting

16 Comments» Comments RSS Feed

Aaron says:September 20, 2011 at 11:26 am

I discovered this accidentally a few weeks ago on an iMac when I was moving it from one room toanother. Apparently if you just unplug from the wall for like 20 seconds then reconnect and waitabout 10 more to boot up it resets the same power controller. Imagine my surprise when movingthe iMac from one room to another seemingly fixed the fan blaring, LOL.

I think Apple could alleviate a lot of headaches and support calls if the power settings weretrashed automatically on the first reboot of a Lion install, since this obviously is the culprit here.

Reply

Jim says:September 20, 2011 at 11:57 am

Also when you perform an SMC it reset your terminal settings for verbose mode if set…

Reply

Joseph says:September 20, 2011 at 1:18 pm

I’ve had the opposite happen where my Macbook gets to 210F and the fans are still going at2000RPM. See if this works.

Reply

Louis says:September 20, 2011 at 2:09 pm

Bluecell 3 PCSWhite 6FT USBData Sy...BLUECELLNew $9.99

Apple Keyboardwith NumericKeypad M...Apple ComputerNew $49.00

Logitech WirelessPerformanceMouse ...Logitech, IncNew $75.25

Jabra CLIPPERBluetooth StereoHeads...JabraNew $39.99

Medialink -Wireless N Router- 802....MedialinkProducts...New $49.99

Logitech WirelessDesktop MK320Keyb...LogitechNew $31.99

Privacy Information

OSXDaily on Facebook

Diogo Vu Hert R'yan Gary

Michael Hannes Chris

OS X Daily on Facebook

8,743 people like OS X Daily.

Like

Facebook social plugin

WebRepcurrentVotenoRatingnoWeight

MaxOptix Optical Drives www.alpinesolutionsinc.com#1 Repair Facility for MaxOptix Optical Drives for

Medical Systems

Trainz Simulator

60% off

Today Only

Build and operateyour dream

railroad.

107

202

6/3/12 13:33 PMFix Fan Noise & Overheating After Upgrading to Mac OS X 10.7 Lion with SMC Reset

Page 3 of 5http://osxdaily.com/2011/09/20/fix-fan-noise-overheating-mac-os-x-10-7-lion/

210?? Reset the SMC and if that doesn’t solve it, go back to Apple, that thing is going to meltitself down!!

Reply

Joseph says:September 20, 2011 at 9:43 pm

Yup according to istat sometimes higher! So did a reset, re-did thermal paste (Apple usedtoo much) and seems okay now. Converted some video got to 170F. Way better!

Also on older Macbooks to reset SMC you just unplug, take out the battery and hold thepower button for 5 seconds.

Reply

rascal01 says:September 21, 2011 at 4:48 am

Could you maybe tell me how old an ‘older macbook’ more or less should be?I’ve got one dating from early 2008. I’m not sure if that would classify as an older or anewer macbook.

Reply

Joseph says:September 21, 2011 at 9:34 am

I have a late 2008 Macbook Pro I consider it older, also pre-unibody models people call“old” now.

Jason says:September 20, 2011 at 6:06 pm

That would have been nice to know before my Macbook Pro did cooked itself a few weeks ago asa result – thanks apple for nothing!

Reply

Mike says:September 21, 2011 at 4:12 am

Reseting SMC _and_ PRAM solved more problems than just overheating and increased fan rpm.After clean installation of Lion my MacBook kept reacting sluggish, it rendered a huge usage ofmemory and slow release of memory. I’d been thinking to get back to SL but before doing that Itried to reset both SMC and PRAM. After reseting both my MacBook improved in usage becauseof speed and memory usage. Heat keeps below 195 F, even when using apps which use bothCPU and video at most.

Reply

vdiv says:September 21, 2011 at 7:58 am

Not to be a pain but I have never had to do anything like that on a ThinkPad or a Lattitude. Surethey get warm and noisy, but 210 deg F?!? My 2010 15″ MacBook Pro regularly heats up above80 deg C so I use smcFanControl to keep the fan going at a minimum of 4000 rpm instead of thedefault 2000 rpm. This keeps it at around 65 deg C. I expect the fan to die within a year.

Is resetting the SMC a standard operation procedure for MacBooks?

By MagSafe adapter, you do mean the AC power supply/adapter, right?

Reply

OSXDaily says:September 21, 2011 at 9:21 am

Yes resetting the SMC is a fairly common troubleshooting technique with power related issues.And yes, the MagSafe adapter is the magnetic AC Adapter.

If your Mac is running that hot, give it a try.

Reply

6/3/12 13:33 PMFix Fan Noise & Overheating After Upgrading to Mac OS X 10.7 Lion with SMC Reset

Page 4 of 5http://osxdaily.com/2011/09/20/fix-fan-noise-overheating-mac-os-x-10-7-lion/

steve says:September 22, 2011 at 9:18 am

i had a similar problem with new macbookpro, installed Lion and then fan started to kick in lotsand became very very hot, it never did that with snow leopartd

SOLUTION THAT WORKED FOR:installed ‘gfxCardStatus’ and set it to ‘integrated only’ which means basically that the machinenever uses the discreet graphics card. it worked. machine never gets hot, even when watchingvideo, and i dont hear the fan.

all i can think is that the new lion os x does not switch from discreet to integrated when needed.its just always on discreet and hence machine was overheating when performing intensive taskslike video or flash

hope this helps

steve

Reply

feenix says:November 17, 2011 at 10:36 pm

i have upgraded my mac to lion but its getting 2 long in startup..can anybody no whats wrong..mnew at this stuffs

Reply

Christopher says:December 2, 2011 at 11:03 pm

Just did this and it’s working!

2008 Macbook Pro, just upped to Lion5000rpm fans and 74C running nothing but SafariDid the resetNow a reasonable 58C and 3000rpm fans

It’s bonkers, but it did work.

Reply

Morten Slott Hansen says:February 6, 2012 at 2:45 am

I have just upgraded to 10.7.3 and the Fan Noise is still there when the computer is running idle.Only solution is to shut it down (not restart) and wait 5 sec. before booting – and then it keepsquiet unless I visit a website with flash.

Seems to be a problem whenever I close the lid and open it again – Must be a software issue…

I have a Macbook Air model 2011 with all the bells and whistles.

Reply

Randy says:May 28, 2012 at 4:29 am

I have a 2007 Macbook Pro with Snow Leopard that has been exhibiting the fan problem on andoff for a while now. I have reset the SMC once before which seemed to work and have just doneagain with instant success.Just hoping it stays alright for a while this time.On a slight tangent, after I upgraded to Snow Leopard the laptop would continue to run eventhough the lid was closed. This caused me much distress on quite a few occasions as it had beenin a nice snug laptop bag and got very very hot several times, I am just hoping that it has notsustained too much damage. I try to shut it down now when travelling.

Reply

Leave a Reply Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website

6/3/12 13:33 PMFix Fan Noise & Overheating After Upgrading to Mac OS X 10.7 Lion with SMC Reset

Page 5 of 5http://osxdaily.com/2011/09/20/fix-fan-noise-overheating-mac-os-x-10-7-lion/

OS X DailyEmail us: osxdailycom@gmail.com

Write for us: osxdailycom@gmail.com

Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Sitemap

This website is unrelated to Apple Inc

All trademarks and copyrights on thiswebsite are property of their respectiveowners.

Previous: Apple CustomerSatisfaction Rating at All TimeHigh, Dominates PC Industry

Next: Stop Safari Auto-RefreshingWeb Pages in Mac OS X Lion

Submit Comment

Shop for Apple & Mac Deals on Amazon.com

© 2012 OS X Daily. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction without explicit permission is prohibited.

WebRepcurrentVotenoRatingnoWeight