When we think of great utilities for laptops and desktop PCs, the first thing that usually comes to mind are the best third-party Windows programs. However, macOS has no shortage of its own tweaks that can improve performance and usability. After many years as a macOS power user and owning a whole collection of great Macs, there is only one third-party app that I install on my Mac. every single. It's called Macs Fan Control and this free app gives you insight and control over your Mac's fans and temperatures.
Part of the Apple experience is not having to worry about temperatures and fan speeds. However, the company has been known to let temperatures rise a little higher than recommended to reduce fan noise. This is especially true for Intel Macs, but can affect Apple Silicon Macs as well. The Macs Fan Control app gives control over RPMs and temperatures back to the user, and that's why I always use it – even on laptops without fans.
3 It is every DIY enthusiast’s dream
Modifying or upgrading your Mac is incredibly fun, and Mac's Fan Control helps you avoid unintended consequences
Macs' fan controller is an important tool that I use for DIY projects and mods involving both new and old Mac computers. Whenever you make significant changes to the default hardware or software configuration of a Mac, there's a chance that macOS won't adjust its thermal thresholds to match the new configuration. For example, if you want to swap out the spinning hard drive in an Intel iMac for an SSD, it's easy to do. However, removing the SSD also removes at least one temperature sensor. This also changes the airflow situation, and that could have unintended consequences.
To compensate for this, you can download and install Macs Fan Control, which allows users to select a custom fan speed or temperature threshold. This will ensure that your Mac runs cool and performs well even after upgrades. I installed it on my Mac Pro when I swapped out the CPU for a model with more cores because macOS Monterey didn't recognize the configuration and therefore couldn't optimize the system's heat output and fans.
Another reason you might want to run Macs Fan Control is if you're using the OpenCore Legacy Patcher to install a newer version of macOS, like the upcoming macOS Sequoia, on an unsupported device. These demanding software versions can stress Mac computers in ways that officially supported versions of macOS don't, and you can compensate for this by adjusting Macs Fan Control's values directly.
If you are one of the few but passionate DIYers and modders who tinker with Mac computers, Macs Fan Control is an indispensable tool for you.
2 Useful presets and data
With Macs Fan Control you can determine exactly how hot your components are getting
The best thing about Macs Fan Control is that it is free and anyone can use it. There are quick toggles for the app that appear in a menu bar module and a click on Show fan controls for Macs will open a more detailed window. From there, you can view the exact temperature readings of each sensor in your Mac laptop or desktop. This is crucial for monitoring CPU and GPU temperatures on Intel Macs and SSDs on Apple Silicon Macs. An overheated SSD can cause a number of system problems, including but not limited to data loss, and diagnosing Macs Fan Control can help you avoid this problem.
The insights are still useful on Apple Silicon machines, even those without fans, like the MacBook Air. On those computers, Mac's Fan Control is better suited to keeping an eye on temperatures. While the app obviously can't control the fans on the MacBook Air because it doesn't have any, it can still display temperatures and sensor data.
For fan control, two quick and useful presets are available in the menu bar module. There are Automatically mode that effectively keeps macOS's native fan control in use. Alternatively, you can use Full throttleand this option turns the fans on at full speed. You shouldn't always use full power, but it's useful for quickly improving performance and controlling temperatures in an emergency.
1 Temperature-based fan control
Automatically switch on the fans when the components reach a certain temperature
The presets are nice, but the most useful way to use Macs' fan control is with custom settings. You can set sensor-based values that determine when the fans kick in while you're using your computer. It's possible to select minimum and maximum temperature values for a specific sensor. In the event that the temperature sensor gets hotter than you want, you can force the fans to kick in automatically. Instead of manually turning the fans up or down, the sensor-based control does the work for you.
This is ideal for people who find Apple's thermal management programming not aggressive enough. If you feel like your system is running too hot, this free and easy-to-use app lets you set your own custom thermal threshold. In addition to sensor-based control, you can also select a custom speed that your fans will run at consistently.
Everyone should download Macs Fan Control
Since Macs Fan Control is free, there are no downsides to installing it on your Mac. Even if you don't mess around with the custom values or even the presets, it can be useful to simply keep an eye on your temperature sensors. After all, there's a lot going on inside your Mac that Apple doesn't show you. Macs Fan Control is just one way to get a peek behind the scenes and access some of that important diagnostic data.
Fan control for Macs
Macs Fan Control is a temperature monitoring software that gives macOS users better insight and control over their system's temperatures, fan speeds, etc.