Apple siliconincluding the M1 and new M2 chipshas a reputation for staying cool even under intense workloads.
Intel Macs, on the other hand, run notoriouslyhot.
Theyre still capable computers, but they heat up fast, which, in turn, slows things down.
If you have an Intel-based Mac, youve probably experienced this computational heatwave for yourself.
Computers heat up because the internal components, namely the CPU and GPU, generate heat as they work.
Depending on your machine, you might not notice it while performing light tasks.
Once you start pushing the machine, however, youll feel the temperature ramping up.
Its not that this heat will damage or break your machine.
I mean, it absolutely could, but manufacturers check that that will never happen.
A little heat is okay; the parts are designed to operate normally within a wide range of temperatures.
Throttling sucks, because it means youre not getting the performance you expect from your machine.
While there aremany ways to combat overheating, one is to keep tabs on your Macs temperature.
And if you have an Intel Mac, you already have a monitor built right into macOS.
You wont even find them in Activity Monitor, as useful a utility as it is.
Rather, your Macs temperature monitor is found in Terminal.
There are two commands you could use here.
The first lets you see temperature stats for your Macs CPU.
After a moment, youll begin seeing temperature readings, updating roughly every five seconds.
That lets you know the fans are starting to work harder to move hot air out of your machine.
When this reading appears, it means macOS is throttling your CPU to keep the temperature from going overboard.
The only solid temperature monitor for Apple silicon available right now isTG Pro, which comes at a cost.
Its usually $20, though at the time of this writing, its on sale for $10.
Hey, maybe Apple will even make their ownfor free.
