Resources

Notes and guides.

Plain notes and guides on Mac temperatures, fans, and keeping your machine cool, and on getting more out of ChillBlades. What the numbers mean, when heat starts costing you, and what you can actually do about it.

• How to fix an overheating Mac

  The fix list for an overheating MacBook, in order, from quitting the heaviest app and clearing the vents to taking over the fans. Plus the myths to skip.

• Mac fans not spinning on M3 or M4?

  On an M3 or M4 Mac, fans sitting at 0 RPM is almost always normal, not a fault. Why Apple Silicon parks them, when silence is a problem, and how to spin them up yourself.

• Does Macs Fan Control still work on M3 and M4 Macs?

  Macs Fan Control and M3/M4 Macs: what still works, what changed on Apple Silicon, and how to get reliable fan control on the newest chips.

• Why your Mac fans roar on Zoom and Teams calls

  Why your Mac's fans roar during Zoom and Teams calls, what macOS is actually reacting to, and how to get ahead of the heat so the fans stay quiet when it matters.

• ChillBlades vs ThermalForge

  How ChillBlades and the open-source ThermalForge compare on fan control, setup, support and price, and which fits if you just want your Mac cooler without the tinkering.

• Mac fan control for developers

  Long compiles, Docker and test runs heat a Mac until it throttles and slows down. How fan control keeps build times consistent, and what it can and can't do.

• MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro: why the fanless Air throttles

  Why a fanless MacBook Air throttles under sustained load where a MacBook Pro keeps going, what that costs you, and where fan control helps (and where it can't).

• What is thermal throttling on a Mac?

  Thermal throttling is your Mac's chip slowing itself down to shed heat. What it is, how Apple Silicon and Intel differ, the signs, and how to confirm it.

• How to keep your Mac cool while gaming

  Why Macs run hot when gaming, how throttling causes frame drops in long sessions, and what actually helps: spinning the fans up early, clear vents and more.

• How to keep your Mac cool while editing video

  Why editing and exports heat a Mac, and what genuinely helps it stay cool and hold its speed: spinning the fans up before a render, proxies, airflow and more.

• ChillBlades vs Macs Fan Control

  How ChillBlades and Macs Fan Control compare on fan control, sensors, simplicity and price, and whether it's worth paying when Macs Fan Control is free.

• How to control your Mac's fans

  macOS has no built-in fan control. How it actually works, what you can and can't do safely, and how to set fan speed or automate it by temperature.

• Why is my Mac so hot?

  Why a Mac runs hot and overheats, from heavy load and runaway processes to blocked vents and Apple Silicon keeping the fans off, and the fix for each.

• Why are my Mac's fans so loud?

  Why your MacBook fan suddenly roars, what macOS is doing when it does, the honest list of what actually makes Mac fans quieter, and what no app can do.

• Why won't my Mac's fans turn on?

  On Apple Silicon, fans at 0 RPM is usually normal, not a fault. When zero is fine, when it isn't, and how to spin the fans up yourself.

• How to check your Mac's temperature

  macOS has no built-in temperature readout. The real ways to check your Mac's CPU temperature, from Terminal to a live menu-bar reading, and what they mean.

• The best Mac fan control apps in 2026

  An honest round-up of Mac fan control apps: ChillBlades, TG Pro, Macs Fan Control and smcFanControl, what each is good at, and how to choose.

• ChillBlades vs TG Pro

  How ChillBlades and TG Pro compare on fan control, monitoring, complexity and price, and which fits if you just want your Mac cooler without a dashboard.

• Why I built ChillBlades

  macOS keeps the fans off until the Mac is already hot, and the tools I tried were dashboards or broke on newer chips. So I built the simple one I wanted.

More guides on the way. In the meantime, the FAQs cover the quick questions.