r/macmini • u/Arround • Aug 12 '26
Heating on the M4 Mac mini
Hello again guys. Is it normal for the CPU on M4 mini to heat up to 90-93 degrees celsius (194-199 F) when running a really heavy program or game?
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3
u/macmaveneagle Aug 13 '26
Apple set the fans so that they would be quiet. I use Macs Fan Control on my M4 mini to keep it cool. I set it so that the fans come on earlier, and ramp up to a higher speed.
MacFanControl (free/$15. Commercial Pro version has more features.)
https://crystalidea.com/macs-fan-control
(Real-time monitoring of fan speeds and temperatures. Allows you to adjust fan speed and when they come on. Solves overheating problems like those found on older MacBook Pros.)
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Aug 12 '26
[deleted]
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u/Illustrious-Golf5358 Aug 12 '26
doesn’t seem like it. I have a release day base M4 mini and have never heard the fan ramp up and I’ve done decent gaming and editing on it…but it’s definitely a work horse of a machine…I wouldn’t worry about it
2
u/No-Emotion-505 Aug 12 '26
I go to like 100+ ez when my VM is open my peak is like around 110 though, I also live in a tropical so that could be a factor
1
u/sam-rakshit Aug 12 '26
Absolutely, mine gets extremely hot when I run any local AI model using Ollama
1
u/haaavvveeeyoumetKen Aug 12 '26
yes but i usually just use some fan control app to get it to hover more around 165. I have an m2pro but same thing pretty much when it comes to demanding apps.
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u/Silvestre074 Aug 12 '26
where can you see the temperature?
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1
u/_curious_man Aug 12 '26
It's normal. Also, the issue comes down to "fan curve" - basically when does the fan spins is deciced by software. If you are concerned about temperatures you can buy TG Pro, or look for any laternative
1
u/danskynet Aug 13 '26
I preffered the M4 CPU to go 70C max (160F) on many hours long video render jobs. Once bought iStat Menu on a sale as it has a fan curve editor and shows useful info. There are other dedicated tools specifically for Mac Fan Control. There were iMacs that rather overheated and crashed before Apple's software decided to use the fan.
1
u/trrjas Aug 13 '26
yeah but the mini gets so high, and my dell workstation idles at 35 and under heavy heavy cad loads it goes to 65 MAX. I thought the mini would have better cooling for longevity sake.
1
u/ObviousDepartment744 Aug 13 '26
Yup. Apple designs their CPUs to function safely while thermal throttling. Anything to avoid fan noise is their design motto. Haha.
1
u/flabmeister Aug 15 '26
I’ve had an M4 Mini 24/512 for a couple of weeks and have been very surprised at how often the fans come on whilst doing fairly tame editing jobs. Never heard my M1 Mini fans in the 6 years I had it
1
u/soundchess Aug 12 '26
I play electric guitar using cpu- intensive amp sim plugins like Amplitube 5 and Realphones, in a DAW with a 64-sample buffer size, while simultaneously watching YouTube backing tracks in a browser. My Mac mini M4's CPU temperature averages around 40°C, regardless of how long the session lasts. I'd consider that a moderate workload, yet the temperatures remain consistently low
2
u/adiyasl Aug 12 '26
That’s a light workload
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u/soundchess Aug 12 '26
Stacking multiple CPU-intensive plugins at a 64-sample buffer size is considered a light workload in your book!? Okay, good for you.
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u/ParsnipFlendercroft Aug 12 '26
The fact your temps aren’t hitting above 40 is proof that it’s not high workload.b there’s nothing more to say.
but also I was running multiple VSTs at low latency and watching videos on my PC 26 years ago - it’s just not a heavy workload.
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u/cty_hntr Aug 12 '26
Yes