# Temperatures, fan speed, and the apps behind the heat.

Canonical page: https://vitalsmac.com/features/temperature-and-fans

CPU and GPU temperature on Intel and Apple silicon, M5 included, and the speed of every fan. When your Mac runs hot, Vitals names the apps responsible, with Quit beside each. Hold any fan at a speed you choose, and hand it back to macOS in one click.

## Sensors: CPU and GPU temperature, and every fan's speed.

On Intel and Apple silicon, M5 included, Vitals shows the CPU and GPU temperature, the other sensors, and each fan with its speed, in the window and on the dropdown's Sensors tile, so you know whether the Mac is actually hot or just loud.

- CPU and GPU temperature, on Intel and Apple silicon
- Every fan and its speed
- Celsius or Fahrenheit
- Kept in the history, with the hottest moment in Peaks

## Heat: The apps working the chip, named.

When your Mac has been hot for a few minutes, Vitals tells you which apps are behind it, highest first, with Quit beside each and Force Quit for one that will not answer, and how fast the fans are running, so you fix the cause instead of waiting it out.

- The apps behind the heat, highest first
- Quit beside each
- How fast the fans are running
- How hot and for how long, set in Settings → Insights

## Fans: Hold a fan at the speed you choose.

Each fan can stay on automatic or run at a speed you set, within what the Mac allows, for a long export or a quiet night. The setting survives restarts and sleep, and every fan goes back to automatic the moment Vitals quits.

- Automatic, or a speed you choose
- Within the limits the Mac allows
- Kept across restarts and sleep
- Back to automatic when Vitals quits

## Menu bar: The temperature that matters to you.

Put a temperature item in the menu bar that follows the CPU, the GPU or the hottest sensor, in Celsius or Fahrenheit. It turns red while the Mac is hot, and the fan speed can sit beside it.

- Follows the CPU, the GPU or the hottest sensor
- Red while the Mac is hot
- Fan speed beside it, if you want it
- Celsius or Fahrenheit

## Why it matters: temperature and fans on a Mac

Activity Monitor shows no temperature and no fan speed. The Mac tells you it is hot by slowing down and by the fans, and which app is behind it is left to you, with a list of processes to guess from.

On Apple silicon the sensors moved and older tools stopped reading them; on an Intel Mac the fans are the thing you hear all day. Either way, what you want is the chip's temperature, each fan's speed, and the apps that have been working the chip, in one place.

Vitals shows CPU and GPU temperature on Intel and Apple silicon, M5 included, and every fan's speed, and when the Mac has been hot for a few minutes it names the apps behind the heat with Quit beside each. Each fan can stay on automatic or run at a speed you choose within the limits the Mac allows, kept across restarts and sleep, and returned to automatic when Vitals quits. Temperature can be a menu bar item following the CPU, the GPU or the hottest sensor.

## How to use it

1. **Find the sensors.** The window's Temperature & Fans section has every sensor and fan; the dropdown's Overview has a Sensors tile. Celsius or Fahrenheit is your choice in Settings → General → Units.
2. **Put the temperature in the menu bar.** Settings → Layout → Menu Bar: a temperature item that follows the CPU, the GPU or the hottest sensor, red while the Mac is hot.
3. **See what is behind the heat.** When the Mac runs hot, Vitals names the apps that have been working the chip, with Quit beside each and Force Quit for one that does not answer. Set how hot and for how long before it tells you in Settings → Insights.
4. **Hold a fan.** In Temperature & Fans, each fan can stay on automatic or run at a speed you choose, within the limits the Mac allows. The setting is kept across restarts and sleep, and every fan returns to automatic when Vitals quits. It needs the optional helper.

## Compared with Activity Monitor

| | Activity Monitor | Vitals |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Temperatures | None | CPU and GPU, on Intel and Apple silicon |
| Fan speed | None | Every fan |
| Fan control | None | Hold a fan at a speed, hand it back in one click |
| Behind the heat | A list of processes | The apps named, with Quit beside each |
| A hot Mac | Nothing | A notice after the minutes you set |

## The words behind it

- [Thermal throttling](https://vitalsmac.com/glossary/thermal-throttling): Thermal throttling is when a computer lowers its processor speed to keep temperatures in a safe range.
- [Fan curve](https://vitalsmac.com/glossary/fan-curve): A fan curve is the rule that maps a Mac's temperature to its fan speed: cool means slow or off, hot means fast.
- [kernel_task](https://vitalsmac.com/glossary/kernel-task): kernel_task is the macOS kernel as it appears in Activity Monitor.
- [Performance and efficiency cores](https://vitalsmac.com/glossary/performance-efficiency-cores): Performance and efficiency cores are the two kinds of CPU core in Apple silicon Macs.

## Questions

### Does Vitals show temperatures on Apple silicon?

Yes, on every Apple silicon Mac, M5 included, and on Intel Macs. The readings are most detailed on Apple silicon.

### Can I control fan speed on a Mac with Vitals?

Yes. Hold any fan at a speed you choose, and hand it back to macOS in one click. On Macs without fans there is nothing to control.

### Is holding a fan safe?

Vitals only lets you set a speed within the range the fan supports. macOS keeps its own protections, and one click gives control back.

### Why is my Mac hot?

Usually an app keeping the CPU or GPU busy. Vitals names the apps behind the heat, with Quit beside each, and the fan guide walks through the common causes.

### Does the fan setting survive a restart?

Yes. It is kept across restarts and sleep, and every fan returns to automatic when Vitals quits.

### Why does kernel_task use so much CPU when the Mac is hot?

That is macOS keeping the chip cool: kernel_task takes CPU time away from everything else so the temperature comes down. It is a symptom. The cause is the app Vitals names beside the heat.

### Can the menu bar show the hottest sensor?

Yes. The temperature item can follow the CPU, the GPU or whichever sensor is hottest.

### Does Vitals keep temperature over time?

Yes. Temperature is in the history, and the Peaks card shows the highest temperature in the range you chose and when it was.

## Read on

- [Why are my Mac’s fans so loud? How to find what is heating it](https://vitalsmac.com/mac-fan-loud)
- [How to control fan speed on a Mac](https://vitalsmac.com/mac-fan-control)
- [The 6 best temperature monitors for Mac](https://vitalsmac.com/best-mac-temperature-monitor)
- [Vitals vs iStat Menus](https://vitalsmac.com/vs/istat-menus)
- [Vitals vs Stats](https://vitalsmac.com/vs/stats)
- [Vitals vs TK-mac](https://vitalsmac.com/vs/tk-mac)

## More of Vitals

Every feature is at [vitalsmac.com/features](https://vitalsmac.com/features). Vitals is one payment, with every update for life: [pricing](https://vitalsmac.com/pricing).