Overheating

Apple MacBook

Severity: Moderate

What Does This Error Mean?

MacBook overheating is almost always caused by a background process consuming 100% CPU. Open Activity Monitor and sort by CPU usage — quit any process running unexpectedly high. Spotlight indexing, antivirus, and browser tabs are common culprits.

Affected Models

MacBook Air (all models)
MacBook Pro (all models)

Common Causes

Background process consuming excessive CPU — Spotlight (mdworker), antivirus, browser rendering
Poor airflow — MacBook placed on a soft surface blocking the vents
Thermal paste dried out on older Intel MacBook models
macOS update triggering a full Spotlight reindex
Running GPU-intensive tasks on a MacBook Air without active cooling

What Does This Error Mean?

Affected Models

Common Causes

How to Fix It