overheating of MacBook Pro with macOS Tahoe 26

My macbook pro m1 (2021) was running perfectly up until i installed macos 26 and now its overheating, my battery is draining with the speed of light. With Tahoe my mac was getting hot even on sleep mode and as soon as i open it its getting too hot to handle. I can't code on this thing, I can't do editing on this thing just because i trusted the new os version and upgraded to Macos 26 (Tahoe).

I met the same overheating issur after upgrading to Tahoe 26. I found my Macbook pro with M3 pro overheat especially when I watch video through browser in full screen mode. The WindowServer process has a super high CPU usage which is abnormal.

It is possible there are processes running in the background that are using significant resources. Check Activity Monitor, CPU tab, sort by % CPU to see what's running hard.

Activity Monitor User Guide for Mac - Apple Support

It's not a generic issue with macOS Tahoe, my M4 Pro MBP has been running it since launch day and is on 26.0.1, and my system typically looks like this:

fengchu wrote:

I will try the safe mode.

But even the 'brand new' install without any other apps, it's still overheating.

For these "clean installs," did you migrate over from your old account(s)? I am wondering if something could have come over that doesn't play well with MacOS 24.

If, after a "clean install" (format/erase followed by fresh MacOS -- in other words, the Mac is restored to "new out of the box" state), the fans are still running loudly, I would suspect something in the hardware. It could be something low tech like a blocked vent.

I’ve had the same overheating issue and traced it back to WindowServer. I’m still not sure if it’s coming from Adobe or Affinity (my two main design apps), but the GPU only overheats when I use them. I’m on a Mac Mini M4 24/256. I even formatted and reinstalled everything from scratch, yet the GPU overheating problem still persists. :(

As a follow-up, if you want to get back to Sequoia from Tahoe, the link above will get you to the install file for download. That's only the first of several steps.

Below are instructions to install Sequoia by creating a bootable installer (using the file you downloaded) with a USB flash drive.

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

i’m running an M3 Max for 2 years and still going fast, Tahoe does cause heating issues. Hopefully they release a fix for it. internal temp increases by around 10-20•C as compared to the last update. Battery level drops quicker as well even though I do the same tasks everyday:

full - stack activities , browsing… etc.

Hi all,

I do not have a solution; jsut more feedback to confirm that my mac book pro 16-inch, Nov 2024 was silent, always, until the update to 26.0 (25A354). Now the fan is on at least once every hour for like 2-3 minutes. Yes, the laptop is warm and I can confirm that even on a fresh Mac book pro. WindowServer is top on the list, like always :(

An update: It's been about 18 hours since I neutered Spotlight Search and I've been running different processes singly and in unison, and I need to report that my Macbook is cool, cool, cool with nothing gobling up the CPU. I'm a happy camper.

Insane. I've never installed any new update since tiger. I've always preferred to wait until the version 4, to change, but I thought: common dudo, you never have done that, enjoy one new system since the release, and I try with the .0.1.

Fans are annoying, I never will try another update. The machine itself it's not hot at all to touch but this is a i9 16" and yes, always has done fans sound, but were in certain moments. Now it's all the day. I don't know what to do...

Check Activity Monitor, CPU tab, sort by % CPU to see what's running hard.

Activity Monitor User Guide for Mac - Apple Support

I stopped all the things in activity monitor saying spotlight and the machine stopped the sound. Also, a few Zooms meeting were done and well, the thing go loud.

It happened to me when I used Adobe software, to use them it was mandatory to upgrade to Tahoe. I need to use Adobe for work, so it's pretty annoying.

I just installed macOS 26 (clean install), and my MacBook Pro (M2 Pro) started the same overheating issue. The fans are turning on randomly without opening any demanding apps. This has never occurred before. I ran Xcode and 6 other apps without hearing the fans, now a simple browser window can turn it on.