Why is my 2017 MacBook Pro overheating?

I just recently took my MacBook Pro, 2017 13in four thunderbolt ports, out of my backpack and it was overheating and burning hot to the touch. It was completely turned off, I had just gotten back from class. During class, I realized that my battery was going down very fast after just charging it to full battery (5:05pm was taken off the charger and it was at 23% at 7:02pm). I charged it in class to 90% and when I got back to my dorm and took it out of my bag, overheating, it was at 9%. In class, I wasn't using anything other than Chrome with about four tabs open. I haven't been having any other issues other than my control strip sometimes not working. My settings aren't set to have my display never turn off, my battery life says normal, and I ran diagnostics and nothing came up. Any clue why this happened? It was genuinely the hottest I've ever experienced a Mac get. One thing I did notice is that when it was off and overheating, the fan wasn't audibly running. When I opened it up to see what was going on, the fans started running and it cooled down pretty fast. Looking for answers, willing to try anything.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jan 31, 2024 7:58 PM

Reply

Similar questions

6 replies

Apr 3, 2024 2:50 PM in response to MacMikeInOK

Apparently mine is not affected. I think I'm just going to ride this out for as long as I can, hopefully until I graduate college. No major battery draining has been going on since this incident, but it is still overheating randomly when all I use is Chrome and it's happening as I write this. I never had any issues with it up until this post. Maybe I just need to replace my battery or see if my fan needs to be cleaned? Not sure.

Apr 4, 2024 10:10 AM in response to nbrudnak

Anything that causes the laptop to run hot means the laptop is working harder for some reason. More work means the battery will drain more quickly. As batteries age & are used, the extra work can reveal bad cell hardware issues within the battery which are masked by lighter workloads. Batteries typically need to be replaced between 3 - 5 years. Unfortunately some of these battery hardware failures will not be recognized by macOS so you may still see the battery condition listed as "Normal" even when there is a hardware issue with the battery.


We understand not wanting to run unknown apps and we try to minimize the need to ask anyone to do so. The EtreCheck app can be run directly from the Downloads folder and does not install anything. When finished with the app you can just delete it. The developer of the app is an approved/recognized Apple developer so you do not have to bypass any security to allow it to run. You can review the information contained within the report before posting. This app just tells us what software is running at low levels within macOS, login items, summaries of system logs, and some performance metrics all of which are very useful for assisting people on this forum. Of course the choice is yours to make.


Unless you are operating the laptop in a very dusty environment or have pets which shed, you probably don't ha

ve to worry about having the fans cleaned. The battery will likely need to be replaced sometime soon assuming it has never been replaced or you never had to have the Top Case/Keyboard Assembly replaced since most batteries only last about 3-5 years. If the Battery Condition is "Service Recommended" and you are experiencing performance issues with the battery, then the battery definitely should be replaced.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Why is my 2017 MacBook Pro overheating?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.