MacBook Pro Temperature Sensor Issues – Faulty or Oversensitive?

hardwaremacbook protemperature

I have a 2015 Retina MacBook Pro, 15-inch.

Whenever the CPU usage goes above ~30%, the reported temperature spikes and the fans kick in. As if the temperature sensor was oversensitive. I've tried resetting SMC but no change. Is there something else I can try?

(An authorized service provider just sent it back to me after replacing one of the fans but that didn't fix the issue.)

Best Answer

I see two potential problems:

  1. An "over sensitive" sensor as you described that is reporting the CPU temp as higher than what it's supposed to be

or....

  1. A faulty CPU that has a temperature spike when you put it under load. In this case, the sensor is working correctly.

The tech changing out the fan can do nothing to fix this problem - remember, the sensor is "reading" a temp change and telling the SMC to kick on the fans. Changing the fan won't change how the sensor works.

What you need to do is diagnose whether or not the temp reading is accurate and whether the sensor is working or not. You can start with Apple Hardware Test (AHT). (Hold the D key while booting from a powered off state with the AC adapter connected) and then take it into Apple to have it diagnosed.

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