Is my M1 mini behaving normally?

[GFR1969]

So i recently purchased a refurbished m1 mini from 2020 and was wondering if the temperatures im seeing are normal? My room is currently super hot and stuffy and goes easily above 90F. CPU temps are sitting between 35C and 40C but spike to over 40C when interacting with youtube occasionally but come back down. Chassis is also warm to the touch and fluctuates between being cool and warm. Ive had temps hit 50C and above while bouncing logic projects but I imagine thats normal especially since i use almost exclusively 3rd party plugins. Could this behavior just be the lack of circulation in my room and rising temps? Never owned a mac mini before so I dont really know what proper temps or behaviors look like. Thank you!

 

[Populus]

So i recently purchased a refurbished m1 mini from 2020 and was wondering if the temperatures im seeing are normal? My room is currently super hot and stuffy and goes easily above 90F. CPU temps are sitting between 35C and 40C but spike to over 40C when interacting with youtube occasionally but come back down. Chassis is also warm to the touch and fluctuates between being cool and warm. Ive had temps hit 50C and above while bouncing logic projects but I imagine thats normal especially since i use almost exclusively 3rd party plugins. Could this behavior just be the lack of circulation in my room and rising temps? Never owned a mac mini before so I dont really know what proper temps or behaviors look like. Thank you!

Are all the temperatures in the right units?

If so, let’s recap using only the Celsius scale to have a wider and more consistent view:

Your room is at 90F, which equals to 32,22°C. To make it simple, let’s assume 32°C. It is warm indeed.

Now, CPU temps are between 35 and 40°C, slightly warmer than your ambient temperature.

And you mention that under heavy loads, CPU temps reaches 50 to 60°C.

Answer: Yes, not only your CPU temperatures are normal, they are also great. Apple Silicon chips are made to work at temperatures as high as 95-100°C or even higher (the M2 can easily reach 108° in the fanless MacBook Air), so honestly I wouldn’t worry about it. The aluminum chassis being warm to the touch is actually a good sign: it means it is playing its role at dissipating heat.

 

[GFR1969]

Thank you! im guessing the chassis getting work just has to do with my room exceeding 32C and sucking up that heat. I'm assuming that when opening web pages like youtube short spikes in cpu temp are normal as well?

 

[Populus]

Thank you! im guessing the chassis getting work just has to do with my room exceeding 32C and sucking up that heat. I'm assuming that when opening web pages like youtube short spikes in cpu temp are normal as well?

Totally normal. I guess you cannot compare an Intel CPU with an M1, but my Haswell i5 is usually between 55 and 65°C. What I mean is, those temperatures are actually quite good for a CPU (the M1 SoC), and in a fanless design such as a MacBook Air they would be quite higher. And that would be fine as well, they are designed to work at those temperatures.