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whitby

Contributor
Original poster
Dec 13, 2007
457
471
Austin, TX
I have an M4 Pro Mac Mini with 64GB memory and a 2TB SSD. It is connected to an external TB5 4TB drive and to a TB5 hub to which is connected a TM drive and a slower TB3 4 Disk RAID 5 disk array. The Mini is also connected to 2 5K monitors, one Apple Studio (directly) and one LG Ultrafine 5K monitor (via the hub). I have a wired mechanical keyboard and Logitech MS Master 3S, I think it is, mouse plus an Audioengine active loudspeaker system with a sub plus a studio microphone.

So why the post? It is the fact that this system runs hot whether or not it is in sleep mode. The fans do not run in sleep mode and rarely run in operational mode but the case does reach around 40 - 50 deg C. ie quite warm to the touch. iStat shows CPU temps around 53 deg C so not excessive. I do not have it set to allow incoming messages and incoming network activity etc. to wake it up and I allow drives to sleep when possible (which never occurs) but I do have TM running and there are a series of back up tasks via Carbon Copy Clone that run once a week. Each day I come down to use the machine it is quite warm to the touch and sometimes hot (both it and the external TB5 drive) which means they have been active, but iStat history shows no real activity. As a result of this I have started shutting down the machine at night to give it some thermal rest and guess what? That inaccessible power button becomes an issue. The one we all complained about but never really let it concern us, since when do we really shut down our Macs? I had a 2020 i9 iMac that was running from the day I started it up to the day I shut down and sold it. No issues.

Has anyone else experienced this? Maybe I am being overly concerned and Apple expect this to run hot continuously for 5 years or more. I think not, but I find it ironic that 1) I feel the need to shut it down due to the heat it generates and 2) this is the one machine where the power button is inaccessible.

Note I have gone through all the apps looking for background refreshes etc. other activities and stopped where not required. I am also aware that Apple keep the TB and USB ports powered on while sleeping so if the peripheral cannot detect a sleep state it will stay active, which is probably the case with the 4TB TB5 drive.

So, again, has 1) anyone else noticed this and 2) have you found a magic way to stop this behavior while it is sleeping.
 
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So, again, has 1) anyone else noticed this
Yes.

2) have you found a magic way to stop this behavior while it is sleeping.
No — more specifically, nothing consistent.

Perhaps coincidence, but macOS 15.5 or 15.6 does appear to improve the situation for my setup. That is, the Mac doesn’t appear to wake up quite as often (i.e., external drive lights) and the Mac as well as external drives don’t seem quite as hot — and it’s summer, so the indoor temps hover much closer to 80ºF.

Each day I came down to use the machine and it is quite warm to the touch and sometimes hot (both it and the external TB5 drive) which means they have been active, but iStat history shows no real activity.
At first, this concerned me (a little), especially regarding the external SSDs. And there does seem to be a connection between Mac minis exhibiting these characteristics and having external drives. Nonetheless, they’re all definitely within spec, and I haven’t noticed any ill affects whatsoever. Therefore, meh, not worried any longer.

As a result of this I have started shutting down the machine at night to give it some thermal rest and guess what? That inaccessible power button becomes an issue. The one we all complained about but never really let it concern us
I’m still using a vertical Mac mini mount I purchased for my 2012 Mac mini, though with the 2024 Mac mini placed atop regularly (horizontal). Thus the power button is especially not a problem. You could put something as simple as a drink coaster or two underneath the mini to make the power button access less obstructed.

By the way, raising the mini off the surface doesn’t appear to affect err improve thermals, unlike the Intel versions.
 
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The cpu temperature was low, the fans weren’t spinning up. While the casing itself, as part of the heat sink system may be heatsoaking, it’s not a handheld device. They don’t need skin temperature aware power management.

Even if your old iMac was colder to the touch (with fan spin especially) it was probably warmer inside especially under use. My old iMac would reach 108C with fan spin og 3200RPM under heavy use. Way higher than the nominal max fan speed of 2700.

Frankly I just wouldn’t worry about it with internal temperature so low. The casing temperature isn’t what matters but the component temperature and if it has headroom to increase fan spin then it’s fine.

You can set a higher fan speed yourself if that makes you feel more comfortable.

I of course can’t speak to your external equipment and the power consumption cost of it all being in a powered non-sleep state but I wouldn’t worry about the Mac’s thermal situation based on what you’ve said.
 
The cpu temperature was low, the fans weren’t spinning up. While the casing itself, as part of the heat sink system may be heatsoaking, it’s not a handheld device. They don’t need skin temperature aware power management.

Even if your old iMac was colder to the touch (with fan spin especially) it was probably warmer inside especially under use. My old iMac would reach 108C with fan spin og 3200RPM under heavy use. Way higher than the nominal max fan speed of 2700.

Frankly I just wouldn’t worry about it with internal temperature so low. The casing temperature isn’t what matters but the component temperature and if it has headroom to increase fan spin then it’s fine.

You can set a higher fan speed yourself if that makes you feel more comfortable.

I of course can’t speak to your external equipment and the power consumption cost of it all being in a powered non-sleep state but I wouldn’t worry about the Mac’s thermal situation based on what you’ve said.
My ambient temperature is 24C so the case is often 26C higher which feels hot. My 27” iMac could get hot (the air exhaust temp of the vents could reach 60 C or do) but I never recorded high cpu temperatures while in sleep mode. Hence my cause for concern.

Anyway I think the gist of the two responses I have received so far is live with it, they do that. I am going to keep monitoring the situation and will investigate making the power button more accessible without blocking the antenna for the WiFi, although I do have a wired Ethernet connection as well.
 
Another couple of points I forgot to make:

The 2024 Mac mini design has the power supply on top rather than along the side. So, most of the heat you feel on the top case is from that.

For the second point, I’ll swing back to:
And there does seem to be a connection between Mac minis exhibiting these characteristics and having external drives.
If you have multiple (bus) powered drives connected, obviously, that puts more load on the PSU.

Ultimately, it’s probably more about how often the Mac wakes up to do intermittent tasks.

You could try some experimenting with Power Nap:

 
Another couple of points I forgot to make:

The 2024 Mac mini design has the power supply on top rather than along the side. So, most of the heat you feel on the top case is from that.

For the second point, I’ll swing back to:

If you have multiple (bus) powered drives connected, obviously, that puts more load on the PSU.

Ultimately, it’s probably more about how often the Mac wakes up to do intermittent tasks.

You could try some experimenting with Power Nap:

Thanks for the info. I had not thought about the PSU location.

Power Nap is only available on Intel based machines.
 
I have the same cpu set up, only the base 24Gb. I also, have a 4TB and a 2TB both 990's in OWC 1M2 enclosures attached to the mini, with a powered TB5 dock to the 3rd port. The mini usually runs around 40-45 degrees C. depending on the apartment temp. Mac fan is set to 1250 all the time. If I decide to run a game I will run it up to 2500, the Mini is barely warm to the touch. I don't think it is much to be concerned about. Too many threads on the Mini temp issue.
 
Lots about running temperatures but very few that I could find about temperature while it was sleeping, hence my post.
Are apps able/allowed to log (for more than a maybe a few minutes) during sleep states?

Related:

 
Are apps able/allowed to log (for more than a maybe a few minutes) during sleep states?

Related:

No, the only app that may log in, but then only once per week, is CCC (Carbon Copy Cloner) but then it is continuously running to check system time for events, but uses very little resources when it does run. I disabled it for a while and it made no difference. One odd thing is that this morning the case temp was down to 37C which is the lowest I have ever measured. We keep our house at a fairly constant 24C (we have two AC units, one for each floor) so it was not a change in ambient temperature that caused this reduction. This was after a shutdown for 24 hrs and restart, so maybe a service was stopped and did not restart. I will look at the daemons that are running and compare before and after.
 
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