If your Mac is overheating and/or making a lot of noise, you may be able to fix it yourself by trying some of these solutions from our in-house tech experts.
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Reset NVRAM
The non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), sometimes called the parallel random-access machine (PRAM), is a small portion of memory that your computer uses to save and have lightning-speed access to certain settings such as sound, startup-disk selection, and even the time zone. Most of the time you can control these settings in your System Preferences, but if you can’t, resetting your NVRAM may help!
If your Mac has Apple silicon
If your Mac computer has Apple silicon you don’t need to worry about resetting your NVRAM as these devices don’t include a manual reset option.
If your Mac is Intel-based
If your Mac doesn’t have Apple silicon, then your computer has an Intel processor and features an NVRAM reset option. Follow the instructions below to reset it.
- Shut down your Mac.
- Turn on your computer and immediately press and hold Option-Command (⌘)-P-R.
- You can release the keys after about 20 seconds — you may start to hear the restart sound a few times or see the Apple logo pop up on the screen.
- When your Mac does restart, make sure to readjust your system settings as they could have reset in the process.
- If these steps didn’t work, see these guidelines to continue troubleshooting.
Update your software
A software update is simply a newer version of your current macOS software. "Software Update" will install updates and upgrades for your operating system as well as any built-in apps.
Update the macOS on your Mac
- Before diving in, you should always back up your Mac just to be safe.
- Click the Apple symbol located on the left corner of the screen > "System Preferences" > "Software Update".
- It will check for new software available for your Mac:
- If your computer is up to date, you won’t need to do anything as your computer has already been updated.
- If there is new software available, click “Update Now” or “Upgrade Now” to install it — you may need to enter your password or restart your computer.
If "Software Update" doesn’t come up
- If you don't see "Software Update" in your "System Preferences" window, try using "Search" located in the corner and look up “Software Update”.
- If your macOS doesn't have "Software Update", go to the App Store and click the "Updates" tab to see if there are any updates available.