{"id":883,"date":"2026-06-10T08:19:50","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T08:19:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pixert.com\/blog\/?p=883"},"modified":"2026-10-16T06:37:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T06:37:31","slug":"how-to-check-if-our-mac-temperature-is-safe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pixert.com\/blog\/how-to-check-if-our-mac-temperature-is-safe\/","title":{"rendered":"How to check if our mac temperature is safe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I was sitting in front of my computer this afternoon and noticed that the weather was hot and stuffy. I suddenly wondered whether Macs have a metric to determine if they are safe from overheating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Then, I discovered that we can check temperature inside a Mac through the terminal. This is the quickest way without an app. It’s an instant snapshot without installing anything. Open the terminal in Mac OS and run this command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

sudo powermetrics --samplers thermal<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Note: it will needs us to type mac’s admin password. The cursor won’t move or show characters as you type, just type it out and hit Enter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This will continuously stream our sytem’s real-time thermal pressure level and temperature metrics. When you’re done looking, press ctrl+C to stop the stream (if you cannot stop the stream, use another command to stop it – find it at the bottom of this post).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
In macOS thermal monitoring, “Nominal” indicates that the system is well within its safe temperature zone. There is absolutely no risk of overheating right now, and your Mac isn’t slowing itself down (throttling) to stay cool. It is running at 100% of its intended performance capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To give you an idea of what to watch out for as the weather changes, here is how macOS categorizes thermal pressure:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nominal<\/strong>: Normal. The system is cool, and performance is optimal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fair<\/strong>: The Mac is warming up. Fans (if your Mac has them) might spin a little faster, but performance isn’t being restricted yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Serious<\/strong>: The Mac is getting quite hot. The system will begin slightly reducing CPU\/GPU speeds (thermal throttling) to generate less heat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Critical:<\/strong> The Mac is dangerously hot. Performance will drop significantly to protect the hardware, and if the temperature keeps rising, the system will automatically shut down to prevent permanent damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As long as that terminal readout says Nominal, you can keep working without worrying about the ambient room temperature affecting your machine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Remember, the ambient temperature for mac is between 50\u00b0 and 95\u00b0 F (10\u00b0 and 35\u00b0 C). Above that ambient temperature, your Mac can quickly overheat, trigger thermal throttling, or experience battery strain. I suggest that you Relocate your Mac to an air-conditioned room or a shaded, well-ventilated indoor space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another command to stop the thermal stream<\/summary>\n
If the ctrl+c command in terminal does not work, open new tab in terminal with keyboard shortcut, command-t then type below in terminal,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
sudo killall -9 powermetrics<\/code><\/pre>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I was sitting in front of my computer this afternoon and noticed that the weather was hot and stuffy. I suddenly wondered whether Macs have a metric to determine if they are safe from overheating. Then, I discovered that we can check temperature inside a Mac through the terminal. This is the quickest way without […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":886,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mac-os"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pixert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/macthermal.jpg?fit=786%2C621&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1pvi1-ef","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":138,"url":"https:\/\/pixert.com\/blog\/mac-clear-terminal-command-history\/","url_meta":{"origin":883,"position":0},"title":"Mac : clear Terminal command history","author":"Pixel Insert \/ Pixert","date":"September 22, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Mac OS"","block_context":{"text":"Mac OS","link":"https:\/\/pixert.com\/blog\/category\/mac-os\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":803,"url":"https:\/\/pixert.com\/blog\/how-to-prevent-screensavers-from-appearing-when-youre-away-from-a-mac\/","url_meta":{"origin":883,"position":1},"title":"How to prevent Screensavers from appearing when you’re away from a mac","author":"Pixel Insert \/ Pixert","date":"September 30, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I've set my Mac to display screensavers after 5 minutes of inactivity. We know there's a 'caffeinate' command to prevent my Mac from going to sleep. In this case, sometimes we just want to be away from my Mac to make coffee, make a phone call, or whatever, and it's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mac OS"","block_context":{"text":"Mac OS","link":"https:\/\/pixert.com\/blog\/category\/mac-os\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pixert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Screenshot-2025-09-28-at-15.11.07.jpg?fit=760%2C457&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pixert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Screenshot-2025-09-28-at-15.11.07.jpg?fit=760%2C457&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pixert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Screenshot-2025-09-28-at-15.11.07.jpg?fit=760%2C457&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pixert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Screenshot-2025-09-28-at-15.11.07.jpg?fit=760%2C457&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":338,"url":"https:\/\/pixert.com\/blog\/show-hidden-files-mac-os-x\/","url_meta":{"origin":883,"position":2},"title":"Show and Hidden Files on Mac OS X","author":"Pixel Insert \/ Pixert","date":"November 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I often edit. htacces, but when downloading or create files. htacces, the files hidden by Mac OS X, I'm currently using OSX 10.8.5. In Mac OS X, files with names that start with a dot (.) are hidden I'm using Terminal command to reveal the hidden files in OS X\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mac OS"","block_context":{"text":"Mac OS","link":"https:\/\/pixert.com\/blog\/category\/mac-os\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pixert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/macosx1085.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pixert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/macosx1085.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pixert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/macosx1085.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":328,"url":"https:\/\/pixert.com\/blog\/mac-app-store-updates-for-other-accounts-bug\/","url_meta":{"origin":883,"position":3},"title":"Mac App Store: “You Have Updates Available for Other Accounts”","author":"Pixel Insert \/ Pixert","date":"September 21, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This what was happening when I tried to update Coda 2 on Mac I have only one Apple ID, when I clicked the Purchases tab, the button next to Coda 2 showed Update. I clicked it and got a dialog, \u201cYou have updates available for other accounts.\u201d This is how\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mac OS"","block_context":{"text":"Mac OS","link":"https:\/\/pixert.com\/blog\/category\/mac-os\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46,"url":"https:\/\/pixert.com\/blog\/change-mamp-mysql-password\/","url_meta":{"origin":883,"position":4},"title":"Change MAMP MySQL password","author":"Pixel Insert \/ Pixert","date":"March 12, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"MAMP creates a local server environment on Mac OS X by installing Apache, PHP and MySQL right out of the box. The default username\/password for MySQL install is root\/root. That's not safe. For security purposes, in our case we want sync between our WAMP and MAMP , it's best to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mac OS"","block_context":{"text":"Mac OS","link":"https:\/\/pixert.com\/blog\/category\/mac-os\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pixert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/mamplogo.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":110,"url":"https:\/\/pixert.com\/blog\/how-to-delete-or-remove-a-local-git-repo-repository\/","url_meta":{"origin":883,"position":5},"title":"How to delete or remove a local Git repo (repository)","author":"Pixel Insert \/ Pixert","date":"May 22, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"If you want to delete everything (.git folder, files and folders), just delete the whole directory Mac OSX Open Terminal and run the following Windows Right-click the folder and choose Delete. It will goes to Recycle bin Note: this works for Git Clone and Git Init","rel":"","context":"In "Mac OS"","block_context":{"text":"Mac OS","link":"https:\/\/pixert.com\/blog\/category\/mac-os\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pixert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/githeader.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pixert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pixert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pixert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pixert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pixert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=883"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/pixert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":896,"href":"https:\/\/pixert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883\/revisions\/896"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pixert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pixert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pixert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pixert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}