Monitoring Main Sensors for Temperature and Fans

Showing the general temperature assessment of macOS

By default, the Macintosh uses a very simplified way of signaling its temperature condition to running applications, because most users are just not interested in the technical details. System Monitor can indicate this general temperature status value in the menu bar and the attached menu. The meaning of the different indicators is as follows:

Indicators for the general thermal level

Icon	Status	Meaning
	nominal	The temperature is in the normal range.
	fair	The temperature is slightly elevated, cooling is intensified.
	serious	The cooling is at its upper limit, the system will reduce process load.
	critical	Parts are about to exceed their temperature specifications, automatic emergency shutdown may be imminent.

By default, the temperature reading will not present an absolute value (like 133.3°F), but the indicator for the current thermal level, as listed in the table. When you add the history graph in this mode, it will also show 4 discrete levels, not actual temperature readings.

If you like to monitor the thermal status of your computer, perform the following steps:

1. Ensure the control window of System Monitor is open.
2. Select the item Information Sources > Main Sensors in the sidebar.
3. Make sure the check mark Monitor this item is set at the right side of the window.

Apple does not permit that the features listed below are distributed via the App Store. These functions will become selectable when you activate our free add-on application System Monitor Plus which can be downloaded outside the App Store.

Main Sensors: Introduction

Every up-to-date Macintosh computer contains a certain number of sensors that acquire physical data of the hardware, e.g. the voltage supply of specific parts, or the temperature at selected probe locations. The equipment of sensors can be very different depending on model type. Some Macs have less than 20, others more than 100 sensors. Interpreting each reading can require special technical knowledge, which is partially a trade secret of Apple. System Monitor Plus analyzes the sensor equipment of your system and automatically determines the most important main sensors which are characteristic for the cooling behavior of the computer. The application can display readings for the following sensors:

• The characteristic temperature at or within the first physical processor of your computer, and
• the number of revolutions of all air blowers monitored and controlled by the hardware.

If you like to monitor these main sensors of your computer, perform the following steps:

1. Ensure the control window of System Monitor is open and System Monitor Plus is on your computer and activated.
2. Select the item Information Sources > Main Sensors in the sidebar.
3. Make sure the check mark Monitor this item is set at the right side of the window.

The data shown is acquired live and is updated approximately every 5 seconds. System Monitor always shows the simplified thermal status in the menu bar immediately after the program has started. If System Monitor Plus is active, the display will automatically switch to the absolute temperature value after 5 seconds.

Transferring sensor readings is a costly operation, and consequently, it can put considerable load on the operating system. In order to avoid that recording sensor data may significantly reduce your computer’s performance, System Monitor is not designed to refresh sensor readings in time intervals shorter than 5 seconds.

Connecting System Monitor Plus to Intel® Power Gadget

Note: This feature is only available on Macs with Intel processors. Please see the next section for Macs with Apple Silicon.

Intel® Power Gadget is a diagnostic application and software framework provided by Intel to collect sensor values directly inside the processor. The latest version of this software can be downloaded from

If this software and System Monitor Plus are installed on your Mac, you can let System Monitor connect to them to get more sensor data. The Power Gadget software usually provides the following sensor values:

• temperature inside the processor chip package
• total power consumption of the processor chip package
• power consumption of the IA (Intel Architecture) part of the chip package. This is the actual microprocessor, without graphics processor or other components, like memory or periphery controllers.
• power consumption of the dynamic RAM
• current clock frequency of the processor

Each of these values is maintained per chip package, so on a Mac with multiple separate CPU chips, you would see the readings grouped for “Chip 1”, “Chip 2”, and so forth.

System Monitor Plus automatically detects whether Intel® Power Gadget is correctly installed on your Mac. If it is available, you can make its sensor values visible in System Monitor as follows:

1. Ensure the control window of System Monitor is open and System Monitor Plus is on your computer and activated.
2. Select the item Information Sources > Main Sensors in the sidebar.
3. Make sure the check mark Permit access to Intel® Power Gadget is set.

Because Power Gadget is capable of determining the temperature directly inside the processor chip, this reading will become the characteristic temperature value shown by System Monitor in the menu bar when access to Power Gadget is permitted. Values of the previously selected temperature sensor will be suppressed in this case.

Information about products not manufactured by us or about third-party websites is provided for reference purposes only, and does not constitute our recommendation or endorsement. We make no representations regarding the accuracy or reliability of third-party applications. Please contact Intel directly if you need additional information about Power Gadget software.

Sensor support on Apple Silicon

Note: This feature is only available on Macs with Apple Silicon. Please see the previous section for Macs with Intel processors.

If you have a Mac with Apple Silicon, you can make selected temperature sensor values visible in System Monitor as follows:

1. Ensure the control window of System Monitor is open and System Monitor Plus is on your computer and activated.
2. Select the item Information Sources > Main Sensors in the sidebar.
3. Make sure the check mark Permit access to sensors in Apple Silicon systems is set.

Most aspects of Apple hardware are not documented. Details about hardware sensors are considered a trade secret of Apple, and there is no official way to get readings and their exact meaning. For this reason, the temperature sensor equipment shown by System Monitor might strongly vary between different model series. The shown list of sensors is usually not complete, but has been pre-selected to present a characteristic temperature behavior of each computer model. Recently released models may not be fully supported yet.

For specific model series, a power sensor can be added to the list of sensors. It reflects the total power in Watts the system uses internally on its main supply rail. To enable this feature, set a check mark at Add total power reading if available. The value will appear in the menu in a separate section between the fan readings and the temperature values. Please note that this value is usually not identical to the power consumption of the primary side of the power supply at the mains connection.

Macs with Apple Silicon have some sensors which are not always active. In addition, these sensors have a range with a minimum value that cannot be fallen below. System Monitor uses a “less-than or equal to” marker (≦) and a slightly different color for the menu lines listing such sensors. For example, the reading “≦ 90°F” indicates that the temperature at the given location is actually lower than or equal to 90°F, but the sensor is not designed to retrieve the exact value. The system is basically not interested in such low values because they have no meaning for operating the hardware.

Main Sensors: Menu Bar

The box Menu Bar controls in which form sensor values should be displayed. System Monitor offers a variety of icons and functions that you can combine in any order. The following elements can be used:

• The label TMP (temperature) in small, vertical print to designate temperature values and to separate them from other icons in the menu bar.
• The label TMP in large, horizontal print.
• A display of the characteristic temperature value for the first processor, or an icon for the general thermal status.
• A graph showing the history of temperature changes for the last 150 seconds.
• A spacer to put more room between items.

The preferred unit to display temperature readings can be selected with the item General Settings.

If your computer does not contain a sensor which is capable of retrieving typical CPU temperature readings, or this sensor is defective, the display — will be shown instead of a value.

Within the box, the upper bar simulates as a sample how this monitor section should be presented in the menu bar. You can grab the individual items by mouse and move them into a different order. You can remove an element by pulling it out of the bar. The lower bar contains the stock of items available. If you like to add a certain item to the menu bar, use the mouse to drag it from the lower to the upper bar. Pressing the button Default causes your current settings to be deleted, replacing it by a default suggestion for the menu bar.

Spacers are shown with dotted rectangles to make it easier for you to recognize and to move them. In the actual display, the rectangle will become invisible, so the spacer does its job providing a blank area within the menu bar.

If you mistakenly have removed all items of this monitoring section from the menu bar, a three-star-icon (⁂, asterism) will appear as a placeholder. This ensures that you still can open the associated menu.

You cannot drag items directly into the real menu bar.

Main Sensors: Menu Items

The following items will be shown for each air blower (fan) which is monitored and controlled by the hardware:

• The description of the fan and its current rotational speed, expressed as revolutions per minute.
• If enabled, a graph showing the history of fan revs changes within the last 150 seconds.

To display the history graphs for each of the fans, set a check mark at Show history graph for fan speeds within the information item Main Sensors. In default setting, the graphs are zoomed automatically, so the value range for readings acquired in the last 150 seconds will be shown in maximum detail. Alternatively, you can enable the option Use fixed scale according to fan specifications to avoid the zoom. In this case, each graph will reflect the maximum number of revolutions each individual fan has been specified for. For example, if the maximum speed of a particular fan is specified as 6,000 revolutions per minute, the bottom line of the corresponding graph will indicate 0 RPM, while the top line will indicate 6,000 RPM, and this scale is kept.

When using fixed scale mode, the graph will be a flat line most of the time because the changes in fan speed are small under normal operating conditions.