MacoolerThe Best SMC Fan Control Alternative for Apple Silicon
smcFanControl was the go-to free fan tool for a decade — but it was built for Intel Macs and never made the jump to Apple Silicon. If you're on an M1, M2, M3 or M4 Mac, here's a modern replacement that works natively and shows your temperatures too.
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Why look for an SMC Fan Control alternative?
The original smcFanControl is a lovely, simple app — but it hasn't kept pace with the Mac:
- Intel-era design. It was written for Intel Macs and doesn't properly support Apple Silicon, where the thermal and fan behaviour is different.
- No temperature detail. It focuses on fan speed and gives you little insight into how hot your CPU and GPU actually are.
- Little active development. With modern macOS releases and new M-series chips arriving regularly, an app that isn't actively maintained falls behind.
None of that means fan control is dead — just that Apple Silicon needs a tool built for it.
What a modern replacement should do
Look for an app that is:
- Native to Apple Silicon and notarized by Apple, so it runs cleanly on M-series Macs.
- Temperature-aware — showing live CPU and GPU temperature next to the fans, so you know why you're spinning them up.
- Safe by design — never letting you drop below Apple's minimum fan speed, and letting you return control to macOS in one click.
Macooler: a free, native alternative
Macooler is built for exactly this. It's a free, native, notarized macOS app that runs on Apple Silicon and Intel and does what smcFanControl did — plus the monitoring it never had:
- Manual fan control to cool your Mac under load, then hand back to macOS
- Live CPU and GPU temperature right in the menu bar
- Real-time CPU and memory load, with the process that's heating your Mac
- Battery health, storage insight and network activity
A modern replacement for smcFanControl
Native to Apple Silicon, notarized, and free — fan control plus live temperatures in one menu-bar app.
Download Macooler free Universal · macOS 13 Ventura+ · Apple Silicon & IntelHow the options compare
| App | Apple Silicon | Live temps | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| smcFanControl (classic) | ❌ Intel-era | Minimal | Free |
| Macooler | ✅ Native | ✅ CPU + GPU | Free |
| Macs Fan Control | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | Free / paid |
| TG Pro | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | Paid |
Whichever you choose, the how-to is the same across every fan app — our Mac fan control guide walks through spinning the fans up safely, and the temperature guide explains what the numbers mean.
Frequently asked questions
Does smcFanControl work on Apple Silicon?
The classic smcFanControl was built for Intel Macs and is no longer actively developed, so it doesn't properly support Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3, M4). On those Macs you need a modern, natively built fan-control app instead.
What is a good alternative to SMC Fan Control?
Macooler is a free, native, notarized alternative that runs on Apple Silicon and Intel. It controls your fans and also shows live CPU and GPU temperature, CPU load and battery health. Macs Fan Control and TG Pro are other options.
Is SMC Fan Control safe to use?
Raising your fan speed is always safe. The risk with any fan tool is forcing the fans slower than Apple's minimum; a well-designed modern app prevents that and lets you hand control back to macOS at any time.