The devices available to allow a Mini to set on its side, appear viable if practical in the space you have available for your gear. An older Mini I have can stay on its side without a holder-upper; the newer one is too thin that direction to allow it. For now, I've found that four similar height re-used items that can fit under the corners of the Mini, keep it elevated further off the desktop, help keep it cooler.

1. Get This New Cpu Cooling Fan For Macbook Air
2. Get This New Cpu Cooling Fan For Macbook Pro
3. Get This New Cpu Cooling Fan For Macbook

These could be durable thermal plastic, or just cut-offs of similar shape metal so the computer sits flat. Since the newer Mini has that round base, if you do set up something to raise it off the surrounding surface, take that into account because that may also add to instability should the items be dissimilar.

I'd considered, if available super cheap (at second hand store, etc) that one of those 'aluminum food thawing trays' but square and not rectangular, may work. It would raise the unit up, while Mini would still rest on the round base, though. Since heat rises; the exit is in the back of the Mini, intake is around the base. The bottom does not get all that hot, due to internal air-flow & metal conductivity. I prefer my method of raising the entire unit up, flat, above the desk.

In part this was due to concerns of spillage of liquid near the Mini, while on a desktop. An upside down small metal pan, or a baking rack may do, too. And I'd want to be able to filter dust from all air going into the Mini - without restricting the flow, too. Anyway, other than one of the command-line tests to run up all the cores at once to test it, there isn't much I've done to make a quad-core reach top temperatures. Hopefully yours works OK and doesn't get near the thermal maximum. Here is my modification using laptop cooling pad.

I chose the one 'pull' the air UPWARD. Because the round/flat base of Mini - if I put the Mini directly on top, I can not really feel the air flow. Also the bottom clearance of the cooling pad, that I needed to add space to get the airy space. So, I used velcro to attach 4 buttons on top.

4 small cut off wood blocks to glue at the bottom of the cooling pad. There is an USB extension cable on the side, so I can attach the USB fan power when I know I need to cool the machine down.

SmcFan control is a nice app that you can monitor the CPU temperature and fan speed. You can also set up some perimeter to increase fan speed when you know the CPU will under some kind of overload.

Here are the visuals As you can see, I am using Mini's USB power to turn on the fan. I put an extension USB cable to be located in accessible spot so I can use it for fan or USB thumb drive etc. This is my modification using laptop cooling pad. I chose the cooling pad 'pull' the air UPWARD.

Because the clearance of Mini - if I put the fan on top, I can not really feel the air flow. Also the clearance of the fan, that I needed to add space to get the airy space. So, I used velcro to attach 4 buttons on top. 4 small cut off wood blocks to glue at the bottom of the fan. There is an USB extension cable on the side, so I can attach the USB fan power when I know I need to cool the machine down. SmcFan control is a nice app that you can monitor the CPU temperature and fan speed.

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You can also set up some perimeter to increase fan speed when you know the CPU will under some kind of overload. Here are the visuals As you can see, I am using Mini's USB power to turn on the fan. I put an extension USB cable to be located in accessible spot so I can use it for fan or USB thumb drive etc. After my Monster Mac Pro kicked the dust as I spent close to 3K for that giant (the house light would dim when I hit the power button), I have grown much fond of Mac Mini. I got my first G4 Mac Mini, moved to 2007 C2D Intel, then 2010, 2011, 2012 and now 2014. I did plenty of home movie editing (also used to burn them into DVD - RIP iDVD!!) that I was pushing CPU to it's limit (yes, Minis are least powerful CPU in Mac family but I got time to wait for the process).

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I started to notice the heat issues - first, I avoid using internal optical drive. Later, I explores cooling pad to do the trick. Prior to 2010, Lunch Box Mini using plastic chassis and heat would trap inside - Flash video playing, movie editing etc tasks would increase the load of Mini. I discovered/ still use smcFan control to give me some indication of the temperature - I was able to do some comparison regarding using cooling pad or without, while also combing smcFanControl. I am quite happy to see after 2010 Mac Mini - the Unibody design - in my opinion, the aluminum chassis also serves as heat sink, much better than the plastic lunch box Mini. Mini's fan system and ventilation is quite a challenging. I felt it 'suck' the air from the base then exhaust through the back/vent aide.

So, I chose the laptop cooling pad - specifically 'upwards air flow style' Throughout some modification - increasing the clearance on both top and bottom, I can achieve 20 degree cooler on 2010 2011 Mac Mini when they were doing home video rendering. I did notice 2012 and 2014 Mac Minis - they are more efficient and much cooler than 2010 and 2011 models.

So, the frequency of using the cooling pad for later models - is decreasing. Even I did not need to turn on the fan during typical usage, I am less-worried with Mini got in suspended position. Hope this answered your inquiry. Apple Footer. This site contains user submitted content, comments and opinions and is for informational purposes only.

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Sometimes your computer just gets upset and starts to heat up on you and I mean really heat up. When you run multiple programs your using a lot of cpu, big programs like After Effect and Flash can really heat things up quickly. Maybe your game has hardcore graphics and your video card is running to the max or it could just be that the environment around you is just to warm for your MacBook. Overheating can cause lagging, hanging and slow your computer down but don’t worry about your Mac exploding because when it hits a certain temperature it will shut down thanks to THERMTRIP built into the Intel chip. Nonetheless overheating is bad and needs to be reduced by any means necessary so here are some tips to cool down your Mac.

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Programs:, iStat Pro Ventilation The MacBook Pro has a great design through and through looking sleek and professional but this is not entirely a good thing. There are really no vents for the access heat to exit from within the MacBook Pro like with many other PC based laptops. Grab a laptop stand to add more ventilation so your MacBook can breathe, preferably one with an arch. Fans Almost everyone will suggest that you simply get a computer fan to cool everything down. This can work in some cases but for the extreme it just won’t cut it. A great alternative to the fan, and in my own experience works better, is a piece of ceramic tile to stick beneath your computer instead of a fan.

The ceramic tile will absorb any heat that your Mac will produce opposed to the fan. Monitor Heat Keep an eye on the temperature that is being produced with a useful widget by iSlayer called the iStat Pro. This will help you determine exactly how bad your MacBook is overheating. Fan Control The default settings for your cooling system is effective, however sometimes things just need to be regulated by the user. Hendrik Holtmann has decided that its time to take more control of your Macs systems by creating. This program will allow you to set the speed of your internal fans.

So when your using a program you know will work out your graphics card or your going to do some serious multitasking you can set your fan speed up high to keep things cool before they start getting hot. There are many other ways to keep your MacBook nice and cool but these are some methods that you may want to try when all else fails.

The smcFanControl is not ideal for me because I am hesitant about messing with the default settings of such important components but I have tried it and the program works very well.