CoolMyMac

A modern, lightweight (2MB) macOS fan control and thermal management utility for macOS 15.0+ with a Menu Bar interface. Supports both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs.

Features

• Dynamic Menu Bar Icon: Menu bar icon automatically shifts from green to red as your CPU/GPU gets hotter.
• Apple Silicon & Intel SMC Support: Native, low-level IOKit sensor readings for package power, CPU/GPU temps, and clock speeds.
• Fan Curves:
  • Quiet: Leaves Apple’s default thermal management fully in control.
  • Balanced: Similar to Apple’s defaults, but slightly more aggressive. Allows fans to turn off (<40°C)
  • Performance: Higher minimum RPMs and an aggressive ramp-up to max speed around 85°C.
  • Max: Forces all fans to run at maximum speed.
  • Custom: Anything you want!
• Zero-Overhead Daemon: Uses native SMAppService and XPC for secure, event-driven Inter-Process Communication. This means the background daemon uses virtually zero system resources and no CPU cycles while waiting for commands.
• Command Line Interface (CLI): coolmymac tool for scripting profile changes (coolmymac temps, coolmymac fans, coolmymac profile set max).

Installation

Method 1: Homebrew (Recommended)

You can seamlessly install CoolMyMac and its accompanying CLI tool using Homebrew:

brew tap ecc521/coolmymac
brew install --cask coolmymac

Method 2: DMG Download

Download the latest CoolMyMac.dmg from the Releases page. Open the DMG and simply drag CoolMyMac.app to your /Applications folder.

Post-Installation

After launching CoolMyMac, open Preferences (click the gear icon) and click Install Helper Tool in the General tab. This is required for active fan control and the full sensor suite.

Architecture

• App: A SwiftUI MenuBarExtra application containing the Preferences window.
• Daemon: A secure SMAppService LaunchDaemon running as root (with an XPC listener) required to write speeds to the SMC.
• CLI: A standalone Swift package binary embedded in the App.

Build from Source

CoolMyMac is built entirely through Xcode. The Command Line Tool and Helper Tool are automatically compiled and embedded into the main App during the build process.

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/ecc521/CoolMyMac.git
cd CoolMyMac

2. Configure Code Signing (Required)

Because macOS requires Helper Tools installed via SMAppService to be code-signed by the exact same Team ID as the host app, you must configure code signing before building:

1. Open CoolMyMac-App/CoolMyMac.xcodeproj in Xcode.
2. Select the CoolMyMac project file in the Project Navigator.
3. Select the CoolMyMac target -> Signing & Capabilities.
4. Select your Personal Team or Apple Developer ID.
5. Repeat this exact process for the CoolMyMac-Daemon target.

3. Build and Run

Once code signing is configured:

1. Select the CoolMyMac scheme in the top bar.
2. Hit Cmd + R (Run).
3. The app will compile (along with the embedded CLI and Daemon) and appear in your Mac’s Menu Bar.
4. Click the gear icon to open Preferences, and click Install Helper Tool to activate fan control.

Contributing

Please see Contributing Guidelines for more details on how to set up your environment and submit Pull Requests.

License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0.

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