PrintJobMgr causes MacBook CPU to overheat
I’ve had my MacBook Pro overheating (almost too hot to touch on the bottom surface), and the whirring of the internal fans was a distraction. I worried the heat would damage the components.
It wasn’t that hot indoors, and my machine was propped on a Griffin Elevator to help keep things cool.
The MacBook CPU temperature should be around 30-40C, or 50-60C under stress, so I installed the freely available smcFanControl to check what temperature mine was running at (the app also lets you manually adjust the speed of the fans to help with cooling).
Turned out the temperature inside my machine hovered around the 82C level (180F). Not good. So I opened Activity Monitor (located in the Utilities folder) and selected “All Processes.” That’s when I saw 99.5% of the CPU being punished by a process called PrintJobMgr. Apparently this process comes into play when a print job doesn’t complete, and when the job’s left in the print queue waiting for action.
I went ahead and “force quit” the process, and after just a few minutes my MacBook temperature dropped to around 50C (120F) — much healthier.
This bug has been around for a few years. A Google search for “printjobmgr cpu” attests to that.
Should you find your internal fans spinning faster than normal, or if the bottom of your notebook is hot enough to fry an egg, it’s worth checking the Activity Monitor. If you see PrintJobMgr, either select “force quit” or clear the print queue (which I’ve read can do the same job).
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8 appreciated comments on “PrintJobMgr causes MacBook CPU to overheat”
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my mackbook pro unibody, late 2008 stays in idle at about 60 degrees celsius – fans 2000-4000rpm (idle meaning firefox opened, messenger and itunes).
if i fire-up ps, ai or flash and actually do some working stuff, it jumps to over 70-75 in a few minutes with fans @ 6000rpm, and actually had it at about 90 …according to smcfancontroller… and my fingertips got burnt a few times… had to buy a laptop cooling pad. tried the notepal coolermaster infinite. it does help a bit …2-3 degrees cooler and internal fans (default setting) between 2000-3000rpm.
and i bought a microsoft cooling pad …ironic… i don’t know what it’s called, but it’s more efficient than the notepal. a bit noisier. but better. 2000rpm internal fans with workload and about 65 degrees celsius.
don’t know how yours keeps so “cool” – at about 60 degrees celsius under stress.
I’ve never heard of this happening, my Macbook gets warm but never hot to touch, Are these the older models or do I not have it on and running as long as you guys do? Thanks for the heads up though!
You can probably write a script that kills the process and then have it run at 30-60 minute intervals.
My MBP occasionally heats up, especially after periods of heavy usage running in battery power. I’ll have to give smcFanControl a go next time it happens…
Glad you sorted out your problem, David.
One reason I got myself an iPad was because I like to read in bed. I used to use my MacBook; once those fans kick in, they can be very noisy (as you’ve discovered). I think my own MacBook fans kick-in way too easily, so I think Ill investigate to whether my own has problems.
I’ve had the same problem for years with various apps on my mac. I just keep an eye on the temp using iStats Menu.
Jamie
Ps Enjoyed your wedding photos
Kiren, I bought my MBP in 2009.
I think this issue also burned-out the power adaptor on my Kodak printer/scanner/copier. Thankfully it was just six months old, and the retailer exchanged it for a new one (after quite a bit of time-wasting).
I have had the same issues with my macbook. I have heard on some blogs that it is a good idea to stick the macbook in the freezer when this happens.