A cool breeze for a hot Mac

Sirocco spins your fans up earlier, on a curve you set, while you're plugged in and at your Mac. The rest of the time macOS runs them as it always does.

  • Version 1.0.1
  • Apple silicon
  • macOS 13 or later
  • Signed and notarized
The Sirocco panel: chip temperature, fan speed, mode and fan curve settings

Cool the case before it gets hot

A MacBook keeps its fans near minimum until the chip is hot. Under steady work the aluminium soaks up that heat and the case gets uncomfortable to touch.

Sirocco starts the climb sooner. You choose where the ramp begins, where it reaches full speed, and how fast the fans may go.

Fan speed against chip temperature. macOS stays low until the chip is hot, Sirocco ramps up earlier.40°55°80°100°
Sirocco, on your curvemacOS on its ownIllustration

With Sirocco

Cool to the touch

  • Fans start earlier, on the curve you set.
  • Heat leaves before the case can soak it up.
  • Only on power and while you're there. Quiet the rest of the time.

macOS on its own

Warm under your hands

  • Fans idle near minimum until the chip is hot.
  • Under steady work the aluminium soaks up the heat.
  • The palm rest and keyboard get uncomfortable.

Only when it helps, and out of the way otherwise

Smart mode

Fans follow your curve only while you're on power and using the Mac. Unplug or walk away and macOS takes over again.

Sirocco settings window showing live fan readings and the Smart, Max and Off modes
47° 3.5kFri 9:41

Lives in the menu bar

A fan icon that turns with the real fans, with temperature and speed beside it if you want them.

QuietBalancedCool

Presets

Quiet, Balanced and Cool, scaled to your Mac's own fan range.

SmartMaxOff

Max and Off

Pin the fans at your maximum for a heavy job, or hand them back to macOS entirely.

0 trackers, 0 accounts

Private by default

Sirocco collects nothing. Its only network request is the update check, and updates are signed and verified before they install.

Built to fail safe

Changing fan speeds needs root, so a small helper inside the app does that and nothing else. The app and the helper each check the other's code signature before they talk.

Clamped to your hardware
Whatever is sent, speeds stay inside the range your fans report.
Full speed above 95°C
A hot chip overrides your settings every time.
Hands the fans back
When the helper stops, for any reason, macOS takes over first.

Three steps, one of them once

  1. Step 1

    Download

    Get the .dmg. It is signed and notarized by Apple.

  2. Step 2

    Drag to Applications

    Open Sirocco. The fan appears in your menu bar.

  3. Step 3

    Allow it once

    Switch on Sirocco under Allow in the Background in System Settings.

Keep your Mac cool

Free, open source, and out of your way. Needs Apple silicon and a Mac with fans.