A lightweight macOS menu bar app that shows your MacBook's real-time CPU temperature. No dependencies, no sudo required.
Requires Apple Silicon (M1–M5). Uses
IOHIDEventSystemto read PMU thermal sensors directly from the kernel.
- Live CPU temperature in the menu bar, updated every 3 seconds
- Dropdown lists all active thermal sensors, color-coded by heat
- 🔴 Red > 85 °C
- 🟠 Orange > 70 °C
- Toggle between °C and °F
- Configurable refresh rate (1 / 2 / 3 / 5 / 10 seconds)
- Launch at Login — auto-starts on boot, toggleable from the menu
- No Dock icon, no admin privileges, no sudo
Download MacTemp.dmg from the Releases page, open it, and drag MacTemp.app to your Applications folder.
First launch: right-click → Open to bypass Gatekeeper (the app is unsigned).
Requires Xcode Command Line Tools (xcode-select --install).
git clone https://github.com/rutvik106/mac-temperature.git
cd mac-temperature
bash build.sh
./MacTemp &To produce a distributable DMG:
bash package.sh # outputs MacTemp.dmgApple Silicon Macs expose thermal sensor data through the IOHIDEventSystem kernel interface via AppleARMPMUTempSensor services (not the SMC key-value store used by Intel Macs). MacTemp reads IOHIDEventTypeTemperature events from all matching HID services and deduplicates them by sensor name, displaying the hottest die temperature in the menu bar.
MIT