Laptop keeps shutting down randomly

Hey everyone, I’m running into a bit of a headache with my MacBook Air. Basically, after about an hour of use, the thing just shuts itself off out of nowhere. I don't think it's an overheating issue, though, since it doesn't feel hot at all and the fan seems to be spinning just fine.

The laptop is about 6 years old, and I actually just installed an SSD and did a fresh install of macOS recently.
Any idea what might be causing this? It's getting really frustrating when it cuts out right in the middle of things.🤔

Maybe start by installing Core Temp just to get a look at what those temperatures are doing... that’s probably the best first step to take.

https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

First, I’d suggest running Core Temp to check your temperatures. If everything looks fine and you aren't hitting that 100-degree mark, then maybe try a different power adapter. Honestly, my best guess is that your battery has completely given up the ghost; if it weren't totally shot, the machine wouldn't just die on you instantly.

Thanks so much! I'll give that a shot once I get home from work and let you know how it goes. 🙂

Use some compressed air to really blast all that dust out of there,
and honestly, a faulty battery can cause all sorts of weird glitches too.

So I finally installed that software, and turns out overheating definitely wasn't the issue. Temperatures aren't even crossing 63° on any of my components! I’m still going to try blowing out the dust later today, just in case, but even with the battery removed and running straight off the charger, it keeps shutting down after about an hour or so.

That’s quite high for an idle state (meaning you aren't running any 3D applications). Try taking another measurement after letting it sit for an hour without any activity, or better yet, once you've put it through its paces with a stress test or a heavy game.

Exactly what my colleague mentioned above—63 degrees is way too high for an idle temperature. When you start running any heavy tasks, that number is going to spike straight to 100, and the whole system will just force a shutdown to save itself. If you aren't comfortable tinkering with hardware yourself, honestly, just take it to a local repair shop. Have them open it up, blow out the dust, and obviously apply some fresh thermal paste. That should get things back under control.

No, that’s not quite what I meant. Even when it’s just sitting there idling, the temperature stays around 45°F. And while I was actually using my MacBook Air, it didn't even cross 63°F during that entire hour before it finally shut down.

Run a check on that SSD using DriveDx. If you see any yellow or red warnings, it’s time to look for a replacement.

I ran Crystal on my drive and everything looks perfectly fine with the SSD. Honestly, I’m stumped—what else could it be? I even went ahead and blasted the whole MacBook Air with some compressed air, but there wasn't even a speck of dust in there.

The issues likely started right when you installed it. It suggests something isn't quite right with the CDI; perhaps it’s failing to detect an error, or maybe something was accidentally shifted during the installation process.

Did you install the SSD in the optical drive caddy or directly into the main HDD slot? If it's sitting in the caddy, try swapping them—put the SSD in the primary HDD slot instead.

I don't think it's an issue with the SSD. I've had it for nearly a year now, and these problems only started popping up about a month ago. Plus, the guy who installed it for me really knows his stuff when it comes to PCs, so I highly doubt he messed anything up.

Grab the Western Digital test tool from this link:https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/det...r_windows.html and run a scan on that SSD. Honestly, looking at the symptoms you described, I'm not even sure if we're dealing with a Dell issue here; I'd be more inclined to think it’s either an overheating problem, something funky going on with your RAM, or maybe even a hiccup with the power supply.