Behind TG Pro: An Interview with Matt Austin, Founder of Tunabelly
Interviews • Aug.8, 2024
In today’s interview, we have the pleasure of speaking with Matt Austin, the founder of Tunabelly Software. As the creator of TG Pro, a cornerstone app for Mac users seeking peak performance and hardware health, Matt offers his insights into the challenges and rewards of developing tools for Apple’s ever-evolving ecosystem.
TheSweetBits: As a developer with a passion for Macs, what are your thoughts on the increasing user demand for Mac hardware performance and health?
Matt Austin: I believe Mac users have always been interested in performance and making sure their hardware lasts as long as possible. When Apple was using the Intel chips, they just didn’t have the same performance that PCs had. It seemed like Macs were always a generation or two behind.
However, with the introduction of the Apple silicon models, beginning with the M1 and now with the upcoming M4 based models, Mac users finally have the ability to own a system that is advanced or more so than their Windows based counterparts. This is something that is also being boosted by being able to play some native AAA games with GPUs that rival ones from AMD and Nvidia, and seeing just how fast and cool the chips run when running a heavy workload.
Now that we have models that are extremely fast, and also quite expensive, it’s even more important to ensure that they last as long as possible, which includes running at optimal speed and temperatures.
TG Pro’s interface is praised for being user-friendly, even for beginners. Can you elaborate on the design philosophy behind the interface and the decision to offer both manual and automated fan control options?
That’s very kind to point out that people find the interface of TG Pro user-friendly. One of the main ideas when developing a UX is that I try to think how to show the important data and features, while having the more advanced ones available for the power users.
For the fan control, the initial app that it was based off was only able to display the fan speeds (min, max and current RPMs). Then with initial version of TG Pro it was possible to increase the fan speeds to help cool down the Macs using the Manual fan mode. I added this since the MacBook Pro I had at the time would get incredibly hot on my lap, yet macOS wouldn’t increase the fan speeds enough, so with TG Pro I could boost them to the maximum if necessary and it made a big difference in lowering the CPU temperatures.
Then over time people asked for the ability to have rules to control the fan speed, which is how the Auto Boost mode was added. Users could then add as many rules as they wished to essentially build a full fan curve to replace the default.
The product highlights “advanced sensor listing” for M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max models. Can you explain the challenges you faced in deciphering sensor data for these new Apple Silicon Macs and how you ensured accurate temperature readings?
This is the hardest part of adding support for a new Mac model – figuring out which sensors are for the temperatures and then the mapping to the various components. Apple keeps changing how they expose the temperatures, especially when there’s a new generation of chips (ex: the M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max), which makes it even more challenging. If you look at the sensors that are exposed, there are literally hundreds and now sometimes thousands to choose from.
I’m able to narrow it down a bit since the temperature sensors generally start with the prefix “T”, although not always. Each sensor has a four-character code, which is a holdover from the days of file resource forks in the very old version of the OS (before it transitioned to Mac OS X). For example, they could be named “Tc1a”, “Tp3p”, “TC02”, so they aren’t descriptive in any way and there’s no way to get a name for each one. It’s quite challenging to determine which ones to use for the CPU performance cores and which to use for the efficiency cores, and which cores they are for.
Over time I’ve gotten better at figuring this out and I have a few tricks to help with this, including using our free Endurance: CPU Stress Test to force the CPUs to run at full speed, which of course heats them up and can aide in the discovery process.
How does TG Pro differentiate itself from other system monitoring utilities?
TG Pro stands out from other system monitoring utilities due to its exceptional accuracy and comprehensive temperature monitoring capabilities. Extensive research and testing have enabled TG Pro to provide more precise temperature readings than other applications.
Additionally, TG Pro is designed to have a minimal system impact, utilizing very little memory and almost no CPU resources when running in the background, except during updates for temperatures and fan speeds.
Beyond the core functionalities, are there any plans to integrate additional features beyond temperature monitoring and fan control?
Yes, we have numerous enhancements planned for the next major release that will complement our core temperature monitoring and fan control features. Drawing on years of user feedback from support emails and messages (every single one is read and replied to), we now have a very solid list of feature requests and suggestions.
Given the recent release of TG Pro 2.92, can you share any insights into the development roadmap for future updates?
The upcoming major release, TG Pro 3, has been in development for some time and will reveal an impressive level of detail for the hardware. While I can’t share too much yet, I can confirm that it incorporates numerous user-requested features and has been completely rewritten in Swift.
TG Pro 3 will provide a wealth of data points, including some unique to our app. We’ll begin the beta program soon, followed by a general release. Customers who have purchased the current version of TG Pro will be eligible for a free or discounted upgrade based on the purchase date.
What advice would you give to Mac users who are concerned about their device’s performance and overheating issues?
I would tell users to use a temperature monitoring app, such as TG Pro to keep an eye on temperatures, especially for the CPU since that’s usually what heats up when the system is under a heavy load.
If the temperatures start to get quite hot, check if there’s any applications that are using a large amount of the CPU. A quick way to do this is to open Activity Monitor, choose “All Processes” from the View menu and sort by “CPU %”. If there’s an app that’s using more than 100% of the CPU (the total percentage is a combination of all CPU cores), and it’s not expected to, then try quitting that app.
If the Mac is intentionally under a heavy workload (e.g., converting video formats, rendering animations, building large codebases) and macOS isn’t sufficiently increasing the fan speeds due to its conservative approach, try boosting the fan speeds using TG Pro. This will help cool down the system and prevent CPU throttling, which can occur if the chips become too hot.
In addition, make sure that the Mac has good airflow so it can dissipate the heat, and if it’s an older model or the environment is dusty, periodically vacuum out any dust or debris where the fans exhaust comes out. Use a gentle vacuum and compressed air to avoid any issues.
TheSweetBits final notes
We’d like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Matt Austin for sharing his valuable insights and the journey behind TG Pro. His dedication to enhancing Mac performance and user experience is truly inspiring. For those interested in learning more about TG Pro, visit the official website and explore the app’s features in detail. Don’t forget to check out our in-depth analysis of TG Pro‘s capabilities and benefits.
