Fan - Mac Pro A1481 (Late 2013) pinout

Question

Mac Pro 2013

The 2013 revamp of the desktop Mac series known as the Mac Pro.

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tom @tom46654

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Fan - Mac Pro A1481 (Late 2013) pinout

Hello everyone,
This may be a strange question -
does anyone know what the connection for a 4-pin PWM cable for this fan looks like?
I would like to use it in my project, and it must be connected to a standard USB PWM controller.

Thank you in advance for your help and suggestions.

Regards,

Tom

I rushed to find a solution for the overheating MP6.1. I have the impression that OCLP, in combination with newer versions of OSX, which are more demanding in terms of system resources (RAM, CPU, etc.), cause older computers to work harder. I started looking for a solution and, using 3D and an additional original fan from the MP6.1, I achieved quite satisfactory results without the noise of an F-35 taking off. To improve airflow, I removed the original bottom cover, and the second fan is powered by a cheap 4-pin PWM controller. I soldered the cables into the fan's test pins and added a PVC mesh filter between the two original MP 6.1 fan diffusers.. At the moment, such a fan can be bought in the UK for £19, which is quite reasonable. If necessary, I also run TG pro on low settings so as not to drown out my thoughts :) I think that the whole thing doesn't look particularly awful and is quite compact compared to other designs 🤔

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From the left:

Yellow,

Green,

Blue,

Black

It works brilliantly and efficiently.

crwdns2934271:0Ndz 3, 2025crwdnd2934271:0 tom crwdne2934271:0

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DanJ @danj

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Self employed contract worker

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crwdns2931729:0crwdne2931729:0: Ndz 2, 2025

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This fan is connected by a ribbon cable via the clinch type connector your Red circle crosses over. The circle pads are test pads not intended for use. As to figure out which pins of the connector does what will require reviewing the schematics and board view drawings.

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Thanks :) Even as test pins, they provide voltage and RPM. Problem solved, and I finally finished the cooling project for the Late 2013 Mac Pro :)

crwdns2934271:0Ndz 3, 2025crwdnd2934271:0 tom crwdne2934271:0

Hi Tom. Very nice solution to improve the air intake of your Mac Pro.

As many others interested, would be nice to have the print instructions for the stand. Thank you in advance, cheers!

crwdns2934271:0Nhl 5, 2025crwdnd2934271:0 Ernest Crus crwdne2934271:0

@ernestcrus - I have the same system and have not encountered issues as Tom has expressed. I have run the system quite hard running OpenCore and macOS Ventura 10.13.x processing ultra large images and creating some video's as well. The newest M Series system are clearly better than this old tank which I still love. I'm waiting a bit more before I jump.

crwdns2934271:0Nhl 6, 2025crwdnd2934271:0 DanJ crwdne2934271:0

Hi Dan. These old trashcans suffer from internal overcrowded design, just because they have only one fan which is on the top. The same E5-1680 V2 cpu was running idle in my Sabertooth X79 default @ 23-27 centigrade, but in this trashcan around 50. What Tom did is impressive and would give these trashcan a chance. Cheers for pointing out solder points.

crwdns2934271:0Nhl 6, 2025crwdnd2934271:0 Ernest Crus crwdne2934271:0

@ernestcrus - Not really! Clearly a small fan is not as efficient as a larger one! But design on how the air flows also needs to be under stood. You wouldn't stand in front of a room fan expecting it to dry your air as effectively as a hair dryer held in your hand and yet the hair dryer by design is more effective than the largest room fan.

So back to the mystical small fan in this system, it's very effective in cooling more so than a standard PC case design. It's perfect for its design!

Now with that said it was limited for sure! As each newer generation of Intel & AMD chips required more cooling than this design could offer so it couldn't be expanded with newer generations of chips!

But... if one could fit a M3 Ultra chip or two into this case it would purr! Not exceeding its cooling design! Of course that's very wishful or is it? The Mac Studio is the 2013 Trash Can reincarnated!

FYI it has a smaller fan with a flat heatsink design, no need for GPU heatsinks! Making it simpler.

crwdns2934271:0Nhl 6, 2025crwdnd2934271:0 DanJ crwdne2934271:0

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crwdns2934285:0crwdne2934285:0

From the left:

Yellow,

Green,

Blue,

Black

It works brilliantly and efficiently. — tom
Thanks :) Even as test pins, they provide voltage and RPM. Problem solved, and I finally finished the cooling project for the Late 2013 Mac Pro :) — tom
Hi Tom. Very nice solution to improve the air intake of your Mac Pro.

As many others interested, would be nice to have the print instructions for the stand. Thank you in advance, cheers! — Ernest Crus
@ernestcrus - I have the same system and have not encountered issues as Tom has expressed. I have run the system quite hard running OpenCore and macOS Ventura 10.13.x processing ultra large images and creating some video's as well. The newest M Series system are clearly better than this old tank which I still love. I'm waiting a bit more before I jump. — DanJ
Hi Dan. These old trashcans suffer from internal overcrowded design, just because they have only one fan which is on the top. The same E5-1680 V2 cpu was running idle in my Sabertooth X79 default @ 23-27 centigrade, but in this trashcan around 50. What Tom did is impressive and would give these trashcan a chance. Cheers for pointing out solder points. — Ernest Crus
@ernestcrus - Not really! Clearly a small fan is not as efficient as a larger one! But design on how the air flows also needs to be under stood. You wouldn't stand in front of a room fan expecting it to dry your air as effectively as a hair dryer held in your hand and yet the hair dryer by design is more effective than the largest room fan.

So back to the mystical small fan in this system, it's very effective in cooling more so than a standard PC case design. It's perfect for its design!

Now with that said it was limited for sure! As each newer generation of Intel & AMD chips required more cooling than this design could offer so it couldn't be expanded with newer generations of chips!

But... if one could fit a M3 Ultra chip or two into this case it would purr! Not exceeding its cooling design! Of course that's very wishful or is it? The Mac Studio is the 2013 Trash Can reincarnated!

FYI it has a smaller fan with a flat heatsink design, no need for GPU heatsinks! Making it simpler. — DanJ

Mac Pro 2013

Fan - Mac Pro A1481 (Late 2013) pinout

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