July 22, 2025, 6:13 am | Read time: 2 minutes
High temperatures challenge us year after year. When they climb well above 86 degrees Fahrenheit, both animals and humans start to sweat profusely. It’s important to remember that technology doesn’t handle extreme heat well either. A Mozilla employee has revealed that certain computers are more likely to crash in the summer due to specific chips.
Intel Processors Cause Summer Computer Crashes
This is what developer Gabriele Svelto claims on his Mastodon profile. Svelto, who works on the Firefox browser, writes that computers in the Northern Hemisphere are crashing more frequently this summer, as they experience the current heatwave in many regions.
He can establish the connection between crashing computers and summer because his work allows him to see exactly where Firefox crashes occur. This is possible through the system language in otherwise anonymous error reports. By checking the regions, Svelto can determine if a heatwave was present at the time.
Intel Processors Crash
It is primarily computers with a specific processor generation that are particularly sensitive to external heat. According to Svelto, the problematic devices this summer are Intel’s Raptor Lake CPUs, which are Intel processors of the 13th and 14th generations. The issue is so severe that Mozilla had to disable an internally used bot for automatic error reporting because it only registered problems with these Intel chips and no others.
The instability of Raptor Lake chips is a known issue. Last year, Intel released a microcode update intended to prevent overheating by adjusting the voltage. However, as Mozilla’s data shows, higher external temperatures can still lead to crashes.
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Intel Extended Warranty
Users should definitely look for new updates for their motherboards, as microcode updates are typically distributed through BIOS updates from motherboard manufacturers.
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However, these updates cannot reverse existing hardware damage. Intel has already extended the warranty for Raptor Lake chips from three to five years in 2024. If your computer has sustained lasting damage due to this issue in the summer, you should take advantage of the warranty.
In general, it’s advisable to use modern technology in a sufficiently cool and shaded location whenever possible. Nintendo has already warned about heat when using the Switch. Other devices should also be protected from excessive heat whenever possible.