Being a novel material by having high strength to weight ratio, magnesium (Mg) alloys have attracted researchers working on variety of applications such as, automobile parts, aerospace and most recently in biomedical implants. Surface Integrity (SI) of any manufactured products has a significant effect on its functional performances, as well as corrosion resistance. It has been noticed that, the temperature is the most vital factor that influences all SI factors. The present study is to understand the temperature distribution occur in the Mg alloy which is machined under different operating condition i.e., dry and cryogenic machining. A finite element model (FEM) is used for the analysis. The investigation shows that, the distributions of temperature in the work piece, chip and tool is in the form of isothermal lines. It also shows that highest temperature reached on the machined surface is significantly reduced under the cryogenic condition. Results have found to be in good agreement with the experimental results. © 2006-2016 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN).