Macbook Pro: Why So Hot???

hi all...

i'm just wondering why my MBP gets so hot on the bottom after an hour of being powered on?

is this normal?

are there things i can be doing to prevent this or that i should be watching out for?

Hey I have a macbook pro and comparatively to other machines that I used it does not get hot at all. I can very comfortably leave it on my lap when I use it. I know this isn't much help but at least you have another perspective.

It kind of depends on what you are doing with your MBP. If you are just listening to music and surfing the web it shouldn't get that hot.

However if you are playing a game or doing something CPU intensive then yeah it will get hot pretty fast.

One guy's switcher blog I read is David Allison and he seemed to have a similar problem. If you click on the link it will take you to a post where he talks about an app called fan control - hope this helps.

Instead of using fan control, I would recommend smcFanControl... It has a nice menubar interface, and is safer to use than other programs.

thanks guys!

i don't know much about the standard fan speeds of a MBP.

if i'm going to install something like smcFanControl, is there a guide i can reference where i can be sure i won't put the wrong settings on each fan which could result in damage?

I agree - smcFanControl is the bomb. I run the fans anywhere from 2000-4000 RPM's. I have found 2500 to be perfect for 90%+ of the time. Pretty hard to hurt anything with the program. I am sure some people will claim the fans could wear out faster, but better having worn out fans than having your private parts on fire.

Cos it's metal - and also hence the 'notebook' not 'laptop thing' - if you intend to use it on your lap I recommend wearing trousers at all times!

Or put your sleeve under the notebook. That's what I'm doing right now (with a macbook, but you get the point).

They get hot.......doing nothing other than looking at this forum in safari the enclosure base is 99F CPU is 140F and the GUP Diode is 157F. Pretty toasty......that is how Apple designed it.

All laptops now run very hot.

That's why they're called notebooks nowadays - they will fry your lap!

What's the ideal temperature that the MBP should operate at? And what are the temperature limits that we should be aware of? Thanks.

There's nothing to be 'aware of' to be honest. It's ideal temperature is the one it's running at.

If anything were to ever go wrong, you'd experience freezes or shutdowns.

Yes, the temp of your laptop is not for you to worry about. It runs no hotter then it should. Get a platform to use it on or a cooling device. They are cheap.

I was having the same problem not too long ago, my Macpro was just too hot SmcFanControl works great but it does affect battery life. It just kept bothering me that I needed a utility to keep it from getting hot. I was also having problems with battery life even without SmcFanControl running so in my searches i read about Run Away Applications shortening battery life Runaway applications can shorten battery runtime this solution fixed my battery life and the temperature of the laptop. Hope it helps

if you leave the screens intensity all the way up, that will cause it to get hot really quick. i try to leave my screen down to the level just above off. this not only saves heat, but it will save some battery time too.

On a related note - is it ok to let a mbp (turned off) sit in the trunk of a car in middle of the day in the summer? I am taking a road trip and want to bring the machine along but worry about how hot it might get in there.

Thanks

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Sure. It ain't gonna get anywhere near operating temperatures... even here in Arizona.

but still....

So, what if I AM experiencing freezing, crashes? And my Apple Care expired, partly because it is a hand me down at work?

I know it may be silly to want to control the fans just for the sake of it, but how do I determine if they are actually working or not? And is nearly 170 degrees F too hot?

Thanks

is there an app to monitor the temperature?