“Anyone who’s given a PowerBook, MacBook, or MacBook Pro a good look probably knows how the ventilation system works: two inlets near the front of the computer draw the air in, a big vent grid underneath the screen hinge lets it all out. Ideally. Except Gert Stahl apparently discovered a thin layer of plastic film in his MacBook that prevented airflow, and was causing his machine to overheat; removal promptly caused his fans to shut off and the machine’s heat to return to a level more manageable,” Ryan Block reports for Engadget.
“If you’ve got a MacBook and it’s a little toasty, check that gap out for the thin plastic strip,” Block advises.
Full article with photo of the strip being removed here.
Gert Stahl’s blog posting on the subject: http://gertstahl.blogspot.com/2006/05/macbooks-vent-blocked.html
MacDailyNews Note: Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “MacPana” for the heads up. “MacPana” has a MacBook and found just such a plastic strip on his Mac. There were no such strips on our recently-received 17-inch MacBook Pro order. We don’t remember if we removed it or not, but we have never had excessive heat issues. All MacBook and MacBook Pro users who are experiencing heat issues: check those vents!
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is there actually any heat issues at all (since firmware updates) or is the whole thing a load of fud? im interested to know fact! its so hard to tell with all the mac haters on the net.
ITS ALL FUD
ITS MICRO$HIT PAYING PEOPLE TO SPREAD ROOMERS
BLAH BLAH ISHUFFLE I WANT MY IMACINTEL MEDIA CENTER PHONE
I posted this at 10:15 AM this morning on “Cooling your Apple MacBook Pro”. Give credit where credit is due: digg.com
They had it first.
I got my 17″ MBP during the first wave of shipments. It gets very hot from about the speaker openings to the screen. The small ‘strip’ above the keyboard is so hot you can’t even touch it. I tried the firmware update and it said my machine didn’t need it. Also I have listened very carefully and have never heard a fan run. Is this normal for this machine?
And yes I’ve checked to see if there is something covering the vent, nothing there…
Now THAT’s Quality Control right there.
Even with the firmware update, Apple has not admitted there is an over heating problem.
So, the question is as the components slowly fry and eventually fail, will I have a warranty claim or not?
You don’t know the history of plastic packing strips……I do.
MDN’s gyrations in finding some reason – ANY reason – to explain away the thermal deficiencies of the Yonah chip is almost hilarious.
The Thermal Paste Theory was promising, but has been essentially debunked now that only 2 degree average improvement has been measured by most of those who have gone to the trouble of reapplying it. And the fact that the recent firmware update just lets the fans runandrunandrun is pretty much ignored here (great for the already piss poor battery life, btw). So now we’re left with this ridiculous story about plastic film being the REAL culprit. As opposed to what – the stupidity of the people who don’t no enough to remove it? My god, have you no shame MDN?
Yonah is too hot – period. What’s the codename of the 64bit version of Core that’s supposed to be coming? Whatever they call it, hopefully it will have better thermal characteristics, and that Apple will use it ASAP. But my guess is that all of Intel’s marketing hype regarding their supposed superiority in low power CPUs is just that – hype.
Here’s hoping Apple starts releasing OSX in the wild, so I can pick my own processor and be done with this foolishness.
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“don’t no enough”
should be, “don’t know enough”
Odyssey : The 2 degree drop in the MBP after fixing the paste was not accurately tested. First of all, he never checked the max temp of the MBP that he took apart, who knows how hot it was at first? After removing the excess gunk, he compared it’s temperature to a 2nd MBP which has never been opened. We’ve got no idea if either of them ever had a temperature problem AT ALL. All we know is that one MBP is 2 degrees lower than another… WOW… talk about statistically worthless!
So the excess grease “theory” has hardly been debunked.
Don:
“Theory” should be “hypothesis”, as in hypothesis testing.
So, was the strip in the front vent of the MacBook or the back vent????
Was it on the outside or the inside???????
To Scott B: If it gets that hot and you don’t hear the fans, they aren’t working properly. Get to an Apple Store or call Apple for service advice.