“If you ask people what they think about the MacBook Pro, currently the flagship of Apple’s portable computing line, you’ll get comments about its powerful processor and impressive speed, its ability to dual-boot OS X and Windows, and—if the person actual owns one—probably some complaints about how danged hot the thing gets. While some have looked to Apple to remedy the problem, others have taken matters into their own hands and gotten some noticable results.,” Tanya Klowden reports for Ars Technica.
“The short version of the story so far is that earlier users who cracked open their cases found bountiful amounts of thermal paste (which conducts the heat away from the processor to, in this case, everything else) and, when they reapplied said paste correctly saw significant temperature decreases,” Klowden reports.
More info in the full article here.
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Related MacDailyNews articles:
Apple’s MacBook Pro sure is cool, but, wow, it’s hot! – May 15, 2006
Old news.
Greg M,
Yeah, it’s been almost 5 whole hours since Ars posted that article.
I wish that there was a way for the user to decrease the point at which the fans start to rev up. Sure if I listen real closely I can now hear the fans running a little more but I’d rather have them ramp up a little more in order to get a cooler laptop. Yes I said laptop because I want a portable Mac computer that I can use on my lap.
Would it be so hard to give us an option of a quieter computer or a cooler computer? That could be an option in the system preferences without much effort on Apple’s part.
The funny thing is that, after people have done this, they find that the fans come on far more often.
Would you rather have a hot and quiet MacBook Pro or a cool and loud one?
This technique doesn’t actually do anything. From the article:
“Davidson speculates that the thermal paste application, ghastly as it may look, doesn’t make a signficant difference.”
I’m typing this on a 13″ Macbook and I don’t find it any more hot than the 12″ 867mhz Powerbook it replaced.
By the way… I LOVE the keyboard and screen changes.
There was a test done at O’Reilly’s MacDev website that showed that a lot of effort resulted in a drop of 2 degrees. Thermal paste is not the issue.
http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2006/05/23/thermal-paste-question.html
The issue is firmware code that the machine uses. Apple does not wants its machine to sound like jet-engines PC laptops sound like when the get hot.
Wake up kent this is about mac book pros not macbooks, ur a bright feller!
Well thats wat the article is about!! No need to summarize a already short article
Now she just keeps ice cubes in her mouth.
Thanks a heck of a whole lot Apple. 🙁
The only conclusion that you can make is that laptop B was 2 degrees cooler than laptop A. There are no pre- and post- comparisions, and 2 degrees is probably within normal variation of what you would expect across a sample of the same model of laptops. The only way to know if
Totally useless story. I can’t believe he went through all that trouble without measuring temps before re-doing the thermal paste.
MDN: Read the article! It’s about how the thermal paste didn’t work!
So…if the paste really is the issue, and re-applying it would make the case cooler, doesn’t that mean the processors would be hotter, and therefore, perhaps, get fried?
Either way, I hope the next revision of the laptop is cooler. Seems like a pretty serious problem they need to fix.
The fact is the guy screwed up and then wrote a screwed up story.
He didn’t seem to use software to monitor the temps over time with CPU’s maxed out in a controlled enviroment.
He’s so way off base…
After running World of Warcraft for several hours (taxing both CPU and GPU), my 17″ MBP isn’t too much hotter than my old Ti 800 or my Al 1.67. I would say with in a couple of degrees. Quite warm, but I could place my hand on the hottest part and keep it there indefinatly. Maybe I’m just lucky to have gotten a cool one.
My 17″ MBP does not get hot it only gets warm. I certainly don’t have a problem here.
I must admit the story gave me some serious cause for concern while I was waiting for delivery. If there was a problem it looks like its been fixed.
I am happy
I got a macbook pro 15″ for 4 weeks now, in the first weeks i could not lay my hand on it, it was so hot, after applying the upgrade of the firmware now i hear the coolers litle bit, but no whining sound and it is much cooler than before.. so i guess they fixed that part, now the temp is ok …
Once the technology is re-invented and made public which would enable you to search through millions of files within fraction of a second, what will google do then?
Nothing google runs is successful other than its search engine.
Their froogle site sux
their image search is useless. ( not profitable )
their video search is useless.
their google earth software only appeals to a limited number of people.
i really dont see how google can survive as #1 by 2008.
Well my MacBook Pro makes a nice gentlle whirrrr, it stays warm, not hot and its a beaut. Glad I wasn’t tempted by the de-gunk ‘solution’.
Oh and ‘Google’, whether you work for MSN or Yahoo or whatever, you need to get over your angst. Google is highly successful and isn’t likely to go away, not by 2008. It has given the world loads of free apps, like Analytics, Earth and Gmail. Millions of us are using these tools daily so it gets my vote if not yours. I don’t see a Microsoft behaving like this. (and I do see Apple doing it…iLife).
@Google:
Okay…
Thanks for the useful commentary on Thermal Paste.
Apple should simply fess up and tell its customers that the firmware requirements and implementation were a mistake and that corrected firmware should be installed. They would be applauded for their honesty. Instead, they quietly release a firmware update and fail to mention its most important fix. Boo Apple — boo.
“i really dont see how google can survive as #1 by 2008.”
oh, wait … you’re serious.
Back to topic: The 65nm Yonah is (thermally speaking) a HOT chip! There is no solution for it. Apple can crank the fans and impact the battery life, or – like they hoped – keep the fans as quite as possible while baking the finish on your desk, and maybe you won’t care. There is no middle ground, and it will only get worse as the clockspeed bumps are introduced. Since only a substantial case redesign can relieve this problem, look for either that to happen, and/or Yonah will be replaced with a hopefully better 64bit version of Core sooner rather than later – maybe when the pro-level desktops arrive.
Not that it really matters. The Macanistas will learn to live with, ney love, the heat issues (“Look – I can make pancakes in the shape of an Apple on it!”). But it does make you wonder what all the fuss was about with IBM and the G5.
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Ok does anyone have some numbers on how hot they get? My PB 1ghz runs at 63.5 and that’s only .2-.5 hotter than it was without the Seagate 7200 speeed upgrade.
Uhm, no actually the problem won’t get worse with time. Hello, idiot! The new rage is power-per-watt, with both AMD and IBM focussing on chips that are more efficient for the watt, which means less heat.
Hmmm, tearing apart the motherboard of your shiny new Apple to redistribute thermal paste sounds like the antithesis of “it just works” to me.
Writing this on my new 17″ Macbook Pro. It is sitting on my lap I might add. This machine doesn’t seem to have the same prob as the 15″ and I’ve been running it through some heavy rendering to test it out. Sure, it gets a bit hot, but as long as you’re wearing pants you’ll be fine
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wake up voice! the redistributing of paste didn’t make a difference…read the article…THEN post.
…that “just works”
This is apparently an actual picture of the macbook service manual. What the hell with all the thermal paste?
show it to apple, someone PLEASE FUCKING SHOW IT TO APPLE!!!!!!!
this is NOT how you apply thermal paste… you should use less than a ‘drop’ per PU. GD!!
Perhaps someone can answer a question I’ve had ever since I began reading about the heat/whining issues with some Macbook Pros, and now some Macbooks.
1. Does anyone know what percentage of Macbook Pros already shipped are afflicted with whining and overheating?
2. Is there an idea yet of what percentage of Macbooks look to have the same problems?
3. Is the 17-inch Macbook Pro largely unaffected by the whining and heat problem?
4. Since Apple is now using same dual-core Intel chips as PC makers, why aren’t we hearing and reading lots of articles about PC laptops overheating and whining, too? Are the Dells, Thinkpads, HPs, Sonys and others affected in the same manner?
I thought about getting a Macbook myself, my first foray into the world of Macintosh, but really don’t want to spend a sizable amount of money on an early adopter problem I would regret.
its been mostly remedied by a firmware upgrade island girl.
all laptops (pc or mac) can run hot, and the problem was that the macbook pro fans were not being activated early enough, thus resulting in the laptops running hotter than they should.
i personally havnt heard of macbooks having the same problem, but im sure a firmware upgrade will be available for macbooks should they need it.
its not stopping me getting a macbook on monday.
TRY TAKING THE PLASTIC OFF OF THE VENT! Posted on digg.com with link to Flickr of plastic removal.
Too lazy to link for you – go to digg.com and search for MacBook
I have to put ice packs under mine, thats the only way I can keep it running without freezing while I play CS:Souce
mw – medical as in I need medical marijuana
Island Girl,
Hafa adai/Aloha/Talofa! (Not sure which, if any, applies)
The heat problems affect pretty much all MacBook Pros. Many claim they run warm, but you’ve got to take those “reports” with a grain of salt. I’ve got an MBP – typing on it right now – and this puppy runs HOT despite having the latest firmware.
Main reasons for heat problems:
– They are designed to run hot. Well actually they are designed to be thin and light, so that means that the internals are more closely packed together. This greatly limits cooling efficiency since airflow is limited to nil so heat is allowed to build up rather than transfer out via cool air in, hot air out.
– Manufacturing error. Many techo-savvy users have disected their MBPs to try and understand what’s going on inside their machines. They’ve found some amazing examples of awful assembly. Thermal paste on the processors (CPU, etc) is applied incorrectly. It is supposed to be applied thinly between the processor and another material (such as a cooler or cooling assembly) so it can efficiently transfer the heat generated. What they found was that the thermal paste is applied incorrectly, so it instead acts more like insulation (keeping heat in) rather than a helping heat transfer away from the processor.
– Internal fan settings (this is what the firmware updates adjust). The design shortcomings of the MBP are forcing Apple to change their original fan settings. The problem for Apple is that with fans running more often to cool the MBP, battery life goes down and noise levels go up. These are things Apple doesn’t want to happen because it may reduce the appeal of their products.
Summed up:
Thinness reduces cooling efficiency.
Misapplied thermal paste worsens the problem.
Firmware updates (of fan settings) reduces battery life and increases noise.
Apple’s latest slogan should read:
Looks HOT because it is HOT!
All that being said, I’d still choose a Mac over anything else at the moment.
Hope this helps!
MPC Guy
—
MacBook Pro
G5 iMac & Intel iMac
PowerMac G4/G5
misc Windows boxes