“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
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