My notebook, CPU, or power adapter seem too hot
Many have come on here thinking their machine is too hot. While some are correct in their assumption, the following factors needs to be considered:
1. The heat mentioned on the machine spec pages are ambient external temperatures that are best to operate the machine in, and have nothing to do with the internal heat sensor of the machine which some software on the internet allow you to measure.
2. No official heat limits for the internal sensors are published for the general public.
3. If you suspect your machine or power adapter is overheating, consider the following:
- if you have a MacBook, some MacBooks have a blocked rear vent as this article explains:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303848
- if you are getting random shutdowns with the MacBook
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304308
- if you think your battery may be overheating, these repair programs may apply to you:
https://support.apple.com/ibook_powerbook/batteryexchange/
- if you think capacitors are overheating on an iMac or PowerMac, these two repair programs may apply to you:
http://www.apple.com/support/imac/powersupply/repairextension/
http://www.apple.com/support/powermac/powersupply/repairextension/
- notebook heat itself is normal, and is covered in more detail by this article:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=30612
- Power adapters from the factory for notebooks have come with clear plastic shrinkwrap around certain models. I would remove that clear plastic shrinkwrap if it is there.
- Note these two articles on making sure your firmware is up to date:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303364
Mac OS X: Available firmware updates - Apple Support
- Note the hardware test that came with Mac restore volumes can be run two different ways:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303081 - for Intel Macs
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86287 - for PowerPC Macs. Earlier Macs which came with a disk just labelled hardware test you can boot the hardware test volume directly. Bad RAM detected by these tests, fan errors detected by these tests could indicate a cause for an overheating Mac.
- All the Macs have a startup test which makes sure the RAM is good too:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303083 - Intel Macs
And two articles on PowerPC Macs:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58442
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58183
If none of these apply and you still think your machine is too hot, call AppleCare for a diagnosis:
http://www.apple.com/contact/phone_contacts.html