MACBOOK PRO & SNOW LEOPARD - OVERHEATING

I uninstalled Sophos anti-virus and my whole laptop is going 2x faster and the overheating problem is gone =D

I've been running into the same problem as many here seems to be experiencing.

I've noticed that when surfing on web sites containing a lot of Flash content such as banners or watching videos in "HD" on YouTube puts more strain on the processor when compared to viewing Apple Trailers. For instance, watching a YouTube HD-clip put makes my processor run at around 40-50% but the temperature sky-rockets to almost 100 degrees celsius (212 F).

This have led me to believe there's an error in the latest Flash Player, and hopefully it's not part of a revenge act thrown by Adobe since they can't get along with Apple and the iPhone, huh-hrrm... But it's not only Flash content that makes the fans spin up like crazy. Other processes, such as watching HD content using the Perian plugin creates the same results.

Then I tried running the same processes without the battery attached and it really lowered my temps and thus kept the fans at 2000 rpm. But the simple explanation is that it lowers the CPU-speed to avoid crashes when only running on external power. This makes all the HD-material playing at a choppy rate, so this is not an option for me.

But there's more, as a previous user stated, this problem occurs when the battery is charging. When the battery is fully charged the CPU doesn't get as hot or as quickly as to when charging. Turns out that my battery is defect and need replacement so I was stuck at charging for a couple of days without getting the magsafe adapter turning green. But after moving the computer around and unplugging it, it turned green and these symptoms are almost gone. Although, flash content still puts a strain on this computer...

So you might want to get your batteries checked first.

I've been having a same problem since I upgraded from Leopard (used Data Transfer Tool). It seems fine in general but when I see Flash sites (like YouTube or Google Finance), CPU usage kicks over 90% and temp gets near 200F!!

It seems like "WebKitPluginHost" for Safari and "fireFox-bin" for FireFox is really sucking up the power and causing this issue.

Fortunately, I think, I solved the issue. I hope it works for the users who has same issue and this is what I did.

1) Download and Run "Adobe Flash Player uninstaller" for Mac OSX. I got it from
http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/141/tn_14157.html

2) Restart Safari/FireFox.

3) Download and install the latest "Adobe Flash Player". I got it from
http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/

4) I also cleared PRAM (P R+CmdOpt) when restart. I waited to hear the "start sound" 3 times to make sure PRAM is cleared.

That's it. My CPU usage stays reasonably low and Temp is around 120F, same as when using Leopard. I don't see this over heating problem and noisy fan issue anymore. Additionally, even encoding with iMove '09 gets really quiet.

I'm very happy with result and really glad to shift Snow Leopard, now 🙂

I encountered the same problem on both an iMac and MacPro using 10.5 and it continues with 10.6. I used SMC ever since my iMac had to be repaired due to damage caused by overheating when using 10.5 and flash for an online course. I hoped 10.6 and/or a flash update would fix the problem but still having high heat problems. SMC keeps the overheating under control on both computers, hope Apple fixes this soon!

Message was edited by: BC333

I tried your suggestion and when I went to Hulu to test, my fans are still like a jet engine.

Didn't solve the issue for me. 😟

people, clearly this is a flash issue "for some".
adobe needs to optimize the flash player for sl.

doesn't sound like an apple issue at all.

I found this thread on CNET.com website. Hopefully Apple can come out with something and give us their input. I have been having the same problem, I have the late 2008 13" Macbook. I noticed it starting getting very hot only after I Installed Snow Leopard, and it got so hot that it even Shut Down on me 3 times. But many of you say it is a flash issue, so I am open to any suggestions. I will be trying the Adobe suggestion posted above me, hopefully this works. =/

Equipment: I have a June 2007 17-inch MBP. I too have experienced the overheating problem when only performing simple tasks. Flash heavy sites really cause the fans to spin, as does watching any kind of movie via iTunes, or using Photoshop. Basically, there really isn't anything I can't do without the fans spinning up.

Observations: I also have iStat pro, and confirmed that when my either FireFox, or Safari are open, as well as a movie in iTunes, the CPU is only at 12% use, yet the fans are at 6000rpms or just a tad below. This makes no sense.

Solution: Take the battery out of the laptop and run off the AC cord. No overheating issues since I did this. However, it defeats the purpose of having a laptop in the first place if I have to take the battery out all the time.

*Note to Apple* -- +_Please fix this issue in the 10.6.2 update, or issue a patch!!!_+

Thank you.

DO you know the normal/standard temperature, fan speed for the late 2008 macbook model? or does anyone? so that I may compare my stats to the standard.

I also realized one more thing. People who has this overheating problem, do you have "Web Clip" in your dashboard and does that web page have flash running?

If you experience the High CPU Usage even your Mac is idling, try to stop all dashboard by using like this tool.

StopDashboard
http://www.natal.be/2005/10/stopdashboard-widget/

I don't use it so often but StopDashboard calmed Snow Leopard when I was not using Safari nor FireFox.


P.S. My daily usage of MacBook Pro with SL is "Mail + Safari + FireFox + iCal + iChat + FileMaker 10 Advanced + Dashboard Wigets", and CPU temp is around 65C (150F) and CPU usage is 5-15% for both CPUs when idle.

My MBP has been running very hot too. Too hot to keep on my lap. However I have no idea on the temp or the fan speed. What utility are you all running to get those metrics?

Hey rayski,

I'm using Istat Pro. It can be downloaded here http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/status/istatpro.html
I am not quite sure though what the levels are when they are high as my computer seems to only act up when it wants to. If yours is overheating right now maybe you can take a screenshot of your stats and post a link? thanks.

Maybe it is also a good idea to find out what is exactly HOT.

On behalf of apple i learned that the notebook can get too hot to keep on your lap. So how much is too much?

Is it normal to have a cpu with 50 C. or is it normal to have it at 100 C. ?

With what temperature can we say it is too hot? Now I see a lot of posts that say too hot but what does it mean?

Hello everyone,

I also have the same heat issue that many of you have encountered. I have the same symptoms (measured with iStat Menu):

Macbook Aluminum 13" 2.4 GHZ (late 2008)
Installed Snow Leopard (from DVD)
Much hotter temperature at idle - CPU between 1 - 7 % (current average is 51 celsius)
Much hotter temperature when CPU usage is anywhere above 25% (between 75 - 83 celsius)
Heat exacerbated by anything using video (especially Flash on safari/firefox and Skype)
Max fan exhaust: 4500 - 5000 rpm

I can't find any reliable data on what is a NORMAL CPU temperature range. I do know that my temperatures are much higher on average under SL than they were with 10.5. I would just like to know if the new higher temperatures are still within range.

*I checked this website that lists average temperatures for Intel Macs:*
http://www.intelmactemp.com/list

If their data is reliable, my current CPU temps are much higher than they should be.

I have done simultaneous SMC and PRAM resetting and this has not brought down the temperature.

WildCardPix wrote:
Solution: Take the battery out of the laptop and run off the AC cord. No overheating issues since I did this. However, it defeats the purpose of having a laptop in the first place if I have to take the battery out all the time.

I wouldn't mind running my MacBook Pro without the battery attached when working stationary, but as I mentioned in a previous post this is not a viable solution since all it does is throttling down the CPU and GPU speeds by design, fixing the overheating issues but leaving you with a much slower computer. One report shows it being around 50% slower. You can read about this here: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/apple-macbook-pro-battery-benchmarks,6643.html

Also, see the following support article: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2332