2020 Macbook Pro overheating

AppleQer wrote:

OK thanks. Well, if that is the case, then I doubt turning Turbo Boost off will solve the problem for some of the people here who are having heat and noise issues that last a lot longer than that.

"Don't knock it until you have tried it."

replying to myself a couple days later to update!!!

I installed Fanny, Intel Power Gadget, and Macs Fan control. It was still running pretty hot but after tinkering with the fan control, I got it to warm up enough to comfortably put on my lap but the fans are loud (kinda bothered me but I sucked it up lol). I had a few Microsoft Teams and Zoom meetings and whew, the fans were LOUD. Straight up screeching with my laptop basically burning to touch by the Touch Bar. Temperature was playing around 70-98 degree Celsius during the call despite me trying to use Mac fan control to try to calm it down. Didn't work so I immediately turned it off right after my video calls to cool down. That was a day after downloading those apps and about two days after getting my replacement laptop. I figured that was normal since laptops do that on video calls anyway. As for the temperature... not sure if it's reasonable.

Now two days after that, I feel like it heats up less? I mean it's still warm on my lap but not burning per se. Here is a screenshot of what my screen looks like and the temperature - Intel Power Gadget is open along with safari with a few tabs, PPT, and Google chrome with twitter open and Disney+ playing. It's not hot but there is some heat, which is normal considering the stuff I have open. It hasn't heat up in a hurt-to-touch way for two days so I'm optimistic! I'm definitely getting used to the Touch Bar, keyboard, and the AirPods Pro (Education Bundle) this came with so I'm hoping not to return it. I have a week until my 14-day return period is up so I'm really pushing the performance to kind of figure out if the heat will be gone or if it's just playing nice.

Fatima

If your computer is faulty - which it sounds like it as you shouldn't have to be tweaking a brand new item - you have 30 days to return it - not 14 days. This is your right under the 2015 Consumer Protection Act.

Regards

Ron

I bought my mid-2014 build MacBook Pro (i7 quad-core 2.2Ghz processor, 256 GB SSD, 16 GB RAM) refurbished from an Apple store directly in July 2016. I started to notice the same overheating and whirring fan-like sounds within a year, and since that time periodically -- to the point of it occurring now almost every other day. It happens when, as everyone has stated in this forum, I am simply looking at a few web pages (Safari and/or Chrome), have a MS Word letter document open, and perhaps also have open at the same time the Apple Mail App and/or the MS Outlook e-mail application. These, even when opened at one time, should not be causing overheating. This happens when I am using my laptop off battery and at other times when it is plugged in to the charger. My CPU Activity Monitor does not show overuse of the system during overheating. I don't have an app installed to determine the exact temperature but my fingers on the keyboard and the revving sound of the fan, gaining in speed and heat, are enough for me to know that it is overheating. In 2017, I brought my laptop to an Apple store and they tested diagnostics PRAM, SMC, the battery, motherboard, and ran for 12 hours straight several web pages, YouTube, etc., and their technician said they could never replicate the overheating and revving of the fan. However, they said there was debris/dust inside the machine and vacuumed it with a special tool. I don't know how it became dirty, as I kept the computer in its original box between using it only indoors. Perhaps it was always filled with debris/dust when I had bought it from Apple as a refurbished machine. Who knows? I do know that while the system for a few years did not overheat during my "limited" use, and I have kept it boxed and in a closed-door closet in between use, I have started to use the computer more regularly this last half year, and, guess what? It is started to repeat with overheating and this revving of the fan. Today, it occurred within the first 10 minutes of being on and I only had two simple web pages open, the Apple Mail app, my MS Outlook app, and a LinkedIn page. (By the way, I only use this laptop indoors within my residence and never outdoors or in direct sunlight. I also only use it on a flat table surface to allow for proper ventilation.) I have the latest O/S Catalina (Vers. 10.15.6) installed, too. Reading all these nearly exact complaints of even newer MacBook pro machines makes me wonder why Apple Support seems to approach my repeated complaints as unique and indicating the overheating may be due to the user (me!). Wow! Needless to say, throughout my intermittently problematic years with this mid-2014 build machine (within one year of my purchase, so 2017 to the present time), I have not felt it to be completely stable to attempt to have it handle more CPU-intensive programs such as graphic software (Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, large/complex MS Excel spreadsheets, etc.). If it can overheat with two or three Safari or Chrome website pages open, and a Microsoft Outlook and/or Word application open, how could it handle graphic design applications or more complex spreadsheet preparations? I have an upcoming appointment to bring it in one more time to Apple or an authorized Apple service provider. Looking back, I should have demanded an exchange of this laptop in 2017 -- only one year after the first overheating occurrence. But I was new to Apple devices and was made to feel somewhat that my complaint was unusual for this system. I also attributed the overheating to my indoor residential unit ambient temperature being somewhat warm because of an older boiler radiator system. But, no, this cannot solely be the cause with so many nearly exact complaints as noted.

I'm not new to Apple, I've been with it for decades. I have called Apple Support seven times since I got my 2020 13-inch MBP and each time they treated me as if my case was a one-off, that given enough time, would be worked out. I took my hot laptop to the Apple Store yesterday and they told me the same thing - I must have one of those rare MBPs in which something was wrong in the original software.

But if you go to Heads of Technology's "2020 MacBook Pro - Too Hot with External Display? / Fan Noise" they show that the temperature on the CPU of their 13-inch MBP is 98 Celsius when running a YouTube video and recording on OBS. And if you go to Linus Tech's "Now THAT's Hot... - 13: MacBookPro 2020 Review", he shows a 13-inch MBP with a CPU past 95 Celsius with 100 Celsius peaks.

replying to myself again :) I haven't had issues in the week since I posted except for the heat but it's been tolerable so far; sometimes I don't even notice. until last night and today. Last night, it got so hot it burned me again so I quickly closed it, forgetting to check temp. I turned it on once it calmed down but the screen was grey with gridlines. I forced it to shut down by pressing the power button and it was normal when it turned on again.

then this afternoon, I was doing work when it burned me again. the area above the Touch Bar was scorching, and the bottom was as hot as boiling coffee and I almost hurled it off my lap. the temp played around 88-90C while only having Safari open. just safari, nothing else. I turned it off but the fan was still running so I shut it down. when it was okay to touch again, the fan was still running but very loudly to the point where it was blowing the ends of my hair. I have a phone call with apple support later and I will be exchanging this, again. sadly, return isn't possible anymore as I have traded-in my old 2016 MacBook Pro so I'm stuck with this lil shiz

Yes, the latest update of Catalina. Check for software updates in your system preferences. If your system is already up to date, then probably the issue is with something else.

Yes, you can return a customised Mac. I had to do that with an over-heating Mac Air 2020.

Apple Silicon replacements to the current 2020 Intel-based 13" MacBook Pro are rumored to be coming out THIS year. My guess is we'll see them shortly after Big Sur is officially out of beta.

Thanks, do you have a rough idea when Big Sur will officially be out of beta?

100 F is only about 38 F. That temperature is fine.

If the fans came on during diagnostics, they are likely fine.

use mac Fan control (parameters 35-75 Celsius), use turbo boost switcher and disable boost. (both fully functional in free version).

My guess is a few seconds...

Intel Power Gadget 3.7.0

https://www.techspot.com/downloads/7172-intel-power-gadget.html

Do you remember when the motto of Apple was ‘It Just Works’?