2020 Macbook Pro overheating

I honestly thought I was reading a post I could have written when I read your post. I bought my MacBook Pro in November 2019 and still cannot use it because it is too hot on my palms. I measure it with a laser each time and after 10 minutes it hovers around 33 to 34 degrees on the palm rest and on the hinge. I simply cannot use it. I then check the temperature on my five year old MacBook Air and it is between 24 and 28 degrees after a good seven to 10 hour day. I have been in contact with Apple multiple times and we are now up to the hardware check as I've erased and reinstalled the software. Each time I phone they ask me about the battery and fan; I can never use it long enough to know if the battery lasts and the fan only seldom makes a noise. I am now thinking there is something seriously wrong with this computer but they cannot tell us about the problem. Let me know how you go. My device is still in the 12 month defective warranty (Australian consumer law) so I may need to change the computer for a Macbook Air or another Apple that doesn't overheat. It looks like the new MacBook Air also overheats (reading comments).

Same issue. Purchased three days ago, had a memory issue. Called it in, fixed and few hours later with only Chrome open (5tabs) I noticed the area above the Touch Bar was very hot. Support told me to do an SMC reset which I did. The fan started whirring very loudly for 5 mins and stopped. But same area continued to get hot. Called it in and said I should just return and get a new one. Just did that, and before even migrating my data, noticed the second MBP is also getting hot.

Seriously wondering if it’s a model issue.

Same here. I have now bought a couple of stands with USB run fans. One with legs for using in bed, on sofa etc and one lighter weight for travelling. Not ideal but I am on my second machine which has also had practically everything replaced but still runs hot. There is CLEARLY a serious problem with these 2020 machines. They sent mine back without the latest Operating system as well. And if I didn’t back pathologically backup to cloud/time machine I would have lost everything because it literally died in front of me!

I already tried everything with apple support. Even went ******** about it on Twitter and tagged them and they got me to talk with a “senior advisor” who did absolutely nothing. He only told me my two options were sending it for repair by mail or at a Mac distributor. I just don’t understand why I need to send a brand new device for repair. They wouldn’t exchange it because now it’s 19 days old and it’s passed it 14 days exchange policy 😡.

I came to the conclusion that it’s probably just a very bad design like you all Said. The last thing I did that apple support advised was Reset the MacOs (and it kinda worked) but it’s still heating up. I even measured the temperature and it got as hot as 119F in the back of the computer by the fan outlet and 105F around the Touch Bar area.

Mine runs as warm as 103F by the Touch Bar and 119F in the bottom part around the fan outlets. (I measured it with a kitchen thermometer. I only use it on my desk, never while in bed or sofa or anything AND it gets super warm only by having safari opened with YouTube and word at the same time. I don't use it for any professional stuff, so for simple stuff like that it seems ridiculous to me that they heat up so badly. My 2012 MacBook Pro didn't have these problems.

No. It happened from the beginning however, I always had 10.15.5. Not sure about others. You only have 14 days to get another device so I'd talk to Apple now. I didn't order the 2020 MacBook Pro but they upgraded me. So, since you have only had it for two days you still have time to change your mind. I can't say what you should do, for yourself. For me, I'd want the 2019 version or the MacBook Air. But, that is an opinion. You know how those are. :)

This happened to me the first day I had the laptop. I had just transferred all my data from my 2013 MacBook Pro to my new 2020 MacBook Pro. I thought that perhaps the transfer of so much data had caused the heating. This was before I did any Software update.

My laptop got so hot that I was worried that it would cause a fire. So I didn't use it at all to give it time to cool down, then shut it down before going to sleep that night.

I think I called Apple Support the next day. They tried various shutdowns, and said they thought that might solve the issue. But it kept getting hot even after that. I called Apple again and they walked me through a diagnostic test and said the results of the test showed that there were no hardware issues. So they said to try the software update, that should help solve the problem. But it didn't.

The pandemic was in full swing, with all stores shut down. So I couldn't take it in to an Apple Store to have it looked at or to have it replaced. Apple gave me the name of some smaller businesses in my area that might be open and could look at my laptop for me. But I was afraid to take it there for fear that a small company might go bankrupt during the pandemic. And I didn't think it right to take a brand new laptop in for repair.

By the time our stores opened again, I was long past the 14 day mark.

So I keep my laptop on a cake cooling rack, and check it regularly for how hot it is getting. When it gets really hot, I stop work and give it time to cool down.

I do a lot of detailed graphics with it, but while doing graphics will cause it to become warm, it doesn't make it hot. But using Zoom along with a share screen will make it hot. So will reading newspapers on line while having other applications open when I'm researching an article.

PS: I wonder if this is a case of the design and cooling systems of the smaller MBPs being insufficient to cope with high end Intel CPUs?

Perhaps the more power efficient Apple Silicon ARM processors will resolve this issue.

Intel is three years late on delivering the processors they said they would with BOTH the performance Apple wanted and the power consumption Apple wanted. This round, they got the capability to expand memory above 16GB, but not the power consumption they wanted.

Apple is fed up as well, and is leaving Intel in the dust and introducing Macs with their own custom silicon chips in the coming years.

But today we all face the same dilemma as always: Computers will always be faster, better and cheaper if we wait. But got work to do? Hold you nose and pick the least objectionable.

No solution provided to me it has been more than a year now I have MacBook Pro 2019. They keep launching new models knowing old models have the heating problem. That’s how they become 1 trillion dollars company.

i chased them like crazy all they do repairs but the problem never went away after 2 repairs.

Return it trust me you will not regret it

Jess, I’m not trying to minimize the problems some people have had, but I think there are a lot of units working just fine in the wild. I have a 2019 13” MBP (i5), 16/1TB, purchased a month or so after they launched. I use it day in and out, with a whole range of tasks- nothing like video rendering etc, but Lots of demand on processor/memory. I’ve never had a noticeable thermal slowdown, even while driving two external monitors ( an ultra wife and a 1080p).

That being said, if someone gets one that doesn’t work out of the box, I hope they take it in/back. Its a valuable tool but needs to do the job. :)

It might be a similar issue to those sold between 2017-2019 for which Apple has granted a voluntary recall:

https://www.tomsguide.com/us/apple-macbook-battery-recall,news-30412.html

What a total waste of resources!!! Apple does claim to recycle them and it is ok to do mistakes once in a while but now ALL Notebooks have this problem... The Air, the 16", the 13", no matter the specs. I see more and more 2020 Macs pop up at the German Ebay... That must be sign that you are not alone in being unhappy about it.

For those of you who still have this issue maybe it will help to not use an external screen or close your Mac while doing so, but I would just return it. If it has a similar problem like the "15 then it might be even hazardous to keep them running!

You do have legislation in Singapore to protect you. I wrote a response to you earlier with links to the Acts and government departments, but Apple removed my post (at least they advised me that they removed it - in breach of their T&Cs). You have The Sale of Goods Act, Lemon Law, misrepresentation etc. Conduct a search and write to Apple referencing the legislation that protects you as a customer. You also have a consumer association in Sg.

@tao192 - it’s extremely disappointing! As I mentioned mine is about a week old, I decided to give it a few days to see if it will improve but nothing it’s still overheating and not like am using any overwhelming application (like streaming), just browsing the internet in a single window . I like you, had a previous MacBook Pro that lasted for years and never had this issue!

i am within my 15 days so I am definitely returning it! For a $2300 laptop, I expect better 😀

Apple sells battery-capable machines. But they are called NoteBook computers. LapTop is not seen in Apple marketing anywhere.

To protect your 'legacy' a lap-desk is recommended. it consists of a smooth flat surface with some padding below, such as a beanbag.