New 2011 MacBook Pro Heating Issue?

Quantify the temps and the rpm's.

I have a similar problem too on my 2011 13" mbp i7. when i am running java, fan starts working continuously and my computer warms up. any solutions?

"any solutions? "

You can "solve" normal computer behavior by installing a third-party fan control. You can then slow down the fans, and shorten your computer's life.

Yes, while it is "normal computer behavior" to speed up the fans as the processors get hotter, the chipset in the new MBPs do seem to be running a bit hotter, especially when things get more graphically intensive.

I just ran my "old" 13 MBP (2010 edition - 2.66 GHz) and my day-old 13 MBP (2011 edition - 2.7 GHz) with identical conditions, and performed the same test on both: launch the game "Portal" and have it just sit on the main intro screen (which shows 3D graphics slowly panning around a room, plus the game's start menu).

On the 2010 MBP: CPU Temp: 149 F, Fan: 1999 rpm
On the 2011 MBP: CPU Temp 192 F, Fan: 6200 rpm

If I'm only running a simple application (like MS Word), the 2011 MBP actually runs a few degrees cooler than the 2010 system. However, as soon as the system is having to track a large number of open windows (whether those programs are graphically intensive or not), the CPU starts to heat up rather dramatically, and the fans ramp up to "jet turbine" mode.

My guess - and it is just a guess - is that this is related to the switch to the Intel integrated graphics (at least, on the 13" MBPs I have). Since the "GPU" is now on the same die as the CPU, there's no way to spread out the heat generated by graphically intensive tasks. Since my 2010 MBP uses a separate NVIDIA chip, the heat gets spread out over a wider area inside the case.

I don't do a great deal of gaming, but I do tend to have a fair number of applications running in multiple spaces, so that can put a greater strain on the graphics system. I work in a fairly quiet environment. As a result, the ramped up fans are becoming an annoyance very quickly.

I have a 13' macbook pro with the i7 processor and my computer gets pretty hot when running world of warcraft. 91˚C and 6200RPMs. i don't know if that's strange or not. it works fine with the game running so i haven't worried about it.

i do have a screen issue though where my screen won't turn on after the computer has been 'asleep' all night. i don't know if this is related or not though.

I also just bought the new Macbook Pro 13 inch i7 that just came out. Immediately notice the constant fan - definitely annoying. And it runs not even with intensive use - web, mail, etc, it is around 80C and 5000 rpm. The fan is noticeable nearly all the time - while working on Aperture it went to 6200 rpm, and the cpu temp heat up to 92 C.

Compare this to my Macbook Pro 2010 13 inch core duo (base model) which was very very quiet; rarely did the fan go on, except occasionally if I was working with it on my lap for too long.
Could be a software fix to this issue?

There are a few reports online about excessive thermal paste being applied to the CPU and GPU. A few people have voided their warranty and opened up the 2011 MBPs themselves to clean the heatsinks and reapply a more reasonable amount of thermal paste. It has resulted in a 5-10 degree drop in temperatures, down to around 85 degrees C when running under load. It is important to note that the fans are still spinning out at maximum rpms.

Hello,

Because i think of buying a new one too and was wondering how serious the temperature issues are, i tested on two 13" 2009 and a 13" 2010 model and on a new Macbook Air the following:

1. Install temperature monitor ( http://www.bresink.com/osx/TemperatureMonitor.html)
2. Open Terminal 5 times and in each terminal window type in "yes > /dev/null" to heat up the CPU and northbridge.
3. Check, if CPU usage is 100% - if not, open Terminal windows with the same command until 100% CPU usage is reached.

My results were:

On the 2009 models, both cores run **** hot after 1-2 minutes (102-104°C), northbridge 86°C, CPU temperature diode 98°C - on one 2009 Macbook Pro, one core was disabled because of the high temperature during my tests.
The fans raised the RPMs very slowly, took some minutes to reach a level to cool down the CPU cores to around 99°C.

On the 2010 model, both cores run hot too (97-99°C), northbridge 87°C, CPU temperature diode 91°C. No core was disabled.
The fans raised the RPMs quicker and after several seconds the core temperature was stable at 96°C/97°C, was never above 100°C.

The Air was never > 90°C in any temperature and raised the fans more quickly than the Macbook Pros, no issues at all.

Maybe you can test it on your new model in the same way to compare the results?
Thank you in advance!

Cheers...

Hi,

I just got my macbook pro 13" yesteday as well. I have been running powerpoint 2011 ( a 4' x 3' file) and suddenly fans became loud and temps became warm. I got temp monitor and see that temps are 83C or 176F.

is this an issue with the new macbook pros? My other gaming PC only goes to 45C on idle.

V

I had the 2010 13" now the 2011 13" and it is a lot louder even when not doing anything that's graphics intensive, guess that's how they are with the i5 and new gpu. the 2010 was always quiet

chsinet wrote:

On the 2009 models, both cores run **** hot after 1-2 minutes (102-104°C), northbridge 86°C, CPU temperature diode 98°C - on one 2009 Macbook Pro, one core was disabled because of the high temperature during my tests.
The fans raised the RPMs very slowly, took some minutes to reach a level to cool down the CPU cores to around 99°C.

On the 2010 model, both cores run hot too (97-99°C), northbridge 87°C, CPU temperature diode 91°C. No core was disabled.
The fans raised the RPMs quicker and after several seconds the core temperature was stable at 96°C/97°C, was never above 100°C.

The Air was never > 90°C in any temperature and raised the fans more quickly than the Macbook Pros, no issues at all.

I know you guys are mostly talking about 13" models, but I just tried a few tests on my new 15" quad-core i7. Running Portal under Steam with all the recommended graphics settings and native resolution, after about 10 minutes on the intro screen, my fans remained under 2,000 rpm and temps were 76ºC. Opening a few Terminal windows and running your test, I maxed out all four cores and within about a minute the CPU temps reached 88º - 90º, with the fans speeding up gradually to about 6,200 rpm. Over the course of several minutes, the temps declined to 86º and have stabilized there.

Within seconds of killing the processes in the Terminal windows, CPU temps dropped to about 70º, and after 1 minute, temps were down to about 50º and the fans have dropped to under 4,000 rpm and dropping.

No overheating on this machine.

Message was edited by: Herb Schaltegger

Do you hear the fan on the new 15"?

The constant roar of the fan on this new 13" i7 is very annoying, especially considering the nearly always quiet 13" 2010, which I just passed on to my wife.

Does anyone know if a software fix is possible to this issue?

Naturedisc wrote:
Do you hear the fan on the new 15"?

With the fans below 4,000 rpm, I can't hear them in a room with ordinary ambient sounds. I suppose if I was in a dead silent room I might hear something but not in normal use. My late-'08 original unibody 15" is a lot louder.

I bought a 13" macbook pro a few weeks ago and less than half a month later, the even newer intel i5 and i7 chipped MBP's released. Needless to say, I was pretty bummed out, but I called the store and luckily Apple let my exchange my "old" MBP for the new one. But after just two days I took it back and swapped it back for the one I had bought previously While I enjoyed the speed bump, I did not enjoy the excess heat the computer seemed to be giving out. Even just doing normal photoshop work, the fan sounded like an aircraft engine. I'm pleased as punch with my "old" 13" MacBook Pro with the 2.4 Ghz Intel Core Duo chipset. No problems at all and quiet as a church mouse with very minimal (if any) heating issues. In addition, I found the NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics card inside the 2010 MBP to be superior to the integrated Intel graphics chip inside the newer models. I actually saw a step backwards with the newest MacBook when playing intensive games like WOW and StarCraft 2. Maybe I'm nuts, but I don't mind waiting a TINY bit longer in Photoshop for things to render in return for cool fingers and faster gaming.