Does the OSx Lion update 10.7.1 fix 2011 MacBook pro heat issues?

From the info file:

What's included?

The OS X Lion v10.7.1 Update is recommended for all users running OS X Lion and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability and compatibility of your Mac, including fixes that:

• Address an issue that may cause the system to become unresponsive when playing a video in Safari.
• Resolve an issue that may cause system audio to stop working when using HDMI or optical audio out.
• Improve the reliability of Wi-Fi connections.
• Resolve an issue that prevents transfer of your data, settings, and compatible applications to a new Mac running OS X Lion.
• Resolve an issue in which an admin user account could be missing after upgrading to OS X Lion.

Although there may be other updates included this is all that was detailed in the info release.

I have a 2010 MacBook Pro 13" and made the big (gigantic) mistake of downloading the pre Lion update without waitng to read the reviews. My usual cool battery is now an oven; it goes from 88 degress F to 160 F in under five minutes - even after a reboot with no apps running. I've scoured the forums looking for a fix and have tried every one there is; ie., disabling spotlight, removing anti-virus, removing old Time machine backups, resetting the SMC control, etc.... and nothing has worked. I called Apple support and their first concern was whether I suffered any burns. I told them 'No, and I'm not interested in suing, but just fix it asap'. They told me to schedule an appointment with the Genius Bar at an Apple Store to troubleshoot. The problem is I don't have the time to go to a store and can't do without my Mac as I use it for work and everyday life. Am so frustrated this has not been properly addressed...grrrrrrrr.

Software can't cause hardware to fail. If there is a heat issue, it is because something, whether it be a power surge, a manufacturing flaw, a frayed cable, a spill, or a bump damaged the fans, bad RAM shorting matters, poorly installed RAM shorting matters, or improperly installed cooling gel or pads. If you are certain you have a heating issue, and you are using the machine within external environmental specs, take it in for service.

As for the Genius bar appointment issue, call AppleCare back, and ask to speak to customer relations if they won't setup a mail to service center request. In many situations, when the authorized service center either is too booked, or is too far from a customer, they will ship you a box that you can mail to the Apple service center run by Apple itself to get the machine fixed.

Thanks for your input, however, software can absolutely affect the functionality of hardware, hence the OS X Lion v10.7.1 update. I've been in IT for 20 years and crossed over to Mac five years ago - my MacBook Pro was running absolutely fine until right after the update, then it crashed three times in one day. I quickly downloaded the SMCFan Control app and it has helped a bit, but not a fix. Thankfully I have Apple Care, but it's the downtime without my Mac that is the problem. Google 'Macbook Pro overheating after Lion update', and you'll see that my overheating issue is not an isolated incident. I would prefer Apple to supply a downloadable update for this a.s.a.p.

a brody wrote:

Software can't cause hardware to fail.

In isolation no. You are correct.

If there is a heat issue, it is because something, whether it be a power surge, a manufacturing flaw, a frayed cable, a spill, or a bump damaged the fans, bad RAM shorting matters, poorly installed RAM shorting matters, or improperly installed cooling gel or pads. If you are certain you have a heating issue, and you are using the machine within external environmental specs, take it in for service.

Or it could be because the software causes the processor to work overly hard generating excess heat, which causes failure so indirectly it can.

Hi,

I have upgraded to 10.4.1 Lion and no significant improvements on the CPU overheating and cooling fan are always in a range between 5500 to 6300 rpm. I tried to close all dashboard widgets and software running in the background but here again no improvements.

Hey Apple, can your hear our claims ?

Sorry, upgraded to 10.7.1 of course...

Morax,

This is a user to user forum. If you want Apple to hear you, visit http://www.apple.com/feedback/ or call AppleCare, or setup a Genius bar appointment. Please read this entire thread. I've listed many reasons heat can happen. No operating system update can fix a heat issue.

Except for one thing, if software causes "excess" tasks, the firmware of the machine is supposed to tell the fans to kick in, and often automatic shut down the machine if it is really in excess, and frequently it should even say it is out of memory or can't launch a program. Error handling might be better on Mac OS X, though the spinning beach ball usually indicates it is at the process load, and needs a break.

A Brody,

Although this is a user forum, it is sponsored by Apple and hosted on their website, hence, one would hope their engineers are reading these threads. Rather than getting caught up on the semantics of whether software can or cannot cause hardware failure, it can affect the functionality of hardware which is why there is a Lion 10.7.1 update - to correct these issues. The fact is that an OS upgrade created the overheating, one of which did not occur until I (and many other unhappy MacBook Pro users) upgraded to 10.6.8 - pre Lion release. Your theories as to the root cause of the MacBook Pro heat issues are not applicable to what has occurred to many, many, many of us upon reboot after the pre Lion update/Lion upgrade.

One would think that extensive testing on all of the Mac products would have discovered this issue. Unless of course, we've become defacto beta testers. Traveling to an Apple Genius Bar and surrendering our laptop for untold amount of time is a major inconvenience for those who rely on our Macs for daily work. This could have been prevented with proper Quality Control testing. We pay a premium for Apples's products, now their problem has become our problem.

Then how come my MacBook Pro 3,1 from 2007 has no heating issues, and had none since Tiger??? If it really was an operating system update issue, you'd think it would have surfaced some time between Tiger and now on ALL machines. It has not. I push my MacBook Pro to the limits by running dozens of things at once, and not once has it unexpectedly shut down. So before you push the blame to Apple's operating system update testing process, recognize this is not an easily reproducible problem. If it was, sure Apple would have fixed it a long time ago. But it isn't. So stop pushing the blame on Apple, when we run many tens of thousands of applications, have billions of circuits on our RAM, and trillions of tracks on our hard drive. And recognize unless the issue is one that reproduces readily, it is unlikely any update can fix it. Consider what 63 factorial is on your calculator. 10^99. There haven't been that many seconds in the age of the universe. For Apple to isolate every possible combination of hardware and software malfunction they'd have to be omnipotent spanning many trillions of universes just to have the time to do so. That's why Apple develops specs: http://developer.apple.com/ And if certain hardware and software vendors fail to meet to those specs, there is nothing Apple can do about it, as they can't isolate every possible combination. The best you can hope for is a happy medium met during the warranty period. It is amazing there aren't more failures. And Apple will mail you a box to return your machine to a repair shop, with as little as a 36 hour turn around time if the Genius bar, authorized service center policies are too inconvenient for you. So call AppleCare. And remember, this is a user to user forum. Enunciating your issues here only brings it to the alert of other users. I've spoken to Genius bars and they tend to disregard Discussions. So please call AppleCare if you think you have an issue, and don't blame Apple or ask for Apple's help on this board. We are just end users here, and blaming gets people nowhere.

You are correct, this is a user to user forum. The purpose is to enunciate issues and alert other users - and share advice. Either you are an Apple employee or work for Apple in some capacity, hence your defensive rant. If you had taken the time to read my earlier post, I have called AppleCare. If you had taken the time to research this problem, it applies to 2010/2011 MacBook Pro's. End of subject.

Neither. I don't work for Apple in any capacity. I just want you to understand, the forum is here for users to troubleshoot issues. It is not for ranting. Logically a newer machine should have less trouble with newer software, not more. So it doesn't make sense to me to me that your heating issue would be due to software. If AppleCare can't identify a heating issue on your machine, either you are looking at the heat detecting software and making more out of it, than it actually is, or you have not sufficiently detailed the scenarios where it does overheat. Maybe you have bad power at your home that allows heat to build up. I've written a FAQ* here that can apply to almost any Apple notebook, or PC notebook and its power issues:

http://www.macmaps.com/frayguide.html