Heat Question

The only time there is a need to monitor the temperatures is if you are troubleshooting a problem. For example, if you find your fan is running heavily when you're not actually doing anything, you might want to check the temp to see if there is a reason for the fan to be running so fast. Otherwise, your system will manage the temps just fine. It certainly will not hurt it. In a worst case scenario, your system will shut itself down if it gets too hot. Parallels and gaming are among the most taxing things you can do and they will cause your system to get warmer.

There are a lot of people who closely monitor the heat of their computers - why? It must be an uber-nerd thing and speaking as a conventional nerd, I don't worry about it. Modern notebooks are hotter than older notebooks were and that's partly because the CPUs & GPUs generate a lot more heat and partly because the aluminum case acts as a heat sync. If the temperature inside gets dangerously hot the computer will turn itself off.

I've got the new 11" with the i7 upgrade. Heat is not a problem. While I never compared it directly against the i5, it certainly has some pop. If you can afford to "stretch" for the i7, I think it's worth the extra cash.