2012 15" Retina Display MacBook Pro Overheating!

I assume it's in warranty so take it back. The word "overheating" has no specific meaning and is entirely subjective.

What are you doing on it when it overheats? And what do you consider overheating, what temp is it?

If was really overheating it would shut down. Has it shut down? If not then it has not really overheated. Its just gotten hot.

You have 14 days to return it for Full Refund, No Questions Asked. So if it continues to, what you call, overheat take it back and get another.

Burning the family jewels like the 13" does?, I'm not surprised.

All those pixels require a lot of graphics power, and in such a small case? More so.

Now it could be the fans are racing because the SMC needs a reset, that can occur.

So try that here, it's #1 on the list.

https://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

Step by Step to fix your Mac

<Edited by Host>

That's not normal. Take it back and have it replaced or have them figure out the problem. It's in warranty and brand new. Don't fool with it. Virtually none of us have used a Retina MBP model and know the internals enough to know exsctly what's going on.

Ivy Bridge CPUs should provide the same clock speeds as Sandy Bridge CPUs but at lower power requirements. That suggests they should run cooler all things being equal. But the GPU in the Retina MBP may be the heat producer. In any event if the computer is shutting down because of thermal overload, then something is definitely not right.

Oh, and get rid of SMC Fan Control. Be sure you reset the fans to their normal speed before deleting the SMC Fan Control software. If you leave it there then they may claim that you are responsible and refuse to honor the warranty.

NightNinjaPDX wrote:

The hottest I got was 98C

That is abnormal, perform a Hardware Test and see what it is so you also tell that to the Genius Folks.

Could be a dead sensor or fan I'm guessing, you'll see if it turns up anything.

And you have a new machine, SMCfancontol likely hasn't been updated for it, I also agree it should be uninstalled prior to return.

3: Hardware Test

Category: Hardware only related

Description: Apple's Hardware Test, does a internal investigation for hardware related issues.

Instructions: https://support.apple.com/kb/ht1509

For those machine that have it, you need to have a Internet connection and hold the D key down for quite some time while rebooting to load it from Apple's servers.

If it gives anything, write it down and consider taking it in for service.

Find the closest Apple repair or distributor: https://support.apple.com/kb/HT1434

No need to do any testing. As Kappy said it is not normal. Take it back for Refund and buy another.

yup. the area between the top of the keyboard andthe bottom of the display is getting too hot to touch.. canttell if the fans are working,, the new blade layout means the fan is now as good as silent haha..

battery life is super poor too,, most ive managed is 2 1/2 hours,, safari use only with display at 50% brightness.

apple business team have offered a replacement,, but saying it will likely take 3-4 weeks,,, shame as it was only ordered on thursday, it arrived friday,,,, return to store tuesday most likely

my battery has gone form 40%-11% in 28 minutes,, only music playing on itunes,,, screen going to sleep.. and it doesnt seem that the fan is cutting in

mine's been swapped out for a new one,, there are no reports within apple of others overheating or having the battery die quickly,, by that i mean there has not ben a case opened and another mbp returned to apple,, mine was apparently the first.

new machine much cooler, fan obviously working,, battery doing better too,

service from apple was great..

k bro ... just got my macbook pro few four days before i guess and today i noticed the area between the display and on top of the keyboard is frackin hot and it is running on just the battery and i was skyping with my family...it was hot that i couldnt keep my fingers on it for few seconds..

but after turning the skype video off i felt it started cooling down ... So, we are not allowed to do facetime or skyping on this model? lol...

Is this normal? please let me know guys... if not then probably i need to go down to teh apple store....

Overheating refers to the condition of exceeding safe operational temperatures. This is an objectively measurable condition.