Q: Macbook Pro Retina runs hot while lid is closed and fans working at full speed

I think you have to take it into an apple store so they can do their diagnostics and figure out what the problem is.  Its good to discuss it on a forum.  You can get an idea that its not an uncommon problem and often someone comes up with a solution.  But on something like this, if you want Apple to "fix it" you have to let them look at the problem.  in the meantime, even if its difficult for people, I would set preferences to reopen windows, and just shut down when you are packing it away.  The SSD drive gets you back to where you were quite quickly so there's not a real wait time, and you avoide frying your computer.  Its not a fix, but I would do it until the problem gets solved.  It is possible that the solution is a replacement MBP-R.

Here we are four days later with no recurrence of the problem after disabling time machine backups while on battery power. I've also installed the new update, and I'm hoping all is solved. I've also taken to explicitly invoking sleep mode from the Apple menu, instead of relying on closing the lid. Keeping fingers crossed.

Honest to god my 13-inch MBP late 2011 now is close and it's not blinking! What's open? Nothing. I have Dropbox and it's full charged plug to power. Is it syncing? No sir! I have Xcode as well but it's not running.

So it's not just you or MBP mid 2012 I have the same problem. I don't use Time Machine or any other back up app.

But get this, every time I turn off the Wi-Fi it's working like charm!!! Maybe it's just me and my network but give it a shot.

Naturally as soon as I think it is fixed, it happens again. This time Firefox and textedit were the only programs explicitly running, but when I checked the Time Machine it was in the middle of a backup, in spite of having

the "no backup on batteries" option.

This is AFTER the latest upgrade.

It is begining to look like a complete shutdown is the only current solution, if you want to have any battery life

left (it sucked down about 10% of power in about 45 minutes)

I'm having the same problem.  Close my new MacBook Pro Retina, put it in my bag...open my bag later... Pizza Oven.  I downloaded the update.  No help.  This really needs get fixed...  Apple???

I have one too. Week 30 2.3/16/256. I don't have any problem with this one but I'm too scared that everytime I want to close the lid and put it in my bag I do shutdown with reopen option. It's not worth it for now until ML goes out.

I have Xcode, Chrome, and Aperture. And I check it with external keyboard to see whether it went to sleep or not. (maybe I'm wrong but I check this with caps lock light).

Good luck.

I didn't have an issue for more than a month... but it happened again today. Apple really needs to get someone on this!

I'm scared about ML either. It has sth that keeps your machine on when you close the lid! Gets some update, notification stuff. What if it happens there when you put you machine inside a bag?! The power nap thing is kind of scary when you have a problem like this. No way you're going to trust sleep again when this is happening now.

My friend in French, happened to him two weeks ago. He has Macbook. It burnt upper board, keyboard, and power button. 200 Euro! They told him you should always check your light indicator.

You right Apple. We should always check the light indicator. MBPR doesn't have one because you think it doesn't need one. But it seems to me it does. And one more thing, Apple should always turn off the whole computer when it passes from a critical temp! Not let the heat burns everything. A 10-year old computer does that But poor guy paid the money and waited for one week.

Oh not with Mountain Lion I don't get it! It should be an option or setting that you choose close all apps or anything that is open and go to sleep! when I close the lid.

It should be sth that we can choose and say I don't need power nap and I want to force my machine to go to the sleep mode whenever I close the lid.

Wow.... it's happening with Mountain Lion as well. Has anyone taken it into to the store or called Apple about it? I've just been on the forums and assumed they had. What was the 'official' word on this problem?

I'm just weighing in on this thread to provide another datapoint.

I'm running my MBPR with an up-to-date Lion (no ML) and I have never experienced the "won't sleep" issue. I don't use any of the applications (Spotify) that might trigger an "always on" state. I also do not access this MBPR from remote computers (i.e., no wake-on-lan triggers).

I do put it to sleep at least once or twice a day by simply closing the lid and it goes to sleep every time.

For the people who might have recently joined this thread, there was an early post that mentioned a command that would list running apps that might be keeping your MBP from sleeping (like spotify). Are you really sure it's not a software issue?

I'm not using spotify... I'm using mail, address book, firefox and skype. Which of these has the capability of triggering always on?

BTW... when I close the lid when it's out on my desk.... this problem does not seem to occur. It's seems to be happening occasionally when I put it in my backpack.