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Retina MacBook Pro Heat

Hi Guys,

I'm currently on my 3rd replacement Retina MacBook Pro after having image retention (IR) issues with the screen and has been much-discussed in another thread.

This one is actually going into the Apple Store on Friday for a screen replacement but the subject of this thread is to do with the sheer amount of heat that this thing is putting out.

Of all the rMBPs that I've had so far, this one seems to run the hottest of them all, so much so that for the first time I've noticed just how hot it gets on the underside to the point of being uncomfortable.

I run Parallels in my day to day tasks and aside from this I just run iTunes music and Safari. This is enough to get the core CPU temp up to around mid-60s (Celcius) where it generally stays and hitting 70 / 71 degrees as soon as I do something such as go to compose an e-mail in Outlook for instance.

Without Parallels running i.e. just having regular Mac apps open, the core CPU temp drops to around mid-50s but again this can reach early-60s if doing anything remotely taxing on the CPU.

I don't particularly play games and to be honest isn't the reason I bought this MacBook but I do like to play Portal 2 and Half-Life 2 every now and again, which isn't (or shouldn't be?!) that demanding for a modern computer. Within a minute or two of playing either of these games, the CPU temp rockets to nearly 90 degrees before the fans kick in and bring that down to around early to mid 80s. GPU temp isn't far behind with these temps either.

As a final test, I opened up 8 x terminal windows and ran the following command:

yes > /dev/null

This apparently taxes all 8 CPU cores (4 x physical and 4 x virtual) to the max so that temperatures can be measured at full capacity. It didn't take long for all 8 cores to reach anywhere between 100 and 105 degrees during this test and I could've cooked dinner on the computer it was that hot. Obviously I didn't run this test for long due to the extreme temperatures, however, within a few moments the temperatures had come down to a more respectable level once I quit terminal.

The main reason for this thread is that this heat 'problem' is the last straw in my continuing struggle with Apple and the rMBP. Firstly it was the screen, then I noticed that the keyboard was not quite evenly backlit (the '2' key for instance is noticeably brighter than any of the other keys) and now I'm noticing how hot this thing is.

As this particular machine is my 3rd replacement, my only option really is to take it in for repair on Friday as scheduled for the screen and keyboard or demand a refund as I'm still within my 14 days I believe.

Trouble is, there isn't an equivalent machine to the rMBP if I got a refund as no other computer can run OSX but a Mac. Even the classic MBP isn't really an option as with the specs of this one (2.6 / 16 / 512) it would actually be more expensive!

I do wish I could just go out and buy some other computer but I'm hopelessly entwined with OSX and no other computer from any other manufacturer can run it, not officially anyway. This leaves me between a rock and a very hard place. I also need this machine for work so if I'm to get a refund, I need to have a replacement lined up .

Any thoughts at all? Is this machine a toaster in disguise?

MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Oct 17, 2012 3:39 PM

17 replies

Dec 23, 2012 5:47 PM in response to chronomane

See? This is why I think that some of them might have had something as simple as someone applying thermal grease poorly (too thick or too thin is a big deal, after all). Mine is great. Perfect, even. And having been into my 2010, only to find that it was applyed poorly on the CPU... it makes me wonder. It was globbed on about the size and shape of a quarter, but that meant it was allowing the edges to touch. And it wasn't smooth. It was a little lumpy. So I re-applyed it nice and smooth with a fresh tube and never had trouble again.

Guess I got lucky, this rMBP I'm using now is the coolest running laptop I've ever used. Even more so than my 2010 Macbook Air, which was also super cool at all times. I eventually gave that to my fiancee... or, rather... she latched onto it and I never saw it again, heh heh. But yeah, this rMBP is currently at 106F while Steam is downloading two games, and I have a PINPOINT cursor running an animated graphic on my pointer... oh, look at that, it just went down to 105F. Haha. Anyhow...

Just consider this a possibility. Maybe you got a bum group of machines where some dude in China rushed the thermal paste job. It's not hard to do since they have a time quota... and to apply it RIGHT takes a little time and a steady hand. It's almost an art form to apply it perfectly 😉

Jan 9, 2014 5:38 AM in response to scottpcs

Hi.

Sorry to raise the subject again. Probably all of you who posted here have already solved the problem, however, new model is out and about, and i'm as a new owner of MBP have the same problem.

As far as i understood high temperature on the part that is close to the screen can actually effect it, and the result of it i see before me. The bottom of my screen has recently became considerably darker and some kind of blots appeared. But can high heat reflects on the performance of other parts of MBP?

I've found out that the machine is heating up only some short time ago, when my first "problem" came to light. Just about a couple of months ago the trackpad has started to act oddly, it basically lives on its own from time to time, capslock started to respond with delay (if at all). And now the bottom of the screen changed colour!

Since you all appear to have quite some experience, maybe you can suggest something? I don't have an Apple Store at my current location and i don't know whould be a replacement in order if i just go to an authorised service? And the MBP was bought not form apple directly.

It is my first laptop and the most expensive one. With the time a grew really fond of it and it seems to be a really great loss for me to have it go down the hill so fast.

Many thanks

Retina MacBook Pro Heat