My Macbook Pro gets really hot quickly

It depends upon the applications that you are using. Games, video and Skype will tax the CPU/GPU resources and get the MBP hot whereas Text editing and simple Internet browsing will not. Check Activity Monitor to determine which applications are the culprits. You may be experiencing a runaway application as well:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1473

Ciao.

User Tip: How to deal with MacBook Pro and MacBook heat?

MD_Gerrmany wrote:

The Macbook Pro body gets really hot after a short period of time and the battery seems to empty really quick. What could be the reason?

The cause of this problem is the Mountain Lion OS X, i have the same issue but never had this much heat when i had Lion installed!!

Try looking if it's a software conflict. In the Other folder in Launchpad, click Activity Monitor, this will list all the software processes running, look at the %CPU which has the biggest number running. Try to quit or stop that process. After a few moments, check if your MacBook is still hot. If it is not, then the process/software you stopped is the cause of the heat. I experienced a similar problem before, at first i thought it was a hardware defect, my MacBook Pro gets really hot and the battery ran for only 2 hours, only to find out that the Samsung Kies I installed was the cause of it.

This worked for me. It was iTunes sucking up 92% of my CPU. I never opened the application. I'm sure that it was opened in the background to be "helpful".

Thanks Dennis!!

I had exactly this problem and Kies (**** you) was also the source of it. I think its been running for more 18 months on my machine. Already replaced my battery once as a result of it :-( wish I looked this up ages ago but I assumed it has a hardware defect also. The laptop was unbearably hot especially around the charger, more of a hob than a laptop!

I can now touch my machine and the fans are much quieter.

Thanks again!!

This was the culprit, for me. I took a look as suggested and saw the following: GoDaddy's WBE Desktop Notifier running at 212% CPU and not responding, MBP Temp 88 ºC. After force-quitting the program, MBP 50 ºC ! Thank you Dennis

I had the same issue. I thought it was a hardware problem also, so I replaced the battery. That didn't work. After reading your post, I checked the Activity Monitor to find out that a game my son had loaded, called RuneScape, was the problem. My processor was running at 181%, the MBP was hot to the touch, and the fans sounded as if my computer was about to take flight. When I closed the application, everything subsided. Thanks for the post.

Thank you Dennis! 3+ years later and your response saved the day for me! 🙂 I Googled MacBook is overheating and this was first thing I clicked on. Your explanation was perfect and there was something from DirecTV that wasn't responding taking up 124% of my CPU (it's not an app I had installed have no idea how it got there other than I have DirectTV for cable). I had to force quit it, and within about 30 seconds my computer calmed down and stopped whining! Thank you! I've been getting a lot of beach balls lately. I'm wondering if that's it. I am going to now reboot my MacBook and do a quick back up with Time Machine.