MacBook Pro 2009, Extreme Heat from VLC

Question

MacBook Pro 2009, Extreme Heat from VLC

When I watch something in VLC or download via uTorrent on my MacBook Pro (see inserted pix below), it quickly heats up to 95 degrees and becomes really slow in performance - almost to the point I can't shut it down or restart the "right" way.

I replaced my first hard drive, which crashed, about two years ago, if that has anything to do with it. My battery status is currently at "Service Battery", so I gotta get that fixed - but is that the reason for this behaviour? I think this overheating issue started way later than the battery started struggling.

I don't know. I'm definitely not an expert at computers and I would really appreciate a decent, but simple, breakdown on what could be wrong and what I should or could do. Other forums really don't mention a solution, just rambling on about the facts.

Maybe I should mention that I can watch movie-files with QuickTime with no problem whatsoever.

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.1), 17-inch, Mid 2009

Posted on Nov 26, 2015 10:02 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 26, 2015 10:14 AM in response to simonfromaroundhere

Depending on what the format of the file is that you are watching, you might not be using hardware acceleration for the video.

You might be using software.

This will cause the cpu to work harder causing heat and increased battery use.

Just a guess, could be totally wrong.

Try using something like handbrake to convert the video to a standard mpeg 4 video, try watching that file and see if the issue persists.

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