How hot should retina MacBook Pro 15" get

Question

Level 1

12 points

How hot should retina MacBook Pro 15" get

Highest recorded temperature is probably 100 C when rendering video or gaming otherwise mine is around 50 to maybe 60 under normal use (until I reach a site that has heavy Flash content). On the few times I do game on it (I game on Windows with my gaming PC 90% of the time) I get temps of 70 to 80 (similar temperature to when rendering video). Sometimes it will go higher than 80 and I think I saw it reach 90 something before cooling down again to nearer to 70.

Games tested:

Borderlands 2

Tomb Raider

Cities Skylines

Sims 3

Sims 4

It's an i7 750M 16GB machine

OS X El Capitan (10.11.2)

Posted on Jan 31, 2016 8:18 AM

Reply

Answer 1

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,329 points

Jan 31, 2016 8:39 AM in response to CursedDice

The heat generated in a MBP will be a function of the type of application(s) that are open and running. Games, video, Skype and such will tax the CPU/GPU and create heat. In my view, temperatures over 95°c should be addressed with a cooling pad or operating in an area with lower ambient temperatures.

MBPs are not the best platforms for resource hungry games and are best left to be played on a PC.

The MBP does have thermal shutdown provisions that will prevent it from committing Hari Kari.

Ciao.

Reply

Answer 2

CursedDice Author

Level 1

12 points

Jan 31, 2016 8:47 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

If I remember right the rMBP I had before did pretty much exactly the same thing. I do leave my stuff open before launching a game or rendering a video (I have 7 spaces open right now and some of the games I played created a new space for themselves) just like I would do on my gaming PC. My gaming PC has only seen 105 once (and consequently shut down) and that was only because the fan wasn't fully plugged into the board and as a result the CPU had no cooling

What's the usual idle temp?

Does this mean then, that the CPU can never use its full power because it will thermal throttle?

Reply

Answer 3

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,329 points

Jan 31, 2016 9:00 AM in response to CursedDice

CursedDice wrote:

What's the usual idle temp?

That depends. As is the case with resource intensive applications, it is a question of the load on the CPU/GPU. In my response to you, the CPU temperature for my 17" MBP is in the range of 36*c - 40*c with minimal load on the CPU. Ambient temperatures are about 22°c and I have the MBP mounted on a large heat sink.

Does this mean then, that the CPU can never use its full power because it will thermal throttle?

Aside from shutting down the MBP due to excessive temperatures, I am not aware that the OSX will throttle the CPU (except when a battery is not installed). I cannot give you a definitive answer here.

Ciao.

Reply

Answer 4

CursedDice Author

Level 1

12 points

Jan 31, 2016 9:17 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

My idle is, 40 to 50 when I turn on and I think it stays that way for a while, but under average load (bunch of Safari tabs in multiple windows, Steam, Evernote, Newsflow, Shazam, Mail, maybe some Spotify or iTunes (which means Last FM is scribbling), Teamviewer, Dropbox and lots of YouTube watching it rises 10 to 20 degrees, more if gaming

Reply

Answer 5

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,329 points

Jan 31, 2016 9:36 AM in response to CursedDice

The temperatures you are reporting for those conditions are quite normal. If the ambient temperatures rise, the CPU temperatures for my MBP will also rise in the 40°c+ to 50°c range in low resource situations. I see nothing out of the ordinary with what you are reporting.

If you have any doubts about the operation of your MBP, I encourage you that make an appointment at an Apple store genius bar. The evaluation will be FREE and it just may give you some peace of mind. 🙂

Ciao.

Reply