A. Steinberg
Level 1 (73 points)
Desktops

Q: My MacBook seems to run hot: Will a keyboard cover make this worse?

My MacBook Pro often seems very hot to the touch. Does anyone know if placing a silicone keyboard cover on the keyboard will cause it to retain even more heat, with possible damaging consequences?

 

Relatedly, is there an app that can tell me if it is running too hot? (I have SMCFanControl, which shows me the fan RPMs and allows me to control them, but its display usually reads something like "32˚ F", even in the summer -- I am not sure what that is telling me).

 

Thanks!

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5), 15" early 2013 | 8GB 1600MHz DDR3

Posted on Jul 22, 2016 8:03 AM

by lllaass,Solvedanswer
lllaass lllaass
Level 10 (188,104 points)
Desktops
A:

Those temps and associated fan speed are consistent with the CPU load.

There is no indication that the Mac is running hot.

 

I would suspect that adding a keyboard cover will make it run a little hotter

Posted on Jul 22, 2016 1:20 PM

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A. Steinberg

Q: My MacBook seems to run hot: Will a keyboard cover make this worse?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass Jul 22, 2016 8:10 AM in response to A. Steinberg
    Level 10 (188,104 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 22, 2016 8:10 AM in response to A. Steinberg

    Try installing this app for tem and fan speed monitoring and fan control

    http://www.crystalidea.com/macs-fan-control

    The post here a screenshot of what that shows.

    It may be you have a problem with fan speed control or a bad sensor

     

    Also do you have any runaway apps?

    Apps can affect Mac performance, battery runtime, temperature, and fan activity - Apple Support

     

    This is the Mac Pro desktop forum. I requested your post be moved to the MacBook Pro laptop forum.

  • by A. Steinberg,

    A. Steinberg A. Steinberg Jul 22, 2016 12:40 PM in response to lllaass
    Level 1 (73 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 22, 2016 12:40 PM in response to lllaass

    Thanks, lllaass. I am attaching the currecnt temps as per the application you suggested. It is now in the low 80s outside and pretty toasty in my attic office, though not sweltering. Do these numbers seem about right?

     

    A look at Activity Monitor shows what I expected; I have many tabs open in Firefox and it indeed is taking up about 3.5GB of memory, far more than the next highest (kernel_task at 818 MB). I had to stop using Firefox before because it handles multiple tabs so poorly, but for various privacy reasons am using it again as my main browser.

  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass Jul 22, 2016 12:45 PM in response to A. Steinberg
    Level 10 (188,104 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 22, 2016 12:45 PM in response to A. Steinberg

    There was not image attached.

    In a reply you click on the camera icon in the menu bar of the reply window and then browse to the image you want to include in your reply.

     

    You want to look at the CPU tab in Activity Monitor and make sure that under View All Processes is checked.

  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Jul 22, 2016 12:59 PM in response to A. Steinberg
    Level 9 (53,705 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 22, 2016 12:59 PM in response to A. Steinberg

    Just for our information, you are still running Mountain Lion?

     

    In Activity Monitor you are looking for the % column, not memory.  Don't fret if you see something over 100% because it reports per core use and most newer Macs have multiple cores.

     

    Your topic line says "MacBook" but apparently your computer is a MacBook Pro. It is important you provide the correct computer information. Make sure you download the correct utility version for the operating system version you are using.

  • by A. Steinberg,

    A. Steinberg A. Steinberg Jul 22, 2016 1:04 PM in response to Limnos
    Level 1 (73 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 22, 2016 1:04 PM in response to Limnos

    Sorry -- I should have typed Macbook Pro. Yes, I am using El Capitain now, but I am not able to change this part of my profile; when I do it gives me the mysterious message, " We could not complete your request. Please check the form for details." But there is no indication of why I cannot simply change this selection in the profile.

  • by A. Steinberg,

    A. Steinberg A. Steinberg Jul 22, 2016 1:07 PM in response to lllaass
    Level 1 (73 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 22, 2016 1:07 PM in response to lllaass

    I did attach it in another message, but I see it did not post. Here it is... The first image is a few minutes more recent.MacsFanControl_22_6_16 later on.jpgMacsFanControl_22_6_16.jpg

  • by lllaass,Solvedanswer

    lllaass lllaass Jul 22, 2016 1:20 PM in response to A. Steinberg
    Level 10 (188,104 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 22, 2016 1:20 PM in response to A. Steinberg

    Those temps and associated fan speed are consistent with the CPU load.

    There is no indication that the Mac is running hot.

     

    I would suspect that adding a keyboard cover will make it run a little hotter

  • by Limnos,Helpful

    Limnos Limnos Jul 22, 2016 1:39 PM in response to A. Steinberg
    Level 9 (53,705 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 22, 2016 1:39 PM in response to A. Steinberg

    I agree with Illaass, your fans are running at minimum speed and the computer doesn't think it is overheating.  I believe convention is to use °C for temperatures but when I do a quick conversion in my head the temperatures are normal. They could even be higher if you were doing some form of calculation intensive task but Activity Monitor is showing little activity.  I don't know the exact specifications for your model computer but some Mac notebooks don't automatically shut down until they reach 105°C (of course you don't want them running that high normally) and my late 2008 MacBook can easily run 85°C if I have video processing (190% of 200% 2 cores). If it is idling the way yours is it is around 60°C, similar to your temperatures.

     

    Those temperatures are normal but they will feel warm to the touch (hot water is usually 125°F).