Does extreme cold hurt my computer?

Apple's stipulated specs:

Operating room temperature: 50° to 95° F (10° to 35° C)
Storage temperature: -13° to 113° F (-24° to 45° C)
Relative humidity: 0% to 90% noncondensing
Maximum operating altitude: 10,000 feet
Maximum storage altitude: 15,000 feet
Maximum shipping altitude: 35,000 feet



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Just keep an eye on those posted operating temperatures. I once blew out a hard drive by trying to run a laptop that had been in my work van all night in 28-degree weather. Likely the drive platters heated up and expanded right into the heads. You probably didn't damage it, just let it warm up to room temperature before you use it if you let it get that cold.

There is always a possibility of damage, depending on how cold things get.

Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs), like your screen, can actually freeze if exposed to extremely cold weather for extended periods of time. While this can cause permanent damage, most LCD manufacturers recommend not powering the display up until the screen has returned to room temperature. The sudden powering up may cause the permanent damage.

So if it happens again, let the computer "thaw" for a while by letting it normalize to room temperature. This also helps prevent the formation of condensation on the components as they go from cold to hot (or hot to cold).

Also, notably, operating your computer in cold weather will give you VERY poor battery life.

I wouldn't be too concerned with the operation of yur MBP by having done this. However, there are two things you should look out for…

1) Lithium based batteries don't like extreme cold. It's possible that you may find your battery's performance to have deminished slight because of this. Before using your MBP I would have ensured that it was all fully at room temperature.

2) Condensation is something that nearly everyone forgets about when "thawiing" out their computers. Like a camera, I recommend putting it into a air sealed, evacuated, bag while it's thawing. if you defrost it normally you may find condensation forming all over place which is bad for electronics.

Delicate electronics should never be exposed to extreme conditions regardless of which end of the spectrum the extreme is on. If they are, they should always be allowed to return to normal conditions and stabilize before attempting use. Think about your HD for example. The clearances between the heads and platters are measured in like millionths of an inch. The smallest amount of expansion or contraction of the materials due to extreme conditions could cause these parts to come in contact. If you happened to spin up the drive at that moment....well you would still have a pretty cool paperweight....