Macbook Pro running extremely hot while browsing

[Snorlax]

This is not a fanboy thread. If you have something bad to say about Apple's products, don't say it in this thread, please.

 

When I sit around the house browsing the web, my Macbook Pro mid 2014 runs extremely hot. I've installed smcFanControl to check the temperature, and just writing this thread, I am running at 68 to 72 degrees.

I only have Chrome open, but I have a few tabs open (not more than 6). None of the tabs have anything running such as YouTube (which makes my Macbook run at over 80 degrees sometimes).

 

What could cause this? The fans spin up to 5000 RPM sometimes, which is loud as hell. I can barely touch the gap between the keys, as the metal is really hot.

 

Maybe I got a bad sample? What do you think? 

[Snorlax]

Oh and don't get me started on Vessel. Running their shit player at 1080p makes it crank up the RPM to 6000 (right about max) and run at 80 degrees... at freaking 1080p.

[linuxfan66]

Mine isn't that bad so...worth checking out

[linuxfan66]

Also while I think about in uni bodies the heat sink is the body of the laptop. Cooling the body should help

[shadowblitz3]

and it doesn't get that hot while doing other things?

[nhatduy1611]

I wonder what cause this i mean what a surprise a latop with little ventilation hole is running hot. Apple laptop has always has heat issues since they have very little cooling so the heat from the cpu and gpu will transfer to the aluminum frame. One way to help with this problem is to get a laptop cooling pad, cleaning the inside of the laptop to see if there is any dust in there or reapply the thermal compound.

[Snorlax]

and it doesn't get that hot while doing other things?

 

Well sure, but it's always Chrome doing the worst of it. I can't watch YouTube or Vessel videos, without it running hot in a second. So I tend to just grab the MP4 link and open it in VLC, which works a lot better... but is still kinda sucky, as VLC doesn't handle external videos that well.

 

Sometimes just closing Facebook and opening it again, changes the world.

[linuxfan66]

Well sure, but it's always Chrome doing the worst of it. I can't watch YouTube or Vessel videos, without it running hot in a second. So I tend to just grab the MP4 link and open it in VLC, which works a lot better... but is still kinda sucky, as VLC doesn't handle external videos that well.

Sometimes just closing Facebook and opening it again, changes the world.

It's chrome that's not entirely surprising...video playback turns on my fans too...

[Snorlax]

I wonder what cause this i mean what a surprise a latop with little ventilation hole is running hot. Apple laptop has always has heat issues since they have very little cooling so the heat from the cpu and gpu will transfer to the aluminum frame. One way to help with this problem is to get a laptop cooling pad, cleaning the inside of the laptop to see if there is any dust in there or reapply the thermal compound.

 

Although... Running THAT hot while browsing the web... This is definitely not a cooling issue.

[Snorlax]

It's chrome that's not entirely surprising...video playback turns on my fans too...

 

I'm trying Canary right now. Let's see if that makes a difference. Watching on Twitch.tv cranks up the fans like hell as well, but not as much in Safari.

[alpenwasser]

Hm, interesting. I have linux on my macbook pro, and when browsing the web and doing light

work, it's usually between 55 and 65 C, although the fans run at heir lowest speed (~2k rpm,

can't hear them I put my ear next to the vents) at that point and only ramp up when temps

start going towards 70C.

How old is the machine? Has it always been this bad? Any chance of dust clogging the heatsinks?

[cesrai]

You can replace the thermal paste ? or maybe you got a lot of dust that like is chocking the fan.

[Snorlax]

You can replace the thermal paste ? or maybe you got a lot of dust that like is chocking the fan.

That would be extremely silly, seeing that the machine is only a few months old.

 

 

Hm, interesting. I have linux on my macbook pro, and when browsing the web and doing light

work, it's usually between 55 and 65 C, although the fans run at heir lowest speed (~2k rpm,

can't hear them I put my ear next to the vents) at that point and only ramp up when temps

start going towards 70C.

How old is the machine? Has it always been this bad? Any chance of dust clogging the heatsinks?

 

It's from March and it has always been bad. Watching YouTube, Vessel, or Twitch is simply impossible.

 

However, after watching two videos on Vessel with Google Canary instead of Google Chrome, I was at a steady 64-65 degrees celcius. 2000 RPM on the fans meaning I couldn't hear them at all. Interesting. 

[cesrai]

That would be extremely silly, seeing that the machine is only a few months old.

If you're talking about dust then no it isn't silly, it depends on your environment like here in UAE I like cleaned my G580 after 3 months and there was a lot of dust.

[linuxfan66]

That would be extremely silly, seeing that the machine is only a few months old.

It's from March and it has always been bad. Watching YouTube, Vessel, or Twitch is simply impossible.

However, after watching two videos on Vessel with Google Canary instead of Google Chrome, I was at a steady 64-65 degrees celcius. 2000 RPM on the fans meaning I couldn't hear them at all. Interesting.

My fans at max were never that loud the only way your fan volume is blocking it is if you play at low volumes without headphones...

[Snorlax]

If you're talking about dust then no it isn't silly, it depends on your environment like here in UAE I like cleaned my G580 after 3 months and there was a lot of dust.

 

I am talking about the thermal paste. There is no need to replace it, if it's under 4 months old.

[cesrai]

I am talking about the thermal paste. There is no need to replace it, if it's under 4 months old.

You don't know, the thermal paster can be as good as the ones that Nvidia use aka toothpaste.

[Snorlax]

You don't know, the thermal paster can be as good as the ones that Nvidia use aka toothpaste.

 

My 780 Ti under load runs cooler than my Macbook at idle.

 

But I do know it's stupid. Why would I risk damaging my $3000 Macbook Pro and void the warranty?

[cesrai]

My 780 Ti under load runs cooler than my Macbook at idle.

 

But I do know it's stupid. Why would I risk damaging my $3000 Macbook Pro and void the warranty?

I agree, and also if it has warranty why don't you go to an Apple store and they would help you or something just remember to be nice and those guys will really help.

[alpenwasser]

Can you do a stress test on your CPU and see what happens? When doing that, my machine

goes into turbo mode on the CPU and tops out nicely at ~100C and stays there until I

stop stressing it.

If yours does the same, I'd estimate that it's not a hardware issue. If not, then

maybe something went wrong at assembly with the thermal interfaces. Also, have you

checked that both your fans work, and not just one?

EDIT:

And yes, if it is a hardware issue, then this:

I agree, and also if it has warranty why don't you go to an Apple store and they would help you or something just remember to be nice and those guys will really help.

Edited July 11, 2015 by alpenwasser

[Snorlax]

Can you do a stress test on your CPU and see what happens? When doing that, my machine

goes into turbo mode on the CPU and tops out nicely at ~100C and stays there until I

stop stressing it.

If yours does the same, I'd estimate that it's not a hardware issue. If not, then

maybe something went wrong at assembly with the thermal interfaces. Also, have you

checked that both your fans work, and not just one?

EDIT:

And yes, if it is a hardware issue, then this:

 

Honestly, I don't see how that's going to resolve anything. Care to elaborate?

 

I agree, and also if it has warranty why don't you go to an Apple store and they would help you or something just remember to be nice and those guys will really help.

 

Because I don't feel like handing in my Macbook for a month.

[alpenwasser]

Honestly, I don't see how that's going to resolve anything. Care to elaborate?

 

 

If there is an issue with the hardware's capability to dissipate heat, stressing the laptop

to its limits might reveal that (i.e. it might freeze/crash). If the hardware can handle

the heat dissipation when things are at full blow, then it likely isn't defective.

As another example: Say you forget the thermal paste when you build your desktop PC. The

cooler might still work well enough so that the machine is perfectly usable as long as it's

not stressed. You'd have higher temps, but it might still work for the most part. But when

you stress it to its limits, the lack of thermal paste will reveal that indeed there is

something wrong with the system's capability to dissipate heat.

[cesrai]

Honestly, I don't see how that's going to resolve anything. Care to elaborate?

 

 

Because I don't feel like handing in my Macbook for a month.

What ? a whole month ? it's more like 2 - 3 weeks max from the experience.

[Snorlax]

 

 

If there is an issue with the hardware's capability to dissipate heat, stressing the laptop

to its limits might reveal that (i.e. it might freeze/crash). If the hardware can handle

the heat dissipation when things are at full blow, then it likely isn't defective.

As another example: Say you forget the thermal paste when you build your desktop PC. The

cooler might still work well enough so that the machine is perfectly usable as long as it's

not stressed. You'd have higher temps, but it might still work for the most part. But when

you stress it to its limits, the lack of thermal paste will reveal that indeed there is

something wrong with the system's capability to dissipate heat.

 

I see. That actually makes sense. I didn't think about it that way. Which stress testing tool are you using? I might as well just use the same.

 

What ? a whole month ? it's more like 2 - 3 weeks max from the experience.

 

I'd assume it's going to take up to a month, as they said it will take up to 3 months just to change a key (one of my keys randomly popped out after two weeks of use).

But let's face it. I need my laptop for work and school, so I can't even live without it for even a week.

 

It really is not very long at all. Chances are that your laptop doesn't have anything wrong with it. My mid 2011 17" does the same thing sometimes (although the fans don't spin up very often). If you look in smc fan control does it show both fans spinning? If you take it in, they're gonna run MRI on it which will test all of the hardware and reveal anything immeditally wrong with it. What I would guess is maybe there's some dust in the heatsinks. If you're not willing to take it in to Apple, you should at least try and dust out the heatsinks and see if that helps.

 

I already sprayed it with compressed air, and not a whole lot of dust came out. Of course there's always some, but there really wasn't any.

But as I said, I can't live without it for even a week.

 

EDIT: Oh and yeah. Both fans.

[Snorlax]

if you take oit in to the apple store and the run MRI on it, you'll be walking out of there in less than an hour.

 

99.999% sure they won't do that in Denmark. We have no "Apple Stores". We have something called Humac, which are autorized Apple resellers. They won't performe any kind of service. They have to send it in to Apple and have them do it.