Skip to main content

2.3GHz, 2.6GHz, or 2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.7GHz) with 6MB shared L3 cache.

536 Questions View all

Worried about temperature on the MBP Retina

Hi guys,

I just received my new MBP (8GB RAM & 256GB SSD) Retina yesterday, and I'm really crazy about it. It's a really awesome computer, but I hoped that it would run cooler than it has been.

I normally have the following things running at once:

Chrome (Canary - because, it's the only chrome which actually is supporting retina display)

Safari (same reason)

Skype v2 (just opened, not calling),

Diablo 3 installing

Teamviewer (opened, not using)

5-6 tabs in my browsers

I actually use SMC Fan Control for Fan control and iStat Menu to watch the temperature and the temperature is around 80C with the fan rotating at 2800 rpm

I don't understand why the MBP (which should easily run video encoding, gaming, and others...) runs so hot.

Can you explain this to me please ? I'm getting worried about my MBP.

Thanks

:S

Answered! View the answer I have this problem too

Is this a good question?

Score 8
Add a comment

18 Answers

Chosen Solution

Because Ivy Bridge is a much smaller (22nm) and advanced chip, it runs much hotter when processing. It is normal for it to get really, really hot. If you are still worried about temperatures though, follow this guide- How to reapply thermal paste to MacBook Pro 15" Retina Display Mid 2012 CPU and GPU

(Experience: I've been working with computers since DOS came out, and have a Computer Hardware Repair Service. I just updated the guide, and can say from personal experience that it is a pretty easy upgrade if you have all the required parts!)

Was this answer helpful?

Score 8

9 Comments:

Don't understand the downtick so I am canceling it. +

by

Same here :) always the same characters downvoting answers...

by

This is not the best answer! A new system should not need to get the thermo paste replaced If that was really the root problem then you should return the system to Apple as that is a defective unit or bad design! - In this case the root problem is not the CPU but the software running causing the CPU to run in turbo mode all of the time. This is when a high priority process runs wild (stuck in a loop) or poorly written code or the nature of the process forces lots of looping (as in the case if the 32bit version of Flash player).

by

The size of the die of the chip in its self is not the reason a chip may run hotter. In fact most of the time the opposite is true! Smaller dies run cooler because the design of the logic within the chip uses a different process to allow it to shrink. Often people think things in a resistive sense. That is: I have an Iron or space heater and the thiner electric cord gets hotter than the heavier duty cord (i.e. wire gage). In the case of smaller dies the voltage and current needed is less, so this example won't hold here. We use the term Wattage to express the amount of heat and the wattage of todays chips is less, just like the wattage of everyday lights has likewise dropped starting with CFL's and now LED lights. The real question here is why is the system overheating. Is it due to a design issue or because of software process getting into trouble. I've seen more of the latter or poor maintenance of the system, not design.

by

I agree 100% with Dan. Think of it this way...If you buy a new sports car and after owning it a couple of days... find out that it constantly over heats when you drive it, do you just get an oil change with better oil? Or do you take it back to the dealership? XD

by

Show 4 more comments

Add a comment

This has been a "known issue" for a while. I would 'invest in a cooling pad, and... I hope you bought AppleCare.''

If this Answer is helpful please remember to return and mark it Accepted.

Was this answer helpful?

Score 6
Add a comment

First Adobe Flash player is a known heater! get the 64bit Beta version ASAP.

There is some controls you can use to set which GPU to use the internal Intel or the external Nvidia GPU. While I too love the retina display technology it comes with a price. When you use full resolution the external Nvidia GPU is used which does get the system hotter. If you aren't viewing high res images I would switch to the internal GPU using the low resolution mode. Review Apples FAQ Retina display resolution

Beyond that you should speak with Apple as it sounds like something is running wild (process?) your system shouldn't be getting that hot. Using an inferred thermometer measure your system and then go to an Apple Store and measure one of their display units running the same thing (same settings).

In any case I would hold off opening your system to redo thermo paste. A brand new system shouldn't require this (this will also void your warranty).

The mobile Ivy Bridge has a stepped clock so it runs as a slower clock speed with light tasking across all of the cores then when needed it steps into a higher clock speed and can run in dual core mode Vs quad. This allows the CPU to run cooler when it's not being heavily loaded.

Was this answer helpful?

Score 2
Add a comment

I've been using SMC Fan control with my RMBP since I got it. For me at least, no interference with the mac taking over to raise fan speeds when it gets hot. I just have it because with or without it, lion takes a LONG time to do anything to raise it. I'll hit 200 degrees F before it even starts upping it usually. I ended up putting it back on since even if it can't monitor the heat (I have Temperature Monitor installed for that) at least I can proactively fire the fans up to max if I know I'm going to do something that's going to create a toaster on my lap. But if I don't change anything manually the laptop still speeds up the fans on its own. Just not as quick as I'd wish (again, same delay even without smc fan control installed).

Was this answer helpful?

Score 2

1 Comment:

I ran the update yesterday on my rMBP 15 inch and where I used to instantly soar to 210 degrees F as soon as I fired up an MKV or a flash webpage, now i can't get it to break 120 degrees F doing either. Used to idle around 100 degrees F, now it idles in the 80's

by

Add a comment

It's been found that their is nothing wrong by design, although reapplying a better paste couldn't hurt, with the temperatures. Migration Assistant tends to mess things up and also Amazon has stated that they have a bug in the Upload to Kindle process that causes a never ending BASH script to run continuously driving up the temperatures.

I killed the Bash script and de-installed Send to Kindle and my temp during idle never exceed 97 deg F not when they were at 130 deg F. Also on the Apple support forum there is a thread (search for Bash using up lots of cpu) that states that during Migration Assistant it messes up the CUPS process as well leaving stalled printer and fax queues. I ran the internal CUPS web service, found 2 stalled items, killed them both and now my rMBP actually can sit on my laptop and can still feel the cool of the metal case.

Was this answer helpful?

Score 2
Add a comment

Hi,

I was told not to use fan control with newer versions of SL (I'm on 10.6.8) and Lion because there have been modifications to the fan management in the OS and FanControl can cause problems such as preventing the fans from running faster than 2000rpm and thus making things worse instead of "cool" (:

I would suggest uninstalling the app and see if this changes anything...

Was this answer helpful?

Score 1
Add a comment

Problem solved! Apple released fix for GPU issues today. Upgrade your MacBook! I have MacBook Retina 15” and everything is quiet after upgrade =)

Was this answer helpful?

Score 1
Add a comment

Well, your CPU can run as hot as 105°C While you're not at this temperature then everything is working as designed.

I can't comment on GPU, but at least they can run as hot as CPU's if not even hotter.

As pointed above if you want to decrease this temperatures you will need to reapply thermal paste by yourself because the original is not applied as should be.

If you don't want to void your warranty then just don't worry about and accept as it is :-)

My MacBook Pro 13" mid 2012 non-retina can easily be hot as 102°C practically within minute. Fans will cool down CPU after another minute to 99°C in average. So if you find your MacBook Pro hot I think it's normal or it's design flaw in 2012 series :-(

Was this answer helpful?

Score 1

1 Comment:

Opening your new system to reapply the thermal paste should be your very last option as most likely its not the root cause. If you have an older system 3 ~ 4 years then it might make sense.

by

Add a comment

I got two MacBook Pro retina refunded for the same issue! With a $@$* ton of heavy discussion.

I owned Late 2013 2.5GHz, when the heavy 85-100c started showing with ridiculous tasks such as opening a 100 pictures and spamming the arrow keys I returned it.. It took 2 logic board repairs and the third return before they finally started to ##&&% about the thermal sensors were OK (Indicating I was using some $@$*!& software that reported wrong temps, even though I used TG Pro which used their own frekkin values from their own sensors.

Then I finally got it refunded totally (but via the Apple Store in Elgiganten Danmark and not because apple admitted it, but a nice chief of reclamation there took my point with the 100 pictures in quick look and the 97c) and instead ordered the mid-2015 force touch trackpad. I also upgraded to 2.8GHz and this time the model without dedicated GPU which I thought would let it cool easier.

Guess what! The problem persisted. The first day I played StarCraft 2 on the lowest detail but with native resolution it ran frekking HOT Again! 95-97c on a brand new mid-2015 and that meant I returned the $@$* straight to them and talked to Apple officials on the phone because there is no returns on customized Macs - but this time they could not argue AT ALL against their terrible cooling. Even the Apple representative admitted lightly that he had experienced the issue he had a MacBook Pro Retina himself.

A nice computer, 10% better than everything else in terms of anything BUT COOLING. But wait until they fix the CASE AND COOLING. The cooling is absolutely undermined and has been since the first Retina 2009! Even the 2015 can't do cooling and low detail rts gaming and even 100 pictures in quick look with fast tapping left/right means ridicolous temperatures.

Like I told Apple: There are Linux and open source picture viewers with 1KB binaries that can't even provoke a reaction on the CPU usage by showing pictures. Quick look must be doing some crazy location services $@$* or some other ridicolous bad software practise that runs on every left/right tap on a picture.

Apple finally admitted, they took my product feedback which in short was:

  • Make a proper Retina Macbook Pro cooling solution +fans +larger cooling cutouts
  • Fix quick look that absolute $@$*!& piece of software that can't even display pictures without you burning yourself on the keyboard!
  • Make your chargers for Macbook so they do not run hot like scolding hot when it charges!
  • Use better plastic jacket for chargers because they tear and break up on the weakest point in the jacket assembly.
  • Admit and look inwards instead of 80% of your employees admitting to nothing and 'our product is perfect mentality' because it's clearly NOT. My story prooves that. You were WRONG. Add some cooling ffs.

Refunded. I have no idea what I should buy now I love OS-X and the products but there is no alternative for me since MacBook Air is too puny for me. I now have alot of Apple gear and lots of bought software for OS-X I have no idea what to do with.

I wait for a Retina with proper cooling. That simple.

Was this answer helpful?

Score 1
Add a comment

If your MBP is operating outside of established design

parameters, then you have a problem.

If not, then there is no problem.

Use an infrared thermometer to measure the temperature.

Call Apple and report the temperature if you are worried about it.

Was this answer helpful?

Score 0
Add a comment

My Retina MacBook Pro dissipates heat very quickly. It gets very hot when I'm playing Skyrim or other games at maxed out settings, but that is to be expected. Take a look at Activity Monitor (built-in OS X app) to see if there's some runaway process or something. Like Dan said, Flash Player can be a nuisance. Good luck!

Was this answer helpful?

Score 0
Add a comment

jdthird posted:

“I ran the update yesterday on my rMBP 15” and where I used to instantly soar to 210 degrees F as soon as I fired up an MKV or a flash webpage, now I can't get it to break 120 degrees F doing either. Used to idle around 100 degrees F, now it idles in the 80's”

jdthird, Nov 9 2012

Which update is this?

Was this answer helpful?

Score 0
Add a comment

My Macbook pro r 15 when i play a game call Greed (cars), in a few minutes hot over 100º c, I see a peak of 104ºc!, this is monitoring with Istat pro...in default mode...when Mac is in 100ºc the fans go to 4500rpm and stay in 95ºc and 100ºc.....

Whith stat when I play to this game I put fan to high, at 5990 rpm, and the maximum temperature is 85ºc, i think that this is better for the life of components,

but, is normally in default mode macbpr work in 100ºc? only when works for example which this games...when I only use for internet, etc, is in 45ºc maximum

Thanks

Was this answer helpful?

Score 0
Add a comment

I have the same problem as the friend DRR use Zbrush when the temperature of my Mac up to 104 º my Macbook Pro Retina is 15 "2.7 core i7 16 ghz ram.

Please let me know if this is normal as I see I'm not the only one.

Spanish

Tengo el mismo problema que el amigo RRD, cuando uso Zbrush la temperatura de mi Mac sube a 104 º mi Macbook Pro Retina es de 15" 2.7 core i7 16 ghz ram.

Por favor quiero saber si esto es normal ya que veo que no soy el unico.

Was this answer helpful?

Score 0
Add a comment

Very sad to say that I'm an unfortunate owner of a 15" Retina MBP that I took in to the Apple Store to get checked out.

I was unable to recreate the overheating issue in front of them so

they took it in to do some extensive tests and they found nothing wrong.

I showed them screenshots of my fans spinning at almost 6000RPM and temperatures of 215 F.

They said programs like iStat are unreliable.

Was this answer helpful?

Score 0

2 Comments:

mmm... I would disagree with the Apple Genius. While I don't use iStat, I use Temperature Gauge Pro. I've not encountered false readings with it, I would say iStat wouldn't be much different here.

by

As to why it didn't show up as a problem at the Apple Store: most likely you had a stuck process. A process that is going into an infinite loop will crank-up the heat as you described. I would next time run Activity Monitor which you will find in the Utilities folder in your Application folder. Then you can isolate out what process is consuming all of the CPU cycles. I would also make sure you have a good antivirus app and use multiple user accounts (Admin only for adding new stuff) using a different account for your day to day stuff. That way if your hit by something you can recover using the Admin account.

by

Add a comment

I recommend for all people who still have this issue to reapply thermal paste cause the factory application is sometimes really bad they put to much as need and that cause higher temp.

Before I get 90C on GPU and 105C on CPU at full load and 37C and 45C at idle.

But After a light tear down and cleaning the heat sink and new thermal paste application,

I get 80C max on the GPU and much 95C on CPU at full load and 27 and 35C at idle so yes that's an improve of 10C, I use Arctic MX-4.

But I can also say that CPU are design to go up to 105C and I still get this temp sometimes in full load so that's not a problem cause he throttle itself when he reach this temp and the fan goes up anyway even if for me it take much time than many macs I got to.

Apple probably choose to don't up the fan before a high temperature because it's design for same if we know it's much because they want focus on silent.

You can use an app like Temp Gauge Pro who's for me the best for thermal regulation and monitoring with the Auto boost Mode, Sensors Read is much improve than many other apps like MacFanControl and iStats.

So Hope it will help you guys ;)

UPDATE FEB 28:

Apple launched a recall program after many complains of users about graphic issue on certain MacBook Pro series

Affected Models

MacBook Pro (15-inch Early 2011)

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2011)

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2012)

MacBook Pro (17-inch Early 2011)

MacBook Pro (17-inch Late 2011)

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15 inch, Early 2013)

See more here

Was this answer helpful?

Score 0

1 Comment:

Why are you propagating a urban myth on to much thermal paste? While I'll agree the assemblers can be messy and I don't like the product they have used (not the best out there). I don't agree the excess amount causes overheating. The quality of the product and full plate coverage does!

by

Add a comment

Note that smcFanMonitor v2.5.2 does NOT work on the 2012 rMBP. It shows a temperature 40-50Cº lower than any other temperature monitor and the developer is notoriously unresponsive. If you feel a need to use it downgrade to v2.4.

Was this answer helpful?

Score 0

1 Comment:

I do discourage the use of such software solutions (i.e. smcFanMonitor) as they are just masking a problem within the system. Without using a scientific method to understand the root cause you're just throwing snake oil at the problem.

by

Add a comment

Have a macbook air 1465

Iv got the problem that the fan won’t turn up in RPM when the cpu gets hot.

Normally should the fan go up in rpm but at 85 degrees my macbook shuts down to prevent damaging the cpu.

What could this be

Have don a sms reset

Please help

Was this answer helpful?

Score 0
Add a comment

Add your answer

Genki will be eternally grateful.
View Statistics:

Past 24 Hours: 1

Past 7 Days: 6

Past 30 Days: 24

All Time: 93,314