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HiFiGuy528

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 24, 2008
1,874
64
Installed Lion OSX 10.7 today on my 1st gen. 1.6ghz Air. The fan has not stopped running at full speed and the bottom is burning HOT. Anyone else seeing the same issues?
 

ritmomundo

macrumors 68020
Jan 12, 2011
2,022
543
Los Angeles, CA
Ive got an ultimate 11" MBA (2010), and I've heard more fan noise today than since the day I got the laptop. Even then, not a lot, but more than normal. The fan was even on high as Lion was installing. And it does seem to be running warmer (it used to stay cold before on the bottom). Too bad I didn't record the temps or fan speeds from before to compare :(... Hopefully its something they can address with a software update.
 

CapnJackGig

macrumors 6502a
Jul 17, 2011
572
0
It's the indexing. My 13 inch 2010 Air was also loud at first, which bothered me, but it soon went away. Seems to be back to normal now and the fans really on kick in if I watch some fullscreen HD video via Hulu or Netflix.
 

HiFiGuy528

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 24, 2008
1,874
64
It's not Indexing. It's just standard web browsing. It's hot enough to burn my lap.
 

fswmacguy

macrumors 6502
Aug 12, 2009
266
0
I can confirm that the Macbook Air (and I assume any of the Macbooks) is getting extremely hot while indexing immediately after installing Lion.
 

aristobrat

macrumors G5
Oct 14, 2005
12,292
1,403
I can confirm that the Macbook Air (and I assume any of the Macbooks) is getting extremely hot while indexing immediately after installing Lion.
x2. I had that happen immediately after installing Lion, and it happened a few times over the following day. I'd hear the fan come on, I'd look in Activity Monitor and see the "mdworker" thread using 100% of the CPU. It'd run for like 5 minutes then go away, but the fan would spin for quite a while.

OP, why don't you look in Activity Monitor and see exactly which process is using the CPU (which generates heat and causes the fan to spin)?
 

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,545
943
It's hot enough to burn my lap.
That's still not helpful. Install iStat Pro as I recommended. Then report the actual temps. It's quite normal for Apple notebooks to get hot enough to burn your lap. That doesn't mean they're overheating.
 

CKtoph

macrumors 6502
Nov 22, 2007
432
37
I am having the same issues. My air is getting really hot to the touch very quickly since installing Lion. Additionally, it seems that the battery life is shot too.
 

CKtoph

macrumors 6502
Nov 22, 2007
432
37
That's still not helpful. Install iStat Pro as I recommended. Then report the actual temps. It's quite normal for Apple notebooks to get hot enough to burn your lap. That doesn't mean they're overheating.

I've had my Air since December and not a single time have I experienced it to be this hot even during heavy use.
 

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,545
943
I am having the same issues. My air is getting really hot to the touch very quickly since installing Lion. Additionally, it seems that the battery life is shot too.
Apple Portables: Operating temperature
The bottom surface and some areas between the keyboard and LCD hinge of your Apple portable computer can become very warm after extended periods of use. This is normal operating behavior.

The bottom of your Apple portable may become very warm during normal use. If the computer is on your lap and gets uncomfortably warm, remove it from your lap and place it on a stable surface.
 

aristobrat

macrumors G5
Oct 14, 2005
12,292
1,403
The only way to figure out why any individual computer is running hot is to look in Activity Monitor on that computer and spot the process that's using a lot of CPU.
 

CKtoph

macrumors 6502
Nov 22, 2007
432
37

How about you read the previous posts?

It's clear that INSTALLING LION has had the effect on our Airs. So, this would put it in the category of NOT normal operation. The overheating would occur after only 15 minutes of use (when this has never previously occurred before). Would you consider this to be an "extended period"?

I have used my Air on an everyday basis since purchase in December. It is clear that installing Lion has created this overheating issue. It is also clear that others are having the same issue. So, how about rather than trolling to bully people off a legitimate topic, we get the discussion going so Apple realizes there's an issue?
 

spencertherover

macrumors newbie
Apr 15, 2008
11
0
I've got lion on my late 2010 Air
1.86 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
NVIDIA GeForce 320M 256 MB
Mac OS X Lion 10.7 (11A511)

I'm running several fullscreen apps plus iTunes music while playing FM2010. The fan is up and down but the case is cool and stat nano put the CPU temp at between 60 and 85°.
 

aristobrat

macrumors G5
Oct 14, 2005
12,292
1,403
How about you read the previous posts?

It's clear that INSTALLING LION has had the effect on our Airs. So, this would put it in the category of NOT normal operation. The overheating would occur after only 15 minutes of use (when this has never previously occurred before). Would you consider this to be an "extended period"?

I have used my Air on an everyday basis since purchase in December. It is clear that installing Lion has created this overheating issue. It is also clear that others are having the same issue. So, how about rather than trolling to bully people off a legitimate topic, we get the discussion going so Apple realizes there's an issue?
Until people like you can start providing some screen shots of what process is using the processor (which generates heat, which causes the fans to run), there's not much ANYONE can do to troubleshoot this issue any further.

It's normal, right after an OS upgrade (or setting up a brand-new Mac) for the Mac to do housekeeping that causes it to run hotter than normal. When I upgraded to Lion two weeks ago, for several days thereafter, there were spikes where my CPU usage would go up, and the fan would run. Looking at Activity Monitor, I saw it was the "mdworker" process doing that, which has something to do with spotlight and indexing. To me (having going thru several OS X upgrades), it was unusual to see the CPU spiking days after the initial upgrade, but for the last week, it's not happened. My 2010 MBA now runs cooler on Lion than it did on Snow Leopard.
 

CKtoph

macrumors 6502
Nov 22, 2007
432
37
I've got lion on my late 2010 Air
1.86 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
NVIDIA GeForce 320M 256 MB
Mac OS X Lion 10.7 (11A511)

I'm running several fullscreen apps plus iTunes music while playing FM2010. The fan is up and down but the case is cool and stat nano put the CPU temp at between 60 and 85°.

How's your battery life doing? Same also? My battery is already shot after maybe 2-3 hours of browsing.

I have a called scheduled with Apple later, so hopefully I'll figure out whats going on.
 

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,545
943
How about you read the previous posts?
Yes, I read all previous posts. No one had posted any actual temps, including you. How can you say it's overheating when you don't even know what actual temps are? If it were truly overheating, it would shut down.
So, how about rather than trolling to bully people off a legitimate topic, we get the discussion going so Apple realizes there's an issue?
How about posting actual temps, rather than simply saying it's hot or overheating with no facts? I'm not bullying or trolling anyone. I'm simply asking for actual data, rather than conjecture. Just saying it's hot or overheating is meaningless unless you can back it up with actual temps, along with Activity Monitor data on what processes are putting demands on the system.
 

Obscurelight

macrumors 6502
Jul 22, 2011
493
0
NYC
How about posting actual temps, rather than simply saying it's hot or overheating with no facts? I'm not bullying or trolling anyone. I'm simply asking for actual data, rather than conjecture. Just saying it's hot or overheating is meaningless unless you can back it up with actual temps.

Just flip the MBA over and then put an egg on it. If it starts cooking then...... :eek:
 

merkinmuffley

macrumors 6502a
Dec 3, 2010
615
582
we've got two 13 inch 2010 Airs here and haven't noticed any fan/heat issues with them - both are running Lion.
 

aristobrat

macrumors G5
Oct 14, 2005
12,292
1,403
IMO, high temps are a symptom that there is a process that is using a lot of CPU, and unless you can determine what that process is (which is easy to do) and understand if that process is running normally, or if there's a problem with it, you'll never get to the actual cause/solution.
 

n1tut

macrumors regular
It is obviously affecting Airs in different ways. Mine is exactly the same with Lion as it was before. Until recently I did not even realise that it had a fan as I have never heard it, but then I am an OAP.

The lower case never gets more than slightly warm, and I am on the Internet and using the computer continuously for around 15 hours a day.

tut
 

b-rad g

macrumors 6502a
Jun 29, 2010
895
1
2010 MBAir here and I noticed that mine was running warmer than normal for about a day, but today it has seemed to settle back to the temps that I am used to seeing under Snow Leopard.

Snow Leopard normal temps with multiple apps open: 50-75 C
Snow Leopard idle temp: 25-30 C

Lion temps after install and most of yesterday: 60-80 C
Lion temps today with mulitple apps open: 45-65 C
Lion idle temp: ~30 C

All temperatures from iStat.
 
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