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Do The Penryn MacBook Pros get Warm?

Z

zainjetha

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 11, 2007
931
2
Hi

I have a MBP 15-inch, was the latest version til Penryn came along.
Do the Penryn MBPs get so hot cos this really bugs me, im just casually sitting browsing the net with my power cord and i can feel warmth from the laptop.
It really is so annoying.

And when i do tasks such as DVD-ripping i think its going to burst.... Hows this with the penryn?

Jsut another question, at first glance at Penryn MBPs online they appear slightly thicker than old ones. Is this my imagination?
 
The MBP is still pretty warm, it bites. It's all part of Steve's ingenious ideas of conduction which he used on popular and successful computers like the Apple III (sarcasm).

And yes, it gets painfully warm at times. If you don't mind some noise, get the SMCFanControl up and crank those fans to 6000 RPM, that will cool it down quickly.

And no, sizes are the same.
 
Is the heat issue mainly due to the aluminum/titanium (?) case? Does it conduct heat way more than a typical laptop with a plastic? Is this related to some issues people have had with electricity being conducted through the case, resulting in a "tingling" feeling or pinch?

Perhaps the heat issue is due to rather high end mobile processors?
 
MediaRyan said:
Is the heat issue mainly due to the aluminum/titanium (?) case? Does it conduct heat way more than a typical laptop with a plastic? Is this related to some issues people have had with electricity being conducted through the case, resulting in a "tingling" feeling or pinch?

Perhaps the heat issue is due to rather high end mobile processors?
Click to expand...

You ask too many questions.

Get this straight, metal is a good conductor (good for drawing AWAY heat) and Plastic is a good insulator (good at storing heat). The MBP's feel really warm because the heat is traveling he way it should; from the hot inside of the computer, through the tight particles in metal, to the (hopefully) colder surroundings. That is why you can probably feel the heat more on MBP's, as well as the amount of energy needed to run them.

If you're in a cooler environment, the heat inside the machine will conduct faster into the colder temperature.
 
I dont see it getting unbearably hot though. Maybe youre overly sensitive to temperature or something, but my Penryn is completely silent and fairly warm on my legs when I use it on battery power. Of course its gonna be hot when its connected to AC and sitting on your legs. Its running at full speed! Unplug it, use the battery and watch it cool down. And use SMC Fan control. If you can afford a MBP, I think you can also maybe afford a desk hehehe.
 
iJesus said:
Get this straight, metal is a good conductor
Click to expand...

Hot computer insides --> metal, the good conductor --> me

Got it.

(good for drawing AWAY heat)
Click to expand...

Right into our laps!

and Plastic is a good insulator (good at storing heat)
Click to expand...
.

I wonder when my brother's dell is going to explode...gosh, 7-8 months of heat just waiting to go supernova on the inside.

The MBP's feel really warm because the heat is traveling he way it should; from the hot inside of the computer, through the tight particles in metal, to the (hopefully) colder surroundings.
Click to expand...

Yes. My legs are usually cooler than the inside of the computer....therefore good for a few minutes of intense mbp underside toastage until they too are $%?!!* hot.

If you're in a cooler environment, the heat inside the machine will conduct faster into the colder temperature.
Click to expand...

Brilliant! I didn't even think of it. I'll take my skewed lid, electricity conducting case, buzzing power adapter, yellow viewing angle Macbook Pro and move to northern canada!

:rolleyes:

Ah the joys of fandom.
 
Mine gets warm. Only ever gets really hot if I play CoD4 on XP. Even then, its not especially hot where my hands rest... The bottom gets REALLY hot, just behind the keyboard gets REALLY hot, but how often do I need to touch there? Not often / never :)
 
MediaRyan said:
Hot computer insides --> metal, the good conductor --> me

Got it.



Right into our laps!

.

I wonder when my brother's dell is going to explode...gosh, 7-8 months of heat just waiting to go supernova on the inside.



Yes. My legs are usually cooler than the inside of the computer....therefore good for a few minutes of intense mbp underside toastage until they too are $%?!!* hot.



Brilliant! I didn't even think of it. I'll take my skewed lid, electricity conducting case, buzzing power adapter, yellow viewing angle Macbook Pro and move to northern canada!

:rolleyes:

Ah the joys of fandom.
Click to expand...

Take a physics class, will ya?

And I bet your brother's Dell has a lot more vents than the MBP's.
 
What about the MacBook Air? I cant take this any longer... What i will do is buy a super-pimped-out-to-the-max Mac Pro and i will sell this MBP to a guy in the office, who is offerig £900 for it.

Does MBA get hot at all? Need to know.... I will get Mac Pro soon but i will wait for Rev 2 of MBA to come out or a way to get a bigger hard disk in the thing..
 
I just got mine today and have been running it since noon, its 4:41 pm now and no heat problems. Its actually a little cooler then most laptops. People will feel heat on a notebook and panic. Lots of notebooks get so hot it will hurt to touch it just depends on the kind. If you use proper ventilation its no problem.
 
zainjetha said:
much rather have an air in that case for on the go use and a mac pro.
Click to expand...

An Air and a Mac Pro? You just compared an workstation and ultraportable to a Prosumer laptop.

Let me tell ya, the Air puts out some hot air and the fans are loud.
 
You can't honestly think that when your using your mbp while charging it, its gonna be cool.
there are cell phones out there that when being charged and used are MUCH hotter.
if the aluminum case draws heat out thats great because it will keep wear and tear down in the inside.
my penryn mbp a cool when using it without the charger connected.
 
Yep my MBP penryn 45nm 2.4 is hot as too :(

massive diff compared to the MacBooks

nice to get the heat out of the MBP but pity it has to go into my legs....

[ well tbh my gecko case on my lap as personal leg heat shield seems 2 work the goods though :) ]
 
All I can say is that when I had the previous gen 2.4Ghz mbp the ilap was a "must" and always used it with an ilap but now with my 2.4Ghz penryn mbp, my ilap is in the closet and not even used once.

The whole laptop just gets mildy warm at best and I remember the previous gen mbp the left speaker area got freakin hot and the part where the macbook pro sign below it was really really hot and the left wrist area was hot as well (I guess the left speaker heat spread down to the left wrist area).

Just for the coolness I think the penryn mbp is well worth it + now the mbp doesnt feel like a dominos heatwave box on your lap! Also surprisingly when I had the 17" hi res mbp at 2.6Ghz.. it felt a bit cooler than the 15" mbp! :eek:

Now the montevinas are suppose to be a bit cooler as well I'll be real curious as how much cooler they run while a slight increase in speed.
 
Apple do state themselves that these aren't designed to be used on your lap for prolonged periods of time. I surf the net and do cpu-light activities with it on my lap with no problems, but the MB was really designed to be the laptop you could surf the net with it on your lap. Think of the MBP as a 1" thick Mac Pro, and it makes more sense why it runs hot.

Besides, do you really need to rip dvds on your lap? :)
 
to be honest my MBP doesn't get that hot. Also i notice a huge difference when i use my MBP with my ilap i bought. I noticed that i used my laptop a lot more while in bed so i didn't want to put it on top of a pillow or whatever, so i purchased the ilap and it's AWSOME!!... Only thing is, it's a little bulkly to carry so when i take my laptop i don't bring it with me.

My fiance purchased her second macbook latst month and i think it runs about the same temperature. I don't install istat on our computers though because then i will be checking it every 2 minutes and try to bring the temp down or go crazy thinking something wrong with my computer. I just use it.
 
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