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2011 Macbook Pro Heat/Charging Question

A

ArmouredGuitar

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 16, 2004
94
0
Canada
I am about to toss this pos MBP to the curb (not literally), its been nothing but a headache it seems.

This bloody machine is running hot always, fans are always cranked and its around 93c constantly. Right now I have 1 safari page open (macrumors), thats it and its burning up.
It gets even worse, the minute I start a an application or game the battery quits charging and it eventually dies on me.

Anyways, looking for any type of solution here or a temp fix. I have a cooling pad under it, smc control on.
I just returned my 27" TB because it seems to over stress the computer.


I also noticed there was a lawsuit against apple regarding this issue, but couldn't find anything regarding the outcome, anyone have any news on that?
 
93c?

As in, 93 Celsius?

Is this a common thing with Macbooks? Or is this one of those rare defects and the OP is unfortunate enough to have it.

I seriously thought my current laptop that idle's at 70c (full fan) and going up to 90c when gaming was bad, but if this is normal... well I might just not get a MBP afterall.
 
Some things to try

- check activity monitor for processes that are using a lot of CPU %
kill them, ask for advice if unsure whether it is safe to kill them

- create a new user account. Log out of the current account, reboot, and log into the new account. See if the problem persists

- reset the SMC

- bring it to apple, let them fix it

Since when do you have that machine?
 
Suno said:
93c?

As in, 93 Celsius?

Is this a common thing with Macbooks? Or is this one of those rare defects and the OP is unfortunate enough to have it.

I seriously thought my current laptop that idle's at 70c (full fan) and going up to 90c when gaming was bad, but if this is normal... well I might just not get a MBP afterall.
Click to expand...

you've probably never owned an entirely metal notebook. metal is more conductive, which means heat is instantaneously felt instead of it being gradually felt on a plastic notebook which is what most notebooks are by non apple manufacturers
 
download gfxcardstatus and force the MBP to run on the discrete gpu. this alone will cut off 10-20c off temps if you are not gaming or video editing.
 
Remember that your Mac will shut down in order to prevent damage if it overheats anyway....My MBP gets warm, but not really hot...The fans kick in as required. The design of the alloy case is meant to dissipate heat as well, so it will be warm, but not burning hot.

FWIW mine is a 17" MBP mid 2011, 8GB Ram...I have never had a heat issue with it at all.

Like I posted previously, sometimes things get by QC...I would take it back now.
 
thundersteele said:
Some things to try

- check activity monitor for processes that are using a lot of CPU %
kill them, ask for advice if unsure whether it is safe to kill them

- create a new user account. Log out of the current account, reboot, and log into the new account. See if the problem persists

- reset the SMC

- bring it to apple, let them fix it

Since when do you have that machine?
Click to expand...

Haven't contacted applecare yet, i v only had it about 3 weeks, bought it from Futureshop (best buy subsidery here in Canada). Issue just started last week I noticed, well I only noticed due to computer shutting off because it completely drained the battery.

I did reset the smc no go,

Opened up activity monitor, nothing is really using the cpu, so I fired up SC2, using 150% of cpu and 40 threads.

When I am under windows 7 in bootcamp, the computer seems to run a lot cooler.

But I have read on these forums and a lot of other sites that this is an issue for many. The draining of the battery under GPU/CPU load that is. Kinda wish I was still in my 2 week return window :(
 
ArmouredGuitar said:
Haven't contacted applecare yet, i v only had it about 3 weeks, bought it from Futureshop (best buy subsidery here in Canada). Issue just started last week I noticed, well I only noticed due to computer shutting off because it completely drained the battery.

I did reset the smc no go,

Opened up activity monitor, nothing is really using the cpu, so I fired up SC2, using 150% of cpu and 40 threads.

When I am under windows 7 in bootcamp, the computer seems to run a lot cooler.

But I have read on these forums and a lot of other sites that this is an issue for many. The draining of the battery under GPU/CPU load that is. Kinda wish I was still in my 2 week return window :(
Click to expand...


It's probably got a faulty Logic Board, You have tried the right things, Personally, I would now return it, it's a new machine, and you should not have to put up with the faults....A new one is the obvious way to go here.
 
ArmouredGuitar said:
Opened up activity monitor, nothing is really using the cpu, so I fired up SC2, using 150% of cpu and 40 threads.

When I am under windows 7 in bootcamp, the computer seems to run a lot cooler.

But I have read on these forums and a lot of other sites that this is an issue for many. The draining of the battery under GPU/CPU load that is. Kinda wish I was still in my 2 week return window :(
Click to expand...

Ok.

1. SC2 (and other games and/or demanding software) will heat up your machine, no question. This is not a technical problem, but a lot of people feel uncomfortable with that.

2. The battery drains, even when connected to a power source, under very heavy load. With the rate at which this happens, you would have to play games for 10 hours straight to empty the battery.

3. If the activity monitor ("all processes") shows no activity, and the machine still heats up to 90 C, you should let Apple have a look at it.

Also, you should still try to create a new user, and see if that one has the same problem. Did you add a lot of data to the machine recently?
 
thundersteele said:
Ok.

1. SC2 (and other games and/or demanding software) will heat up your machine, no question. This is not a technical problem, but a lot of people feel uncomfortable with that. hell idc if it even goes up in flames, that's what the warranty is for.

2. The battery drains, even when connected to a power source, under very heavy load. With the rate at which this happens, you would have to play games for 10 hours straight to empty the battery.

3. If the activity monitor ("all processes") shows no activity, and the machine still heats up to 90 C, you should let Apple have a look at it.

Also, you should still try to create a new user, and see if that one has the same problem. Did you add a lot of data to the machine recently?
Click to expand...

1) I am not worried about the heat, as long as it doesn't throttle or die while plugged in I don't care. I realize they get hot, but 90-95c is a tad pushing it.

2) What do you mean? so the laptop is suppose to die while plugged in under load? even if that was the case, I lost 10% of my battery in a 7min scenario match in that SC2 test last night.

3) Created a new user. same thing and no I haven't added any large amounts of data.
 
ArmouredGuitar said:
I am about to toss this pos MBP to the curb (not literally), its been nothing but a headache it seems.

This bloody machine is running hot always, fans are always cranked and its around 93c constantly. Right now I have 1 safari page open (macrumors), thats it and its burning up.
It gets even worse, the minute I start a an application or game the battery quits charging and it eventually dies on me.

Anyways, looking for any type of solution here or a temp fix. I have a cooling pad under it, smc control on.
I just returned my 27" TB because it seems to over stress the computer.


I also noticed there was a lawsuit against apple regarding this issue, but couldn't find anything regarding the outcome, anyone have any news on that?
Click to expand...

93C is normal for running a game or HandBraking. For Safari, it is not normal, and is why you should have just exchanged it at an Apple store instead of posting this here.
 
ArmouredGuitar said:
1) I am not worried about the heat, as long as it doesn't throttle or die while plugged in I don't care. I realize they get hot, but 90-95c is a tad pushing it.
Click to expand...
Well, it's within the CPUs specifications, and unfortunately Macs are not designed around optimal cooling. Whether or not you like it, this is not a defect.

2) What do you mean? so the laptop is suppose to die while plugged in under load? even if that was the case, I lost 10% of my battery in a 7min scenario match in that SC2 test last night.

3) Created a new user. same thing and no I haven't added any large amounts of data.
Click to expand...
2) and 3) seem to indicate some malfunctioning. Some reviews have found the maximal power draw to be 93W, while the adapter only provides 85W (on 15'' machines that is). So you should not loose 10% battery in 7 minutes when connected to a charger.
Note that you will loose 10% in 7 minutes when gaming from the battery.

At this point, all that remains to say is that you should bring your machine to Apple and get it checked or ask for a replacement.
 
mzjin said:
93C is normal for running a game or HandBraking. For Safari, it is not normal, and is why you should have just exchanged it at an Apple store instead of posting this here.
Click to expand...

The temp isn't the issue here, its the fact that the laptop stops charging when doing something intensive such as play a game or use handbrake and eventually dies due to running off the battery while plugged in.

I didn't purchase it from an apple store per say, it was at retailer such a bestbuy. Do they allow an exchange of this sort? and on the 4th week of purchase?

I have been reading on various sites through google that it is normal for the '11 MBP's to stop charging while under heavy load, ultimately leading to the point of it shutting off due to this.

Here is blog about the lawsuit over my issue as well http://appleguru.org/blog/2011/10/22/lawsuit-against-apple-for-macbook-pro-charging-problems/

again the heat isnt the issue, its the charging psu. Was looknig for a solution to avoid it.
 
Ok, I figured out it might of been the temp over stressing the max load. What I did for a test was;

turn on SMC fan control, turned on my cooling pad underneath, cranked up the fan rpm to 6200 before starting anything intensive.

Starting temp was 29C/84F prior to doing anything on mbp,

Fired up SC2, did the most intensive thing on the game with fans on max rpm prior to launch, now its sitting around 64C/154F and hasn't moved.

Doesn't seem to be drawing off the battery while plugged in yet, and I have had it running for about 30mins,
 
I've had overheating problems with my early 2011 2.3 i7 17". Had my tech replace the logic board and reapply a sensible amount of thermal paste (unlike the mess that was in there from the factory.)

Still overheats with the fans cranked around 70% CPU usage. That's with the monitor off, hinge open, airflow for miles. Too much power, not enough cooling. Don't really know what my next move is...big let down.
 
scratch that, after playing WoW for the past hour, temp is back up to 93C and says "No Charging" status is back, down to 80% already! how frustrating......is applecare open at all hours?
 
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