New MacBook Pro too hot with Skype?

[Resound]

Hi! I recently bought the 2011 MacBook Pro 15' high-end model (first time mac user) and I'm little worried about the heat on the macbook when i'm running Skype video chat.

Idle temp is around 40-44°C. When using Skype video chat, its around 75-80°C. Fan is around 3000rmp and if it stays at 80+ for sometime, the fan starts screaming like a jet engine (around 5000-6000rmp). It feels really hot near the F1 - F4 keys, and the palm rest area gets hot after a 30 min video chat.

I have not tested any gaming so I'm not sure if it will go even high (which I absolutely don't want)

Is this normal? Do I need to do an exchange?
.

 

[GGJstudios]

Idle temp is around 40-44°C. When using Skype video chat, its around 75-80°C. Fan is around 3000rmp and if it stays at 80+ for sometime, the fan starts screaming like a jet engine (around 5000-6000rmp). It feels really hot near the F1 - F4 keys, and the palm rest area gets hot after a 30 min video chat.

Your temps are perfectly normal, as is the fan spinning faster when temps are sustained at higher levels. Your Mac is designed to shut down if temps ever get too high. Many have run as high as 105C without shutting down. Your keyboard gets hot from radiated heat, just like the enclosure base.

 

[max pl]

yeh but you havent answered why his computer gets that hot when running skype.

is skype really that intensive?

 

[GGJstudios]

is skype really that intensive?

Yes, when using video chat. Any video related app will place higher demands on the system, as will visiting websites with Flash.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

yeh but you havent answered why his computer gets that hot when running skype.

is skype really that intensive?

The camera takes images (video) constantly and has to encode these images to a smaller, but still good looking, file size, for faster transport via internet. As this has to happen in almost real time, it has to be fast, very fast and therefore the CPU has to be used much, very much.

 

[zenio]

yeh but you havent answered why his computer gets that hot when running skype.

is skype really that intensive?

Having the right tool for the job is everything.

For skype a PC is far better.

Cool quiet and fast, it's what I use. I can view all the you tube, flash, or other resource intensive multimedia I want. No limits.

For what OS X does best it's great.

 

[Resound]

Thanks for the help!

I see, that seems great then, its actually getting better i suppose, as of right now, it's not as hot as a few days ago.

 

[GGJstudios]

Having the right tool for the job is everything.

For skype a PC is far better.

Cool quiet and fast, it's what I use. I can view all the you tube, flash, or other resource intensive multimedia I want. No limits.

For what OS X does best it's great.

I have zero issues running Skype on Mac OS X. I usually run Skype, iTunes, Preview, TextEdit, Excel, Address Book, iCal, Mail, Safari (frequently with 20+ tabs open, including Flash sites), and several widgets simultaneously. I've rarely had my fans speed up for more than a few minutes at a time and have never had a problem with excessive temps. I've tried adding simultaneous movies with VLC, QuickTime, iTunes, YouTube and a few other video sites (when trying to drain the battery), and over 100 Safari tabs and it handles them all without a hitch. I could never to a fraction of that with any Windows PC I ever owned.

 

[stylinexpat]

Having the right tool for the job is everything.

For skype a PC is far better.

Cool quiet and fast, it's what I use. I can view all the you tube, flash, or other resource intensive multimedia I want. No limits.

For what OS X does best it's great.

I noticed that on my X201s Thinkpad Skype runs much cooler than it does on my 13" MBP. I have wondered for some time why Skype runs hot on Apple computers. At first I thought that maybe the CPU's were a bit underpowered and that maybe with the new processors that are out now this problem would be eliminated but I guess not.

Would have thought that with the high end model it would have enough power to run Skype video with easy but I guess not.

 

[marshallbedsaul]

odd I never had issues running skype
not on my
07 blackbook
or my last generation blackbook
or early base model macbook pro.

 

[brentsg]

The problem is with a poor client, not the computer.

When the latest revision was released their forums lit up. People that had beta tested the Mac client were pissed to have been ignored.

 

[TheHoff]

The problem is with a poor client, not the computer.

When the latest revision was released their forums lit up. People that had beta tested the Mac client were pissed to have been ignored.

So is Skype 5 better on the CPU than the old Skype? It wouldn't get me to change off of 2.8, but I'm curious.

 

[brentsg]

So is Skype 5 better on the CPU than the old Skype? It wouldn't get me to change off of 2.8, but I'm curious.

I don't think so.

Plus version 5 is such a monstrosity that you'll have to dedicate a LOT of screen real estate to it. It's quite unfriendly.

I pretty much gave up on Skype. I keep 2.8 installed and use it for IMs with a few holdout friends/coworkers that travel internationally a lot.

 

[TheHoff]

I don't think so.

Plus version 5 is such a monstrosity that you'll have to dedicate a LOT of screen real estate to it. It's quite unfriendly.

I pretty much gave up on Skype. I keep 2.8 installed and use it for IMs with a few holdout friends/coworkers that travel internationally a lot.

Unfortunately I'm on Skype 8+ hours a day for work. I tried Adium but without the client being native it was just too quirky, but I was close to sticking with it. There is no way I'd go to 5; it is a monstrosity.

 

[stylinexpat]

I don't think so.

Plus version 5 is such a monstrosity that you'll have to dedicate a LOT of screen real estate to it. It's quite unfriendly.

I pretty much gave up on Skype. I keep 2.8 installed and use it for IMs with a few holdout friends/coworkers that travel internationally a lot.

+1 on the monstrosity of the new version of Skype. I wondered WTH they made it so huge

 

[TheHoff]

+1 on the monstrosity of the new version of Skype. I wondered WTH they made it so huge

It is like they designed it with one or two use cases in mind... People who video chat with their relatives and business that will pay for group videoconferencing. Who cares about the people that just might want a decent text chat client?

And I don't need to see anyone's huge avatar in my contact list, ever.

 

[Blu101]

Idle temp is around 40-44°C. When using Skype video chat, its around 75-80°C.

Those are the same temps I get using Skype on my dual core i5 MBP. Perfectly normal.

Fan is around 3000rmp and if it stays at 80+ for sometime, the fan starts screaming like a jet engine (around 5000-6000rmp).

My fans hover between 3000-4000 on Skype. Again, yours seem normal.

It feels really hot near the F1 - F4 keys, and the palm rest area gets hot after a 30 min video chat.

MBPs use the case housing as a heatsink to dissipate heat. No worries mate. Skype away for as long as you like.


Tip: don't skype with your MBP sitting on bed sheets or a bed comforter, where the fan vents may be blocked, and you'll be fine.

 

[Funkymonk]

Jesus christ this generation of macbooks are not doing well!

 

[TheHoff]

Jesus christ this generation of macbooks are not doing well!

Yes, Apple sucks because Skype and Flash for OS X are coded like garbage. My 2011 Unibody runs just as well as my 2008.

 

[Blu101]

Having the right tool for the job is everything.

For skype a PC is far better.

It has nothing to do with the tool, and everything to do with the software and the people behind it.

I can view all the you tube, flash, or other resource intensive multimedia I want. No limits.

Guess what? So can anybody with an MBP. Without freezes. Without crashes. Without hassles. Without $#@*^$%^* moments

 

[Blu101]

Jesus christ this generation of macbooks are not doing well!

Actually, they're doing better than ever!! And kicking the ever loving snot out of your beloved PCs.

your sig:

If you're an Apple apologist, you've failed in life. You know who you are

If you still think Microsoft and Windows rules the world, YOU have failed in life

 

[Funkymonk]

Actually, they're doing better than ever!! And kicking the ever loving snot out of your beloved PCs.




If you still think Microsoft and Windows rules the world, YOU have failed in life

I have a 11" mba....

 

[DarwinOSX]

Get real. I use Skype and the others on both. As if there is a "limit" to what OS X on a laptop can do with skype or video. No difference on either. Skype is poorly coded software in general on any platform.

Having the right tool for the job is everything.

For skype a PC is far better.

Cool quiet and fast, it's what I use. I can view all the you tube, flash, or other resource intensive multimedia I want. No limits.

For what OS X does best it's great.

Jesus christ this generation of macbooks are not doing well!

Dumb comment of the day.

 

[adnoh]

temps are normal

 

[panOptiko]

Any hope?

The same problem here with the latest MacBook Air (1.8 GHz Intel Core i7). The worst part is the MBA actually turns off because of the heat. I thought the problem was my machine, but now I feel hopeless. I never imagined that the newest equipment would not run a rather basic application....