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No Vents on MacBook Pro
- Thread starter Myrm
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Hi
I recently got the MacBook Pro (Feb 11 model) labtop. I notice there are no vents in the unibody. How does the labtop keep cool when heavily used (such as during games)?
Stupid question I know, but I don't mind asking stupid questions.
well it does have an internal fan
The are vents, otherwise the fans would have not much air to whirl around.
See the black hinge, underneath are the vents.
from http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook-Pro-15-Inch-Unibody-Early-2011-Teardown/4990/1
See the black hinge, underneath are the vents.
from http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook-Pro-15-Inch-Unibody-Early-2011-Teardown/4990/1
Yes I saw this posted somewhere before but was not completely convinced as if I turn the fans up to max I cant feel any air intake on the keyboard area but also its possible to close the lid and use the laptop according to apple so wouldnt that affect the air intake when closing the lid.
The keyboard is clearly not the main air intake, considering there's a plastic layer between the keys and the motherboard that is sealed quite nicely. There might be some air intake, but the main intake is through the back of the machine.
It'd be rather terrible design choice if the keyboard were the main intake because then silicone keyboard protectors would ruin the machine. I definitely don't want to risk letting junk fall in a built in keyboard, especially liquids, otherwise I could end up with a $3,000 paperweight.
I think it's sufficient to say the design is fine. I've yet to hear a Mac meltdown story here due to heat.
This is correct. The fan pulls in air directly from half of one side of each fan.
im sure it deliberately pulls air thru the mobo and internals,and the other poster is right,the keyboard is sealed with covering inside,probably for spills id imagine,so it dont go on mobo[hopefully]or to keep dust out,there are over 21 temp sensers in mac,maybe more,somtin like dat.
There is a reason that all portable Macs are made out of aluminum-aluminum has one of the highest k (thermal conductivity) values of any common metal we have. Thus, in reality, the entire body of Macbook Pro's are literally heat sinks (or vents). Apple chose the one material that would allow them to not have visible fenestrations (vents) and engineered accordingly to allow for that further.
the vents are in the back, around the screen hinge, the intakes is through the ports on the side, and the part of the back not used for exhaust, both as specified in several apple patents.
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Just thought I'd mention this, but the other night when I was playing a game on my Macbook 13 i5, I checked iStat and it was running at around 194 degrees Fahrenheit... which was suppose to be normal when playing graphic intensive games.
Anyways, the Interesting part is, I have a portable fan on my desk. I directed the fan behind the MBP's vent and there's no change to iStat temperature. BUT, when I directed the fan to my keyboard, iStat temperature dropped down by 20 degrees fahrenheit. I can tell it was cooler, too because the back vents and bottom of the MBP are cool to the touch. Try it, it's actually pretty cool.
Just thought I'd mention this, but the other night when I was playing a game on my Macbook 13 i5, I checked iStat and it was running at around 194 degrees Fahrenheit... which was suppose to be normal when playing graphic intensive games.
Anyways, the Interesting part is, I have a portable fan on my desk. I directed the fan behind the MBP's vent and there's no change to iStat temperature. BUT, when I directed the fan to my keyboard, iStat temperature dropped down by 20 degrees fahrenheit. I can tell it was cooler, too because the back vents and bottom of the MBP are cool to the touch. Try it, it's actually pretty cool.
Anyways, the Interesting part is, I have a portable fan on my desk. I directed the fan behind the MBP's vent and there's no change to iStat temperature. BUT, when I directed the fan to my keyboard, iStat temperature dropped down by 20 degrees fahrenheit. I can tell it was cooler, too because the back vents and bottom of the MBP are cool to the touch. Try it, it's actually pretty cool.
I believe what you achieved here was improving the effectiveness of the case itself to act as a heatsink.
They keyboard doesn't have a lot to do with the cooling as the keys would get too hot. IIRC, there is little intake from the keys themselves. The small and covered vents on the MBP is partially why they have historically felt 'hot' to many users. Also, the material the case is made out of, aluminum, in many ways acts as a giant heat sink. The small vents have one major advantage versus 'open' vents and that is dust accumulation, which IMO is one of the best features of this computer. Another is that the structural rigidity of the case is maintained (ex: convertible v. hard top).
No, but there have been rumors of people using their macbooks for weenie roasts.
I'm waiting for the next evolution of the MBP13 before I upgrade. It's too early to tell what effect Intel's new SB power architecture will have on the internal components. All that heat can't be good over time. Not to mention the thermal paste jobs in these things.
I'm guessing the next generation MBP13 will not be any better though as the IGP will most likely stay. Keeping an eye on the new pending Airs to see if they'll share the same heat problems. (There's even less circulation in those things).
As already stated, the vents, both intake and exhaust, are located in the rear of all Apple notebooks, near the hinge. That's where the fan(s) are located, to pull heat away from the two primary furnaces, the CPU and GPU.
There is no venting at all through the keyboard, since there is a solid sheet under it that prevents airflow. Heat radiates in all directions, including the keyboard and the solid base, but neither are used for venting. If they were, Apple wouldn't show you how to operate in clamshell mode.
Average Temp of Fans?
Since the original posters question has been answered, I am going to take this a bit further and ask one here myself, as it pertains to this subject, so I dont need to start a new thread.
I have a 20 month old 13" MBP, 256 Ghz, 4Gig Ram, etc.
First Mac I have owned.
Two nights ago my x husband who lives with me brought to my attention that the fan sounded unusually high.
I hadn't noticed but he was right.
I have a program called "CheckUp" installed and clicked in its preferences, a check mark that would send me notifications if the temperature gets to 57 Fahrenheit for any longer than 10 min.
It keeps alerting me that its at roughly 163 F F Limit: 57 F
Exhaust: 2137Rpm - 2151Rpm
Overview: (these below I am reading in iStat Nano now)
CPU 95 Fahrenheit
Fan: 2432 Rpm
HD Mac Drive: 95 Fahrenheit
CPU A: 166 Fahrenheit
Heatsink B: 144 Fahrenheit
Enclousure Bottom: 94 Fahrenheit
Northbridge 1: 130 Fahrenheit
Generally I keep it on 24-7 and am usually at it during the day and evening with several web pages open, Mail, Skype........but never games. I dont usually play any aside from the occasional game of Angry Birds.
Do these numbers above appear right or do I need to be concerned?
Not sure if Check up is just rationalizing its existence on my computer by sending me these alerts which might be in reality, rather unnecessary?
The other info given comes from a dashboard widget iStat Nano.
And yes, my laptop gets very hot to the touch up on the left hand corner near the esc key----just to the left of that and a bit further down
TIA
Since the original posters question has been answered, I am going to take this a bit further and ask one here myself, as it pertains to this subject, so I dont need to start a new thread.
I have a 20 month old 13" MBP, 256 Ghz, 4Gig Ram, etc.
First Mac I have owned.
Two nights ago my x husband who lives with me brought to my attention that the fan sounded unusually high.
I hadn't noticed but he was right.
I have a program called "CheckUp" installed and clicked in its preferences, a check mark that would send me notifications if the temperature gets to 57 Fahrenheit for any longer than 10 min.
It keeps alerting me that its at roughly 163 F F Limit: 57 F
Exhaust: 2137Rpm - 2151Rpm
Overview: (these below I am reading in iStat Nano now)
CPU 95 Fahrenheit
Fan: 2432 Rpm
HD Mac Drive: 95 Fahrenheit
CPU A: 166 Fahrenheit
Heatsink B: 144 Fahrenheit
Enclousure Bottom: 94 Fahrenheit
Northbridge 1: 130 Fahrenheit
Generally I keep it on 24-7 and am usually at it during the day and evening with several web pages open, Mail, Skype........but never games. I dont usually play any aside from the occasional game of Angry Birds.
Do these numbers above appear right or do I need to be concerned?
Not sure if Check up is just rationalizing its existence on my computer by sending me these alerts which might be in reality, rather unnecessary?
The other info given comes from a dashboard widget iStat Nano.
And yes, my laptop gets very hot to the touch up on the left hand corner near the esc key----just to the left of that and a bit further down
TIA