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13" Retina Owners - How often do your fans kick in?

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macrumors 68040
Original poster
Dec 16, 2011
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So I just upgraded from a 13" Late 2011 "Classic" MacBook Pro (whose fans were always spinning at any given moment) to this beautiful Early 2015 13" rMBP.

Now of course there are huge differences (SSD vs. HDD, thinner, Retina screen, etc.) but the biggest and honestly most significant difference I've noticed is this:

I've not heard the fan(s) on this computer. Once. Under any circumstance.

On my old computer I was hearing my fans if I watched Netflix or Hulu! I was recently playing an online MMO game that would send my old computer into turbo mode and drain the battery like clockwork, and the fans didn't kick on once and the battery barely increased in draining!

So I have a question for all of you out there - how often do you hear your 13's fan kick in? Can I expect this machine to be virtually silent 99% of the time? If so I am completely amazed. The only sound this computer makes from this point is the typing of the keys (as even the Force Trackpad is incredibly silent).
 
I had the fans blazing...but I was doing an 80+ video queue in Handbrake :p

Seriously these machines are fantastic, quiet, fast, easily going to last me 6+ years like my 2009 MBP did. Couldn't be happier.
 
It takes quite a bit to get the fans going in mine. Usually they're on because I'm playing a game, or when I'm doing something that taxes the CPU for an extended period.
 
If you want to hear the sound it makes at full blast, go to diagnostic mode by keeping your finger on the 'D' key during during boot.
 
Your question brought an interesting observation to the forepart of my mind. Several weeks ago I traded my late 2013 13" rMBP for the early 2015 13" rMBP in my sig below. The late 2013 seldom kicked up the fans, but the early 2015 basically *never* kicks them up (based on three or four weeks of use).
 
I have never heard of the fan noise either.
I downloaded that istat menus tryout version, then opened a gif pics website, check cpu temperature at 95 to 100C, but the fan speed was only at around 2000rpm, when idle at 0 rpm. Then i remembered how people were saying that these fan control programs might mess up the internal fan settings. I then uninstalled that program with its own uninstall function. And i had a SMC reset.

After all these, i loaded the same gif pics website, same thing. I can feel the hotness of the computer on the right side of keyboard and the bottom, but i can't hear the noise of fan. really strange. I just hope that the istat reading was wrong, the CPU temperature was actually not 100C. Most of the times, it is cold when i am just doing web surfing at room temperature.

By the way, :apple:2015 macbook pro 13 with retina, basic model
 
z31fanatic said:
I only hear the fan when I play a video game.
Click to expand...

Same here. I've only played Diablo III so far but the fans seem to go their maximum speed when I do. In all other instances I can't hear the fan. It is a bit annoying as the fans are pretty loud when they going all out.
 
Mr.C said:
Same here. I've only played Diablo III so far but the fans seem to go their maximum speed when I do. In all other instances I can't hear the fan. It is a bit annoying as the fans are pretty loud when they going all out.
Click to expand...

Mine are inaudible when I play D3 on a 13" rMBP Late 2013.

1280 x 720 @ 30 FPS (capped in-game) with lowest graphical settings on everything. It looks like ****, but increasing resolution and graphical settings isn't going to make it look that much better. Can't play anywhere near native resolution anyway and the FPS is far from stable no matter. At least it's quiet this way.
 
I actually have heard them. Took me by surprise today. Was rebooting mac and either restoring session/windows or trying to AirPlay a 2 hour recording onto Apple TV.

But when I did hear it, I initially thought there was static noise coming out of my Max's system. Took me a moment to realise it was the fans lol.
 
anything with flash and if I use my laptop on the bed watching youtube it will kick on for a couple mins than goes back to quiet.
 
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