2020 MacBook Pro getting very hot on bottom

[Broko Fankone]

Because other things I tried didn't provide any 'smooth' results. I saw cpu proximity suggested in a thread somewhere (maybe on reddit) and I tried it out. I was surprised to see it kept things within reasonable limits and resulted in absolutely NO fan spikes whatsoever with good overall thermals.

For some reason this option balances things out nicely and keeps the mac warmer from the get-go vs reacting sharply to temperature spikes. Maybe it's because proximity does not change so often, but changes reliably overall.

Testing with other things like cpu/gpu cores kept giving me random fan bursts and it seems cpu proximity just worked better from the get go. I reduced temperatures significantly than the default suggested and so far am seeing no drawbacks other than a super low fan noise that sometimes comes in. And keep in mind I use the mac with an external monitor + charging which is worse than just the mac on its own.

This is how it looks like with nothing attached to the ports: (fans are closer to 2k rpm and below, all temps are cool)

I am yet to test this under very heavy stress. Might run some benchmarks to see how it handles high stress but it definitely made my machine feel better with normal tasks that previously had the fans spike up every few minutes, or randomly, or when I simply open up the browser.

 

[ineedhelppls]

My 2020 13” MacBook Pro i5,16gb ram and 1TB went back to the store 3 days later. I have never ever had an Apple product that ran that hot, even with all the spotlight settings off. The computer could be on my desk for 10mins just running safari and it got very,very hot....top and bottom, so you are not the only one.

should i return mine and get a new one? I too have the same problem, my mbp 2020 i5 8th gen gets scorching hot on the bottom when i play agario.

 

[Shinydesert]

should i return mine and get a new one? I too have the same problem, my mbp 2020 i5 8th gen gets scorching hot on the bottom when i play agario.

I would return it and start thinking about skipping this generation of MACs if you can afford it based upon your work, hobbies etc....

 

[Broko Fankone]

Does that happen with or without external monitor? The 10th gen CPUs have more powerful integrated graphics and I think they just generally get hot with a monitor. I'm having a really hard time getting the mac to be hot without a monitor and with my fanspeed profiles, though.

 

[ctjack]

my mbp 2020 i5 8th gen gets scorching hot on the bottom when i play agario.

Your use case has nothing to do with the laptop itself probably. That is an educated guess. Any games from agario made my galaxy phone, iphone, nexus tablet hot as frying pan.
I think it has to do with their bad optimization.
=====================
I think anyway game testing any MBP is not an option. Macs aren't meant to play games. Decent games always made my dell xps 15 and macbook really hot and i could feel how it feels bad while still delivering the smooth gameplay. If i would judge any of laptops out there based on the case temperature and fan speeds while gaming, then i would never find a decent laptop.
Because other than games, my laptops are really nice/cool/quiet machines.

 

[denzdaniel]

I had this issue too! So I decided to open my NEW MacBook Pro 13" 2020 2.0/16GB/512GB Model and here it is!
Check it out guys!

Thermal Paste Re-Applied because of HEAT!!! MacBook Pro 13" 2020

forums.macrumors.com

 

[Juen]

I had this issue too! So I decided to open my NEW MacBook Pro 13" 2020 2.0/16GB/512GB Model and here it is!
Check it out guys!

Thermal Paste Re-Applied because of HEAT!!! MacBook Pro 13" 2020

forums.macrumors.com

Not sure if it's the Thermal Paste but to me it looks like it's almost not worth it for the extra time to open the MacBook and disassembling it - just to save 2-4° Celsius.

Would love to know if the Grizzly KRYONAUT Thermal Paste would do better work here.

 

[Shinydesert]

I had this issue too! So I decided to open my NEW MacBook Pro 13" 2020 2.0/16GB/512GB Model and here it is!
Check it out guys!

Thermal Paste Re-Applied because of HEAT!!! MacBook Pro 13" 2020

forums.macrumors.com

Great video. Thanks Sir.

 

[denzdaniel]

Great video. Thanks Sir.

Thanks for checking it out Shinydesert!
[automerge]1595731547[/automerge]

Not sure if it's the Thermal Paste but to me it looks like it's almost not worth it for the extra time to open the MacBook and disassembling it - just to save 2-4° Celsius.

Would love to know if the Grizzly KRYONAUT Thermal Paste would do better work here.

Did you see the before and after? Watch it? See the fan as well? not ramping as much after. And did you see the difference in Cinebench points?😉

 

[Shinydesert]

Thanks for checking it out Shinydesert!
[automerge]1595731547[/automerge]

Did you see the before and after? Watch it? See the fan as well? not ramping as much after. And did you see the difference in Cinebench points?😉

I hope Apple watches your video. I have a hard time getting over these sort of mistakes. How can they have these issues? It is 2020, we pay a premium for their devices, they seem to have the best engineers. I just don’t get it. And I love Macs don‘t get me wrong.

 

[Juen]

I hope Apple watches your video. I have a hard time getting over these sort of mistakes. How can they have these issues? It is 2020, we pay a premium for their devices, they seem to have the best engineers. I just don’t get it. And I love Macs don‘t get me wrong.

I don't think Apple is the only one to blame here.
Intel just couldn't keep up with Apples plan and Thermal Designs.

It's still impressive how well hardware and software are working together, to get the last bit out of the machines.

 

[Broko Fankone]

I hope Apple watches your video. I have a hard time getting over these sort of mistakes. How can they have these issues? It is 2020, we pay a premium for their devices, they seem to have the best engineers. I just don’t get it. And I love Macs don‘t get me wrong.

I'm pretty sure if Apple wanted to go that extra mile for the 100% best cooling they would have, but they didn't. It's better if your machine dies from the heat in 2 years and you buy a new one, etc. Batteries suffer the most from heat.

See this:

They tried all kinds of things and they can't explain some of the engineering decisions.

 

[PaulBaier]

Another confirmation point. i have macbook pro, 13". 2 weeks old. standard business usage (lots of Zoom, web browsing, Gsuite, Office, no games, no movies). In basement office, with A/C and no direct light. Key board can get VERY hot, almost too hot to touch. Called Apple support and they made me to a complete factory re-start, but no different. As I type now, the Macbook Pro is running hard and not for seemingly no reason. Apple support thought maybe it was because i was recording zoom meetings saved to My Documents which is also replcated in the cloud. Got to leave now because my fingers are burning!

 

[Babers]

Same problem for me new MacBook Pro 13" 2020, i5 10th gen, 16GB, 512GB
I'm new to Mac - so no migration - out of the box simple setup, just added few basic apps.
With simple office tasks, internet browsing, YouTube, video conferencing it first gets very hot on the bottom. After 15-30 min also on the top to the point that it is uncomfortable to keep hands on it when typing.
When it is connected to external monitor, it gets very hot... typing is impossible, external keyboard is a must. I tried with 2 different monitors via thunderbolt , converters to HDMI... always gets hot.
I tested it on my friends MacBook air 2017 - same problem.
I have been working with many laptops, various brands and setups - non Mac - always with external screens and I never had that problem.
Choosing mac I was aiming for quality and great customer experience and now I'm considering returning it and getting windows laptop...

 

[ctjack]

it first gets very hot on the bottom. After 15-30 min also on the top to the point that it is uncomfortable to keep hands on it when typing.

You could post pictures from "Activity monitor" and temps from MacFancontrol, so we could address the problem. Sometimes my MBP overheats for no reason and i always find out one process, that uses 90% of CPU power. Last time it was built-in Mail app, which was going crazy until i closed/reopened app. Could be your case.

 

[DeejayDannyJ]

Is there a MacBook Pro that doesn't get warm.? I have had MacBook Pro's since the switch to intel and every single one was warm / hot. It is aluminium it is bound to soak up the heat and act like one giant heat sink.

The New 13" 2020 and 16" 2019 are no exception to the rule. Anyone who has a cool one can not be using for much beyond browsing.

I would say anything in the range of 40c - 55c is normal idling temps on 9th and 10th Get Intel based MacBook Pro's, don't be surprised if it gets a little warmer depending on ambient temps. Try to keep the vents clear while on you lap. If you leave on a bed or sofa temps will def rise.

 

[maflynn]

It is aluminium it is bound to soak up the heat and act like one giant heat sink.

While that may be true, the fact of the matter is apple has chosen a design language that embraces thinness at the expense of thermal headroom and cooling. It gets hot simply because the cooling mechanisms are unable to push the heat out efficiently. Apple chooses a hotter computer with less fan noise vs. the competitors who opt for more aggressive fans, and larger more robust heat sinks

 

[Babers]

It is aluminium it is bound to soak up the heat and act like one giant heat sink.

I'm working at the same time on macbook pro and HP elitebook, doing similar tasks both connected to external monitors. Mac is is very hot, impossible to work without external keyboard, my hands are sweating, difficult to use touchpad. At the same time HP is super cool - also full aluminum case, no fan noise... so it is really a hardware design problem in mac IMO...

 

[Broko Fankone]

I'm working at the same time on macbook pro and HP elitebook, doing similar tasks both connected to external monitors. Mac is is very hot, impossible to work without external keyboard, my hands are sweating, difficult to use touchpad. At the same time HP is super cool - also full aluminum case, no fan noise... so it is really a hardware design problem in mac IMO...

Use Macs Fan Control. The difference between macbooks and windows laptops is that the windows laptop ramp up their fans more. You won't hear almost any noise difference between two fans at 1k rpm and 2.5-3k rpm. But the difference in cooling when doing normal tasks is dramatic.

I'm using my MBP with an external 180hz 1080p monitor and the keyboard is NEVER hot. It has gotten warm to the touch, but never unpleasantly warm. Difference is that my fans are now running at 2.6-2.8K RPM while yours are probably sitting at 1.3k.

 

[StraightHit]

I would recommend buying a stand, that allows the bottom side to dissipate heat.

 

[StellarVixen]

It's aluminum. It's understandable.

 

[heycal]

So I'm not the only one... Returned my 2020 Air i5 for this reason, but the pro gets hot too. Haven't heard the noisy fan yet I did hear on the air (fourth day with it)

 

[triangletechie]

I posted this in a similar thread. My 2020 MBP (10th gen intel) got extremely hot even doing the most basic, minimal tasks. I would have maybe 1 Safari tab open and then could feel the heat rushing through the keyboard. I just returned it and will wait for an ARM Air or something similar that will hopefully be much cooler.