Can the MacBook Pro staying hot for too long damage it?

[shenfrey]

Iv had my mid 2012 (non-retina) 13" MBP base model now for half a year and iv never gamed on it until recently and have noticed it gets quite hot and of course the fans start kicking on. It doesn't get to hot that I can't touch it, but it definitely has some heat to it. My MBP has still been performing great, however I quite like the game iv been playing with my mate and want to continue to play it but I'm not sure if i need to limit my time due to the heat the macbook is producing.

Could anyone shed some light on this for me please? Thanks.

 

[seveej]

Could anyone shed some light on this for me please? Thanks.

You will probably find two different types of answers:
- Ones that say that no, heat will not damage the machine. The fans are designed to keep the machine sufficiently cooled and failing that, the CPU will start throttling down if the temperatures get out of hand.

- Others saying, yes (maybe), heat has an effect on the longevity of components and heat leads to expansion (the amount of expansion differing from one substance to the other), thus potentially dislodging solders etc.

As usual, the truth is both situational (depends on the machine etc.) and somewhere in between...

RGDS,

 

[offthehook]

Hi!

It won't take any damage.
If things get too hot, it will simply shut down in order to protect the hardware from taking any damage but that never happened to me in 3 1/2 years.
The fans will probably wear down a bit over time if you push it constantly but the hardware should be fine!

best regards

 

[shenfrey]

I understand, thank you for the responses guys.

 

[MadTester]

As an addendum... if you are gaming on it, i would recommend a cooler pad that has built in fan/fans..... High temps for long periods of time WILL eventually damage your machine (the internals anyway)

HTH

 

[leman]

I'll let you in on a big secret: you are already 'damaging' it by just having it on. Of course, prolonged thermal stress will have negative effects on the longevity of the machine. But its not like it will definitively fail tomorrow just because you push it a bit. I'd recommend you you not to worry about it too much.

 

[inlinevolvo]

No

 

[Trubbles]

The rMBP (and most computers) won't allow themselves to hit temperatures that are outside of the "safe" zone. I have a 2006 MacBook Pro that is still chugging along, handling heavy CPU loads daily. I have NEVER in 25 years of owning PCs had a computer have trouble due to heat.

Parts that usually break are the ones with moving parts, especially hard drives and power supplies. Seeing as the rMBP has neither a built in power supply nor a mechanical hard drive, I think you're pretty safe.

 

[SlickShoes]

I played my 2011 macbook pro for 24 hours solid for a charity event and it was fine. I also used to game 2/3/4 hours a night on it most nights of the week and it still runs fantastically, you should not have any problems gaming on it at all, it will seem hotter to touch than a windows laptop though because a plastic PC absorbs the heat while the aluminium here conducts it.

 

[guruJust1n]

Iv had my mid 2012 (non-retina) 13" MBP base model now for half a year and iv never gamed on it until recently and have noticed it gets quite hot and of course the fans start kicking on. It doesn't get to hot that I can't touch it, but it definitely has some heat to it. My MBP has still been performing great, however I quite like the game iv been playing with my mate and want to continue to play it but I'm not sure if i need to limit my time due to the heat the macbook is producing.

Could anyone shed some light on this for me please? Thanks.

You have some great answers. If you get worried, just purchase a $25 Notebook cooler, you may lose one USB port. This might help out a little on the heat, it depends on how much you spend, and the type of cooling the cooler provides.

 

[yusukeaoki]

It wont over heat since they are designed to shut down automatically.
But it can lessen the life of your fans

 

[swerve147]

You can also use smcFanControl and set the fans to a higher RPM setting before every gaming session. I'm not sure if it's little more than a placebo though (the temp control seems pretty good by default).

 

[Xgm541]

As an addendum... if you are gaming on it, i would recommend a cooler pad that has built in fan/fans..... High temps for long periods of time WILL eventually damage your machine (the internals anyway)

HTH

Maybe after many years of usage yes. But not within the typical usage span of current laptops.

And dont get a cooling pad, they are a waste of space. I have my Dell that has seen a fair share of intense usage. I got it mid 2008, it works fine today.

 

[mrsir2009]

Short term there is nothing to suggest that it would damage it, however no one REALLY knows what long term effects constant high temps have on the components, including things like the battery. So while you don’t need to worry too much about it, try to keep your Mac nice and ventalated

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Maybe after many years of usage yes. But not within the typical usage span of current laptops.

And dont get a cooling pad, they are a waste of space. I have my Dell that has seen a fair share of intense usage. I got it mid 2008, it works fine today.

Remember, laptop coolings pads can also make your laptop nicer to use (especially in the summer) when you're preforming intensive tasks on it, as it also keeps YOU cool and as it cools the computer it's onboard fans will tone down, and therefore you won't have to put up with that constant whiny noise.