Coolest running laptop?

The latest 2016 MBPs run cooler than any previous Apple laptops that simple really. It depends what you do but the retina MacBooks are fanless and can heat up a fair bit under load.

 

If you don't mind fan noise, smcFanControl is convenient. So you could eliminate cooling as a requirement when deciding on what you want to pick up.

 

I would imagine the MB would be coolest as it has lower TDP processor, but no fan to blow the heat away so maybe it evens out?

 

Well they do have active cooling vs the MB which has no fans and relies on the chassis for passive cooling, under load this will be an issue for heat. I have no hard and fast evidence but have heard that the MB heats up under load and that the MBP is the coolest MBP Apple have ever made so I'm extrapolating.

 

There is no site presenting the thermal envelope of current MacBooks.

There are some old random pages with measurements, like this one, but nothing complete.

The more powerful a CPU is the hotter it might get and I'm not entirely certain the fans will compensate entirely. The fans are also noisy and will gather dust in time.

Also, the more powerful a CPU is the more it will do under load so it's a bit unfair to compare them.

I would recommend the fanless Retina MacBook.

You might even be able to run Turbo Boost Switcher to disable Turbo Boost, if the Core M CPUs have it.

This 2015 article mentions the Retina MacBook reaches 47 degrees under heavy load.

I suspect this is the coolest laptop. Any cooler and you need an iPad.

 

My laptop is 'cooler' than yours ... ;-)

I have the 12" rMB, no fan, it runs cooler than my MBP 15" 2011 model.

I haven't felt any warming at all durning normal usage (Xcode, NetBeans, and all normal apps)

 

Whats your budget and chosen screen size? Lenovo Yoga 2 is the coolest among laptops I am using. Not a much fan of Lenovo but this one is really cool.