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deciding on aluminum vs. white plastic MacBook 13" from concern of overheating

T

tiara18

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 23, 2005
4
0
Hi,
I am looking into the possibility of buying the 13" aluminum MacBook, but wanted to know whether the white plastic one would be a better option in terms of less overheating? I do know that I will be travelling with my laptop to hot destinations (near the equator) so which one is recommended?
Thanks!
 
tiara18 said:
Hi,
I am looking into the possibility of buying the 13" aluminum MacBook, but wanted to know whether the white plastic one would be a better option in terms of less overheating? I do know that I will be travelling with my laptop to hot destinations (near the equator) so which one is recommended?
Thanks!
Click to expand...

the white one gets hotter than the aluminum, but it doesnt get THAT hot. both are great, if you want to save some money go with the whitebook
 
if my experience is anything to go by, my macbook (see sig) runs quite a bit cooler to the touch than my sister's white macbook. we generally do the same things, and i occasionally run more stressful apps than she does.
 
The operating temperatures are the same for both laptops...

I haven't seen mine break 185° F yet. The Aluminium models don't throttle up until they're over 200° F and that's a little unsettling.
 
Either way neither of them are going to overheat, unless you're using them in an extremely hot environment (as you stated you may be) in that case both will over heat.
 
White does reflect light.:D
But seriously, I don't think it matters that much.
Just don't get a Black one.
My Black MacBook goes up to 90 Degrees Celsius.
Almost boiling!:eek:
 
I always think you should get the newer model no matter what its pros and cons are. (In this case, the heat discussion)

Newer models are always designed better, work better, and are better. :)
 
mathcolo said:
I always think you should get the newer model no matter what its pros and cons are. (In this case, the heat discussion)

Newer models are always designed better, work better, and are better. :)
Click to expand...
I guess you've never heard of the Revision A fears before...
 
Eidorian said:
I guess you've never heard of the Revision A fears before...
Click to expand...

yeah, but even if its a rev a , its a newer model, and in this case one that happens to be completely different. not all rev a's have issues. and if they do theyre usually fixed by the manufacturer
 
DeusInvictus7 said:
if my experience is anything to go by, my macbook (see sig) runs quite a bit cooler to the touch than my sister's white macbook. we generally do the same things, and i occasionally run more stressful apps than she does.
Click to expand...

Good thing you mentioned your sister's was white, otherwise your sig would have been quite curious :p
 
i vote for the new MB

I have the new MB (see signature) and have not had any heat issues whatsoever.

My vote is for the new MB aluminum.

Good luck with your choice,
m&c
 
Eidorian said:
The operating temperatures are the same for both laptops...

I haven't seen mine break 185° F yet. The Aluminium models don't throttle up until they're over 200° F and that's a little unsettling.
Click to expand...

Thats not true.

I was encoding video on my aluminum MacBook lastnight. CPU hovered around 173F with the fan at about 3000 RPMs. I have yet to see my aluminum MacBook break the 176F/80c mark.

My white plastic MacBook, on the other hand, would easily hit 90c/194f while encoding video, and the bottom case would reach 100f and sometimes more during those times according to iStat.

The enclosure, according to iStat, on my aluminum MacBook has never gone above 30c/86F, even while playing games.
 
If anything, the Aluminium Macbook would be cooler internally as the aluminium helps to dissipate heat better, making it 'feel' warmer. Besides, notebooks are designed such that they are capable of handling the heat being produced.le
 
The heat problem in the previous generation of plastic MacBooks was caused by the processor they used. They have just been updated and now use the same CPU as the Aluminium models, meaning that they will be significantly cooler.
 
tiara18 said:
Hi,
I am looking into the possibility of buying the 13" aluminum MacBook, but wanted to know whether the white plastic one would be a better option in terms of less overheating? I do know that I will be travelling with my laptop to hot destinations (near the equator) so which one is recommended?
Thanks!
Click to expand...

None of them should 'overheat' as long as they are used with proper ventilation. Like not on a pillow or bed or anything like that..
 
mathcolo said:
I always think you should get the newer model no matter what its pros and cons are. (In this case, the heat discussion)

Newer models are always designed better, work better, and are better. :)
Click to expand...

idk the refresh puts the white macbook on par with the $1300 aluminum, even though the new nvidia chipset on the white macbook doesnt support ddr3. there is no real advantage of ddr3 yet. so newer doesnt always mean better, in this case with performance of ddr3 newer is worse, because you are paying a premium for new tech that gives the same performance as lower clocked ddr2.

major things the alum macbook offers that i can not get with the white macbook are the led backlit lcd, and multitouch pad. i guess they have to give people a reason to buy the new aluminum macbooks :(

http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/ddr2_vs_ddr3/
 
mosx said:
Thats not true.

I was encoding video on my aluminum MacBook lastnight. CPU hovered around 173F with the fan at about 3000 RPMs. I have yet to see my aluminum MacBook break the 176F/80c mark.

My white plastic MacBook, on the other hand, would easily hit 90c/194f while encoding video, and the bottom case would reach 100f and sometimes more during those times according to iStat.

The enclosure, according to iStat, on my aluminum MacBook has never gone above 30c/86F, even while playing games.
Click to expand...
At what temperature did your fans start to throttle from the idle of 2000 RPM?
 
NewMacbookPlz said:
Good thing you mentioned your sister's was white, otherwise your sig would have been quite curious :p
Click to expand...

Haha! My girlfriend and my sister always argue whose is cooler :D

Yeah both my girlfriend and my sister got theirs at around the same time, about a month or two before the Aluminum ones came out. I waited because I'm nerdy like that, and because these forums basically corrupted my mind :p
 
mosx said:
Thats not true.

I was encoding video on my aluminum MacBook lastnight. CPU hovered around 173F with the fan at about 3000 RPMs. I have yet to see my aluminum MacBook break the 176F/80c mark.

My white plastic MacBook, on the other hand, would easily hit 90c/194f while encoding video, and the bottom case would reach 100f and sometimes more during those times according to iStat.

The enclosure, according to iStat, on my aluminum MacBook has never gone above 30c/86F, even while playing games.
Click to expand...

hold up.
This is waaaay off topic, but...
mosx, you have always been an Apple hater on these boards and you're constantly complaining about the inferior quality and bad OS. Why on earth would you buy a new Macbook after your last one? If I'm not mistaken you did say that your previous Macbook would be your last Apple machine.
 
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