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Does your air heat up this badly?

P

PaulWog

Suspended
Original poster
Jun 28, 2011
700
103
Max temp 95 celcius... idles around 88 to 93 celcius. While playing Starcraft 2 (or another very graphics & processor intensive application).

I'm using the i5 on the 11-inch.

Seems like it's way too much heat. I'm not getting crashing or anything... but 100 celcius is the temp Intel has set out as the absolute maximum.

Wondering what your idle/max temps are like on your Airs. Specifically interested in 11-inch.
 
either you have installed some program thats running in the background and heating thing's up....or you need a replacement.
 
tom vilsack said:
either you have installed some program thats running in the background and heating thing's up....or you need a replacement.
Click to expand...

I should clarify that when I boot up it's about 40 celcius. Then it hovers around 51-53 celcius, sitting on my lap.

If I run youtube or other things, it will climb between 55 celcius and 70 celcius depending.

It only gets up to those huge temps when I run a demanding program like Starcraft 2. Everything else keeps the temps 80 celcius or lower (unless if I equally stress it with something like Stracraft 2... like an HD Video + another less intensive game + some other stuff).

95 celcius peak seems too high nevertheless.


AbeFroman77 said:
I was getting 95-98 with flash websites. 11" i7.
Click to expand...

Yikes!
 
I wouldn't worry about it. My 13in i7 heats up to like 210 degrees f when i get a lot like of taxing apps open. Ex. Chrome w/ 10+ tabs w/ flash, dropbox syncing, skyping, and playing a (taxing) game...
 
Your Mac is not overheating. The Intel processors used in Macs are designed to automatically shut down to prevent damage if they truly overheat (around 100C/212F - 105C/221F, depending on your processor). iStat Pro will give you accurate readings of your temps, among other things.

Unless there is a rare defect in your Mac, your temps are well within the normal operating range, considering the workload you're putting on it. Websites with Flash content, games and other multimedia apps will put higher demand on the CPU/GPU, generating more heat. This is normal. If you're constantly putting high demands on your system, such as gaming or other multimedia tasks, expect temps to rise and fans to spin up accordingly. It's just your Mac doing its job to maintain temps within the normal range.

Your fans are always on when your Mac is on, spinning at a minimum of 2000 rpm (for MBPs) or 1800 rpm (for MBAs and MBs). They will spin faster as needed to keep temps at a safe level. If they're spinning up without increased heat, try resetting the SMC. Also, make sure you don't block the vents, which are located at the rear, near the hinge.

Learn about the fans in your Mac
Apple Portables: Operating temperature
 
When playing games I max out at 96 for some games (Minecraft, Eve, WoW). I haven't tested Starcraft II. In games like CS:S/Garry's Mod it is less, like 85.

It seems that more CPU intensive games push the temps higher. One of the downsides with just one chip for CPU and GPU it seems.

When im not doing anything else than surfing/chatting I get like 40-45 or so. It can go up to 50-55 when watching movies on top of the surfing.
 
Aren't they rated for much higher temps though? So your 95 whilst extremely high is within the processors comfort zone.

I read the vaio z with same chipset gets an even higher temp on full load.
 
To add to GGJStudio's informative post. The processors in the MBA have a T case of 100 degrees Celsius. As they get close to this, they will actively shutdown cores and reduce clock frequency to prevent damage by overheating. Your computer is running fine. My 13' i7 would get up to 96 degrees C during encoding, but now, after a couple of days, it's going up to 89. It seems that the thermal paste needs a couple of days to "settle in".
 
MacRumorUser said:
Aren't they rated for much higher temps though? So your 95 whilst extremely high is within the processors comfort zone.

I read the vaio z with same chipset gets an even higher temp on full load.
Click to expand...

As per Intel's website, the "tCase" is 100 celcius. I believe tCase is the maximum temperature of the processor core. Maybe I'm wrong though. Maybe there's a difference between "thermal specification" and "tCase". I forget whether tCase refers to the temperature of the CPU (what is read by iStat Pro), or whether tCase refers to a slightly different reading.

Also not ignoring the other posts above. Some useful info :) Enjoying the posts. Good information / good discussion.
 
PaulWog said:
Also not ignoring the other posts above. Some useful info :) Enjoying the posts. Good information / good discussion.
Click to expand...
This topic has been beaten to death in hundreds of threads. With rare exceptions due to manufacturing defects, there is not an overheating problem with Mac portables. There is only a perceived overheating problem. That's partly due to the fact that the aluminum casing transfers heat better than some other notebook materials, so they may feel hotter to the touch than notebooks made of other materials. It may even become hot enough to be uncomfortable to rest on your lap. This, too, is normal. Because a user is unfamiliar with the heat normally generated by a Mac portable doesn't mean there's a problem with the Mac.
 
Sandy Bridge appears to idle hotter than C2D--> 50-53C vs 38-43C.

SB turboboost reaches higher frequency than C2D

SB IGP is underpowered relative to 320M, thereby requiring more TB.

Therefore, SB battery drain > C2D battery drain.
 
Do you have it set to have a maximum FPS? Because if you don't your graphics card even if settings are low could be producing too many frames.
 
theSeb said:
To add to GGJStudio's informative post. The processors in the MBA have a T case of 100 degrees Celsius. As they get close to this, they will actively shutdown cores and reduce clock frequency to prevent damage by overheating. Your computer is running fine. My 13' i7 would get up to 96 degrees C during encoding, but now, after a couple of days, it's going up to 89. It seems that the thermal paste needs a couple of days to "settle in".
Click to expand...

Does your Air still hover around 75C after the initial 89C and fans kick in if you repeat again as of now? Thanks to your report, I'm finally convinced to go for the exchange. However, just want to double check and hope you hear from your repeated test reports again.:)
 
calvol said:
Sandy Bridge appears to idle hotter than C2D--> 50-53C vs 38-43C.

SB turboboost reaches higher frequency than C2D

SB IGP is underpowered relative to 320M, thereby requiring more TB.

Therefore, SB battery drain > C2D battery drain.
Click to expand...

Actually, I believe SB will drain more battery than C2D ONLY in gaming. SB might drain more battery when encoding, but it gets the job done quicker, so it'll idle earlier and thus saving more battery. Think of it this way - more power per watt used, instead of actual time of battery life.

Given that nobody actually do such intensive works on battery, or maybe just occasionally, SB is still more efficient. After reading many reviews, it appears that SB is still more efficient on power usage than C2D in daily works, especially when it comes to watching video - a full 100mins extra!
 
I'm running an i5 13inch.. Right now my mac is about 95c and fans are at 7000rpm. I'm on itunes and have an external monitor connected via vga. With chrome running..

I cant touch the top of my mba, it is super hot!

I'm going to exchange it tomorrow... If it doesn't fix the issue with my third replacement, I will be returning my mba...
 
bursthead said:
I'm running an i5 13inch.. Right now my mac is about 95c and fans are at 7000rpm. I'm on itunes and have an external monitor connected via vga. With chrome running..

I cant touch the top of my mba, it is super hot!

I'm going to exchange it tomorrow... If it doesn't fix the issue with my third replacement, I will be returning my mba...
Click to expand...

Are you sure it's not indexing or anything else?
 
bursthead said:
I'm running an i5 13inch.. Right now my mac is about 95c and fans are at 7000rpm. I'm on itunes and have an external monitor connected via vga. With chrome running..

I cant touch the top of my mba, it is super hot!

I'm going to exchange it tomorrow... If it doesn't fix the issue with my third replacement, I will be returning my mba...
Click to expand...

Check for a couple root processes running. I had the same issue but fixed it... See my post in the other fan/heat thread.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1193406/ post 120
 
mattpreston11 said:
definitely cant be good for the life of the machine..
Click to expand...

Keep in mind that a good engineer leaves some wiggle room between a published maximum threshold and the actual value at which damage occurs (often 1o to 20%).

So while Intel might engage throttling and automatic processor shutdowns when the CPU temperature hits 100 C, there is still a sizeable safety margin left before you *actually* hit dangerous temperatures where damage may occur.

That's just good & sensible engineering.

Assuming that Intel has good & sensible engineers, that is. :)
 
jackyyeow said:
Does your Air still hover around 75C after the initial 89C and fans kick in if you repeat again as of now? Thanks to your report, I'm finally convinced to go for the exchange. However, just want to double check and hope you hear from your repeated test reports again.:)
Click to expand...

I've not done any more encoding to test since yesterday, but I'll do some more today to ensure consistency. I've also found some interesting results when playing back 1080p files and the differences between "uncompressed" mkv and compressed H.264 files so I'll post those as well. It seems as though the Intel HD 3000 does a really good job of taking the stress of decoding and playing back H.264 files. I've observed 2-3% CPU use with perfectly smooth playback, quiet fans (2000 RPM) and cool temperatures.
 
trondah said:
Meaning you exchanged it once before for high temperature?
Click to expand...

I exchanged the first one because it would not charge, unless i reset the smc. The second one i returned because it was overheating and my speaker was sounding tinny...
 
PaulWog said:
I should clarify that when I boot up it's about 40 celcius. Then it hovers around 51-53 celcius, sitting on my lap.

If I run youtube or other things, it will climb between 55 celcius and 70 celcius depending.

It only gets up to those huge temps when I run a demanding program like Starcraft 2. Everything else keeps the temps 80 celcius or lower (unless if I equally stress it with something like Stracraft 2... like an HD Video + another less intensive game + some other stuff).

95 celcius peak seems too high nevertheless.

Yikes!
Click to expand...

MacBook Air is not desiged to be a gaming machine.
 
GGJstudios said:
This topic has been beaten to death in hundreds of threads. With rare exceptions due to manufacturing defects, there is not an overheating problem with Mac portables. There is only a perceived overheating problem. That's partly due to the fact that the aluminum casing transfers heat better than some other notebook materials, so they may feel hotter to the touch than notebooks made of other materials. It may even become hot enough to be uncomfortable to rest on your lap. This, too, is normal. Because a user is unfamiliar with the heat normally generated by a Mac portable doesn't mean there's a problem with the Mac.
Click to expand...

Sorry, can't buy that one. So if a Mac laptop burns someone's leg from this perceived heating problem, is that a perceived burn?

Some mac's when pushed do have a heating problem, that's not perceived it's fact.

Could they do much better? Yes. They don't because of cost, planned obsolescence, added weight ... Not worth the trade off in Apple's eyes.

Adding to their 63 billion cash reserve is their objective. Cooler Mac's, built in 3G, IPS screens, silent fans ALL doable today...
 
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