Heat of chassis 2011 MBP?

[blackbinary]

Hi everyone. I've seen some previous heat-related threads on this forums, but they don't seem to answer the question I'm concerned about.

I've just bought a brand new MBP 2011, the 17" model.

I've noticed it gets too hot to handle even doing basic work.
As others have pointed out the hottest areas are the left side and especially the top near the vent.

I was listening to itunes with the screen off for 45 minutes, and the temperature of the chassis according to iStat Pro is around 40 degrees celsius.

The room temperature is approximate 25 degrees celsius.

I understand the MBP can get quite hot when under heavy load, and it makes perfect sense with the aluminum unibody, I am just surprised that it gets that hot with very little load on the system. Is this an issue, or is this normal operation?

Also, does anyone know the upper limits the chassis can handle as far as temperature goes?


Thanks.

 

[Eidorian]

The Magsafe connector input, AirPort card, and the exhaust in general are going to be the biggest heat generators under idle operations that you will encounter.

I have seen internal temperature reports hit 100 C. If you are concerned about ambient air, the maximum suggested operating temperature is a paltry 35 C.

 

[zwodubber]

Here's my 13" under heavy load in Fahrenheit

 

[alust2013]

Well, aluminum doesn't melt until over 600C, so I think you'll have other issues before you have to worry about it damaging the shell. 40C is actually relatively cool if you're talking about the CPU, although it is a little warm for the body itself. I really wouldn't worry about it though.

 

[Hyper-X]

Hi everyone. I've seen some previous heat-related threads on this forums, but they don't seem to answer the question I'm concerned about.

I've just bought a brand new MBP 2011, the 17" model.

I've noticed it gets too hot to handle even doing basic work.
As others have pointed out the hottest areas are the left side and especially the top near the vent.

I was listening to itunes with the screen off for 45 minutes, and the temperature of the chassis according to iStat Pro is around 40 degrees celsius.

The room temperature is approximate 25 degrees celsius.

I understand the MBP can get quite hot when under heavy load, and it makes perfect sense with the aluminum unibody, I am just surprised that it gets that hot with very little load on the system. Is this an issue, or is this normal operation?

Also, does anyone know the upper limits the chassis can handle as far as temperature goes?


Thanks.

The chassis can handle high temps, it's YOU that can't. At around 80 degrees, most users start to experience discomfort especially if it's under their palm rest area. Don't worry about the CPU, Intel has a hardcoded shutdown point if it gets that hot and will hard shutdown to protect itself.

Some users opt for a notebook cooler which is essentially an elevated stand with some fans built into them. A cheaper "ghetto" mod involves using taller stick-on feet that raises your unit a little higher to allow for better air movement and if needed, you could supplement it with one of those cheap $10 desk fans to blow under, at and around it.

 

[grahamnp]

My ambient temps are 30-35 C and mine idles at 50 C with the minimum fan speed manually raised to 2800 RPM. This isn't much worse than other laptops but still worse than yours so I don't think you have anything to worry about.

 

[blackbinary]

Thanks all, i had the macbook on a stand that covered its bottom, i think that may have contributed to the heat as well.

I get worried though, when I see for example that a poster above had 70 Fahrenheit under heavy load, which is half of what I was seeing practically idle. I suppose it depends on the ambient air temperature of the room too.

It seems to be around 30 celsius right now, which is much better, i think having it sleep all night cooled it down.