Heat warranting a return?

[ronswanson]

I have the mid-2012 Macbook Air 13" i7 laptop. Got it through the refurbished Apple.com store.

I find that the CPU temperature climbs to 100 C easily and sometimes crashes as a result. Safari is almost always the culprit. Netflix often does it.. but so do numerous other websites, even if they seemingly have no video no them. As a result, I can't really watch a movie on Netflix without checking on the temperature often.. and turning up the fans using smcfancontrol to over 5500..

Is this normal? Can anyone else with a similar laptop watch netflix and leave Safari open in general without having to crank up the fan to 5500 regularly? My wife's i5 MBA doesnt seem to have these problems.. thinking I should take this to an Apple store and ask for help. Thoughts?

 

[0983275]

If you've cleaned out the vents and it still climbs to 100c regularly and apps keep crashing, then yes, get it checked out.

 

[justperry]

I have the mid-2012 Macbook Air 13" i7 laptop. Got it through the refurbished Apple.com store.

I find that the CPU temperature climbs to 100 C easily and sometimes crashes as a result. Safari is almost always the culprit. Netflix often does it.. but so do numerous other websites, even if they seemingly have no video no them. As a result, I can't really watch a movie on Netflix without checking on the temperature often.. and turning up the fans using smcfancontrol to over 5500..

Is this normal? Can anyone else with a similar laptop watch netflix and leave Safari open in general without having to crank up the fan to 5500 regularly? My wife's i5 MBA doesnt seem to have these problems.. thinking I should take this to an Apple store and ask for help. Thoughts?

You should have a look at Activity Monitor when temps are high, look which processes are on top of using the CPU, choose All processes from the drop down Tab.

If your Mac crashes many times because of high temps this is not normal, but first you have to look at Activity Monitor.

What you also could do is to make a new User Account, then login into that account and see if this issue occurs there as well, if not your normal User Account is affected and can be solved.

 

[ronswanson]

Safari in Activity Monitor

You should have a look at Activity Monitor when temps are high, look which processes are on top of using the CPU, choose All processes from the drop down Tab.

If your Mac crashes many times because of high temps this is not normal, but first you have to look at Activity Monitor.

What you also could do is to make a new User Account, then login into that account and see if this issue occurs there as well, if not your normal User Account is affected and can be solved.

Yes, I used Activity Monitor to find out that Safari is almost always the culprit. Skype video chatting can take things to 90 C as well but hasn't actually crashed.

Safari it is..

Edit: I have tried using Chrome instead - same problem.

 

[justperry]

Yes, I used Activity Monitor to find out that Safari is almost always the culprit. Skype video chatting can take things to 90 C as well but hasn't actually crashed.

Safari it is..

Edit: I have tried using Chrome instead - same problem.

Maybe Flash is the culprit, make sure Flash is updated, 90 degrees is high but I've heard more people complaining here about such temps, and it's still about 15 degrees under the Maximum CPU Temp.
I myself use flash to click, don't use a lot of flash.

 

[ronswanson]

yeah, did update flash.. netflix actually uses silverlight which causes as many problems as flash for my laptop.

 

[Mrbobb]

Is this normal?

Am flabbergasted that you have to ask that question. If crashing computers is normal we should go back to the typewriter!

Certain Apps will up the temperature, THAT is normal, but computers hardware is built to never let temperature exceed to the point where it crashes.

Computer will, as temp rises, spin the fan faster to remove heat quicker, and slow down clock speeds of the processors. Everything else being equal a faster processor clock speed will run the machine hotter.

A thermal shutdown (all of a sudden, everything stops, screen goes black) is a last ditch emergency switch computer have, because the normal procedure (last paragraph) for ABNORMAL reasons were not enough to maintain the temperature in check. This is like the car's engine light, you MUST take it in to the mechanic.

So after all that gibber-jabber, TAKE IT IN!

 

[macdudesir]

Am flabbergasted that you have to ask that question. If crashing computers is normal we should go back to the typewriter!

Certain Apps will up the temperature, THAT is normal, but computers hardware is built to never let temperature exceed to the point where it crashes.

Computer will, as temp rises, spin the fan faster to remove heat quicker, and slow down clock speeds of the processors. Everything else being equal a faster processor clock speed will run the machine hotter.

A thermal shutdown (all of a sudden, everything stops, screen goes black) is a last ditch emergency switch computer have, because the normal procedure (last paragraph) for ABNORMAL reasons were not enough to maintain the temperature in check. This is like the car's engine light, you MUST take it in to the mechanic.

So after all that gibber-jabber, TAKE IT IN!

I agree with you up until this point...the check engine light is nothing catastrophic. It has to do the emissions control system...your fuel economy may be down and emissions may be up, but your car is still ok to drive . Typically, yellow lights on the dash are ok, red lights mean stop NOW. Just a heads up .

To the OP, if it is crashing or shutting off, something is really wrong. The highest my MBA has hit is 95C...36C now...This is like a cars oil pressure light...you MUST stop and take it to a mechanic. (on a tow truck)

 

[sostoobad]

I have the same unit, also a refurb, works fine no issues, sounds like something is amiss.

 

[opinio]

I have the mid-2012 Macbook Air 13" i7 laptop. Got it through the refurbished Apple.com store.

I find that the CPU temperature climbs to 100 C easily and sometimes crashes as a result. Safari is almost always the culprit. Netflix often does it.. but so do numerous other websites, even if they seemingly have no video no them. As a result, I can't really watch a movie on Netflix without checking on the temperature often.. and turning up the fans using smcfancontrol to over 5500..

Is this normal? Can anyone else with a similar laptop watch netflix and leave Safari open in general without having to crank up the fan to 5500 regularly? My wife's i5 MBA doesnt seem to have these problems.. thinking I should take this to an Apple store and ask for help. Thoughts?

100 is high but ok if your CPU is maxed out. It is just working at capacity. My Mac mini i7 runs that hot.