Hot keyboard on Macbook Pro Retina?

[ScottM62]

Got my 6/20 2.3/16/256 Macbook Pro Retina on Wednesday, one day earlier than expected. On the plus side, the screen's amazing, and the performance very good. The battery is only so so -- I'm getting 4.5 hours with multiple tabs open and web surfing. But my biggest negative so far is what seems like a lot of heat emanating from the keys themselves. Under normal use, the wrist pads aren't that warm, although the bottom is. The keys themselves, though, seem very warm. Not too hot to touch, but definitely noticeable as I type.

I'm coming off an old white 2007 Macbook, so this is the first unibody Mac I've worked with. I know they run hot. But the CPU and GPU temps are only in the low 40s as I type this. Is it normal that the keys get kind of toasty?

 

[sk8r1230]

Yes. Left side of keyboard especially.

 

[spdntrxi]

mine hovers around 32.. keyboard is minimally warmer then rest and top half only.

 

[armistice]

I noticed my keyboard was pretty hot this afternoon after browsing the internet for about an hour- it prompted me to download iStat. Here are my results:

**EDIT** the photo posted MASSIVE. here's a link to the photo: http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=mc6nh1&s=6

((if you don't want to click, the GPU temp is 124 degrees, and the CPU 2 is 133 degrees))

I'm so stupid when it comes to this kind of stuff...should I be concerned? Like I said, all I've done is browse the internet. I have a project in Photoshop open, but it's pretty small and I haven't actually worked on it in a few hours.


This heat just seems kind of excessive considering I've just been browsing.

 

[tillsbury]

"just browsing" can get intense if there's a lot of flash video on the site. I have temperatures usually around 40 degrees (C) for the CPU and GPU, rising to 50ish (which would be 120F) when browsing, up to a max I've found of 72C (160F) when running video conversions or 3d games, but it very quickly goes back down when it's finished. These are temperatures of CPU, GPU, and GPU diode, the rest of them are lower.

Keeps your hands nice and warm!

 

[asicguy]

I noticed my keyboard was pretty hot this afternoon after browsing the internet for about an hour- it prompted me to download iStat. Here are my results:

**EDIT** the photo posted MASSIVE. here's a link to the photo: http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=mc6nh1&s=6

((if you don't want to click, the GPU temp is 124 degrees, and the CPU 2 is 133 degrees))

I'm so stupid when it comes to this kind of stuff...should I be concerned? Like I said, all I've done is browse the internet. I have a project in Photoshop open, but it's pretty small and I haven't actually worked on it in a few hours.


This heat just seems kind of excessive considering I've just been browsing.

I design chips for a living and I used to design graphics chips.
The temperatures are the junction temperatures of the die where it contacts the heatsink. It will be less the further you get from the diode that does the measurement.

All chips are designed to worst case temperatures. Assuming the parts are commercial, they are designed to operate correctly up to 85C. The parts are also binned for speed at those temps. The 2.6's and 2.3's come from the same lots, just one passes at 85C @ 2.6Ghz and some don't.

The temps you are quoted are well within spec, although they may heat up your hands a little.

 

[armistice]

The temps you are quoted are well within spec, although they may heat up your hands a little.

Thank you so much for all of the info/peace of mind. It's much appreciated

 

[thesergie]

Totally hot.

Yes. Left side of keyboard especially.

Yeah, it's really annoying. When i have skype on or facetime on my keyboard i literally not usable because of how hot it gets on the left keys, especially the S key (which i've burned myself on already). Not cool. You think i should get it checked out at the genius bar?