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is 15 inch RMBP always running fans?
- Thread starter VesselA
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The fans are spinning. They're just inaudible because they don't spin very fast at idle.
I read in another thread that someone had measured the fan speed and it does in fact go to zero. If you put your ear next to the machine there is zero fan sound, just a very faint machine whine sound which can only be heard with ear literally touching the machine. So in order to double check I just downloaded "macs fan control" app that monitors the speed and heat of components. It says minimum RPM is 1299, I had a game running then closed it and the speed dropped down to around 1299 and hovered for a few seconds then dropped down to 0!, its now at 0 RPM as current speed - wow, this may have confirmed it.
Now it would be interesting if someone with a 15 inch MBP would download "MacsFanControl" and see what the fans idle at or if they go down to zero also.
I never see them go under 2000rpm. But the redesign of the fan blades to asymmetric was one of the features touted at rMBP launch!
And it's also patented: http://appleinsider.com/articles/12...ail-retina-macbook-pros-quiet-asymmetric-fans
I have a 15" rmbp late 2013, and the lowest it goes is 2000rpm.
thanks for the info - at this idling level can you hear the fan going if you put your ear up close to the machine? Also do you notice any fan ramping up for watching video full screen or browsing web / youtube videos
Yes, the fans are ALWAYS spinning, unless the unit is asleep or off. The minimum fan speed is different between 13 and 15 inch versions(13 being lower). Here are my fan readings at idle for my 15" rMBP
FYI Apple designs their fans so that they are NOT AUDIBLE except under heavy load. There is an entire section dedicated to advertising this fact on their website.
FYI Apple designs their fans so that they are NOT AUDIBLE except under heavy load. There is an entire section dedicated to advertising this fact on their website.
see you are getting an idling RPM, 13" is going down to ZERO, confirmed by multiple programs now - It would be interesting if you could download a more detailed analysis with http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/47386/macs-fan-control
then we could see if the CPU temps correlate with the fan activity
yes they are related, but I mean it would be interesting to see how your CPU temps correlate to your fan activity in comparison to my CPU temps - really the detail in showing internal temps prove that the RPM is accurate, I bet your CPU temps are running higher than 60º and thats why the fans have to be always idling
Agreed, the fans are generally inaudible.
104F = 40 C. Thats nice and cool, is that pretty typical of your MBP?
Heres another screenshot during some "light" usage..
This is what iStat Pro shows. Even when the fans speed up to over 5,000 when doing processor intensive things, it doesn't seem to get too much hotter than that.
This year I bought another new built to order, fully optioned 15" MBP.
I'm very happy to report that it's the coolest, most silent of any... of the huge number of new MBP's I've bought every year since they replaced the PowerBook. I am just delighted with this laptop.
Finally! A MBP that will do the resource intense, heavy duty computing I do... without getting so hot I can't touch it.
And believe me I know all the tricks, software utilities, mods, thermal paste changing techniques, etc. that were used over the years to combat the heat that Apple puts up with to have wafer thin laptops.
It was a computer in a kit if you didn't want to live with uncomfortable heat day in and day out. Apple put sloppy gobs and gobs of excess thermal paste on the MBP's I bought and quickly took apart. Cleaning and replacing with a proper amount worked near miracles. From Hot to warm, the correct application of thermal paste was something Apple simply didn't give a flip about.
Finally those days appear to be over.
I'm very happy to report that it's the coolest, most silent of any... of the huge number of new MBP's I've bought every year since they replaced the PowerBook. I am just delighted with this laptop.
Finally! A MBP that will do the resource intense, heavy duty computing I do... without getting so hot I can't touch it.
And believe me I know all the tricks, software utilities, mods, thermal paste changing techniques, etc. that were used over the years to combat the heat that Apple puts up with to have wafer thin laptops.
It was a computer in a kit if you didn't want to live with uncomfortable heat day in and day out. Apple put sloppy gobs and gobs of excess thermal paste on the MBP's I bought and quickly took apart. Cleaning and replacing with a proper amount worked near miracles. From Hot to warm, the correct application of thermal paste was something Apple simply didn't give a flip about.
Finally those days appear to be over.
This is what I've noticed as well. I've touched my 15" MBP after a full of hour of video processing with the fans spinning as fast as they go and this thing has only felt warm, not hot.
this is very interesting - your fans are active at 40º, the 13" 2015 retina is showing zero even at 60º - Ive been doing some more stress tests and it seems the fan monitor is accurate as eventually adding loads I see the fan pick up to the minimum active speed around 1300 RPM, and this is also silent
looks like the 13" current model can just do more without over heating or needing the fans because its a less intensive CPU i5 and not quad core - I much prefer this than having a little extra power but more fan noise ramping up while watching videos or running logic pro
May well be, that the fans of 15" are dimensioned with the dGPU in mind. Or do you think the dGPU-less models of late have a different fan setup? (I never checked myself).
I'm pretty sure(99%) it is the same fan configuration, however the cooling profile differs(could even be the same cooling profile, but since the thermal zones differ between the two models, the behavior particularly between the 2 fans would differ.).