Is it just me or is it hot in here?

[heycal]

I've been using a Mid 2013 base model Mac Air for the last seven years, my first and only Mac. It served me well and still works fine. But wanting more oomph since I'm downloading and loading video files frequently these days and screen sharing on zoom and all that, I decided to upgrade to 2020 Mac Air, spec'ing it up to i5, 16gm memory, and 512 storage. But the thing ran soo hot, and the fan noise kicked in early and loud -- and that was just using the internet mostly, no heavy lifting with video or streaming.

Googling told me that others have had this problem with Mac Air 2020's, and particularly when you upgrade to i5 processor. Too much power under the hood or something. There was suggestions that the cheaper i3 processor ran cooler and better, if slower.

Returning my souped up Mac Air 2020 to the Apple store, I was on the fence about whether to get the base Mac Air with the i3 and 8gb, or try a MacBook Pro 13. Really wanting some oomph and a true upgrade from old Mac, I ended up spending a pretty penny on a Mac Book Pro 13", i5 processor, 16gb memory, and 512 storage.

Then I took it home and prepared to be wowed. Instead I was warmed. I use my laptop primarily on my lap and want to continue doing so, but this baby is hot! I haven't heard the fan yet, and it's maybe not quite as hot as my souped up 2020 Air was getting, but much more hot than I'd like. And annoyingly, hotter than my 2013 Mac Air. That thing rarely gets too hot over the years, just now and then. And in side by side comparisons, the MacBook Pro runs significantly hotter than my old Air.

So... Please share insights, wisdom, and any advice. Am I stuck with owning a hot laptop if I want a recent model made by apple? Is there something I'm doing wrong, or can somehow do to minimize this issue? Do you all similar problems? Why is my fancy new machine so much hotter than my old outdated one?

Btw, I'm an older guy with minimal technical skills or comprehension, so please go easy on me with the lingo and all that

Thanks!

 

[velocityg4]

I haven't tried it out myself. But you could give Turbo Boost Switcher a try. With Turbo Boost disabled it shouldn't get as hot. The disadvantage being you'll be limited to the base clock. With the pro version of the App. It looks like you can set it to only disable Turbo Boost when on battery power.

Disable Turbo Boost to keep your MacBook cool

MaBook running hot? Disable Turbo Boost, and it will stay cool and run longer. Find out how to do it (and why you might want to).

www.cultofmac.com

Turbo Boost Switcher for OSX / macOS

Turbo Boost Switcher for macOS. Save battery of your Mac, cool your CPU and reduce fans noise

tbswitcher.rugarciap.com

 

[ross7777]

I think you need to give it a few days to complete all the setup and indexing.

 

[heycal]

I think you need to give it a few days to complete all the setup and indexing.

Interesting. So whatever processes a new computer goes through for a few days can make it run hotter, and then it may eventually settle down? Is that common?

 

[PieTunes]

Interesting. So whatever processes a new computer goes through for a few days can make it run hotter, and then it may eventually settle down? Is that common?

Very common. Depending on where and how your data is kept, Spotlight is indexing the drive, iCloud is synchronizing photos, your music is being synchronized, caches are being built, etc. Can take a day or two or longer depending on how much data. Photos in iCloud at about 40,000 pics and videos takes the longest for me whenever I set up a new system. It has to download, scan for faces, etc. I’ve always had new systems ramp up and down the temps and fans randomly while all this happens in the background. After a few days it settles down and all is well. You can also open up your Activity Monitor and see how it looks.

 

[heycal]

I suspect I wouldn't understand anything I saw in the activity monitor. Lots of numbers and letters in there that baffle me

I don't have any music on my computer or in the cloud, and less photos than most people, but I do have a couple of hundred GB of videos files, which I think are both on my computer and in the cloud, so maybe that's taking a toll?

Would it be accurate to say that in a week or two of use, my 2020 Macbook will likely get no hotter than my 2013 Mac Air ever did, or is that too optimistic?

 

[heycal]

Update: Someone tipped me off that my fancy new 4 port MBP 13 was selling for $200 dollar cheaper at Best Buy than I paid at Apple store, so I returned mine and bought one from Best Buy.

Same issues with heat. Much warmer than my 2013 MBA ever gets. Had it three days now, so presumably whatever syncing/indexing first occurs with a new machine should be completed by now?

 

[MSastre]

Update: Someone tipped me off that my fancy new 4 port MBP 13 was selling for $200 dollar cheaper at Best Buy than I paid at Apple store, so I returned mine and bought one from Best Buy.

Same issues with heat. Much warmer than my 2013 MBA ever gets. Had it three days now, so presumably whatever syncing/indexing first occurs with a new machine should be completed by now?

What size drive on the MBP 13? How much free space?
Video takes up a lot of space and you need to keep 15-20% free on your drive.

 

[heycal]

What size drive on the MBP 13? How much free space?
Video takes up a lot of space and you need to keep 15-20% free on your drive.

My specs are MBP 13", i5, 16gb, 512 ssd. Says 63gb free, with over 400 taken up with "documents".

 

[MSastre]

My specs are MBP 13", i5, 16gb, 512 ssd. Says 63gb free, with over 400 taken up with "documents".

You've got about 12% free sace .. that's your problem. You need to free up some space. If you need/want to keep all your files .. put them on an external drive instead of main drive. Minimum 20% free space with SSDs.

 

[macsound1]

Computers in general get hot and if you think about the processor difference between the MBA and the MBP, the Macbook Pro has a larger (by watt) processor, therefore it will create more heat.
Just like the difference between a 40w lightbulb and a 100w lightbulb, if they're equally "efficient" say 10%, that means 90% of those watts are converted directly to hear.
Thankfully intel chips are more efficient than that, but still, more power into the chip, more heat out of the chip.

Also, as Apple makes the case slimmer, that means the heat has less area to radiate. Maybe in your old MBA the heat could dissipate through the top case, air through the keyboard etc. I believe now, 100% of the exhaust air goes out through the hinge vent. Might be the same temperature, just less dispersed.

 

[heycal]

You've got about 12% free sace .. that's your problem. You need to free up some space. If you need/want to keep all your files .. put them on an external drive instead of main drive. Minimum 20% free space with SSDs.

Really? Just having it full up can create the heat? Never had that problem with my old Air

That's a bummer if true. One of the reasons I went for this machine with 512 ssd -- which seems to be so spacious compared to what I was used to -- was so that I could have all my videos on the computer itself wherever I go and not to have worry about external drives or the cloud. Guess I should have gotten more storage on the machine...

UPDATE: I just realized while I want to keep all my files on my computer, I should only have about 280 gb of stuff. Maybe I copied thumb drives more than once or something and that sent me over 400. I'll investigate.

UPDATE ON UPDATE: Just went in there and dumped a couple of hundred gb of duplicates of other nonsense. Now I've got over 300gb available. Thanks for bringing my attention to this issue, MSastre.

Computers in general get hot and if you think about the processor difference between the MBA and the MBP, the Macbook Pro has a larger (by watt) processor, therefore it will create more heat.
Just like the difference between a 40w lightbulb and a 100w lightbulb, if they're equally "efficient" say 10%, that means 90% of those watts are converted directly to hear.
Thankfully intel chips are more efficient than that, but still, more power into the chip, more heat out of the chip.

Also, as Apple makes the case slimmer, that means the heat has less area to radiate. Maybe in your old MBA the heat could dissipate through the top case, air through the keyboard etc. I believe now, 100% of the exhaust air goes out through the hinge vent. Might be the same temperature, just less dispersed.

Excellent explanation. I like the lightbulb analogy. I love a good analogy!

So bottom line: this machine will always be hotter than my old MBA. Just like a Ferrari is always going to sound louder than a Toyota...

Computers in general get hot and if you think about the processor difference between the MBA and the MBP, the Macbook Pro has a larger (by watt) processor, therefore it will create more heat.
Just like the difference between a 40w lightbulb and a 100w lightbulb, if they're equally "efficient" say 10%, that means 90% of those watts are converted directly to hear.
Thankfully intel chips are more efficient than that, but still, more power into the chip, more heat out of the chip.

Also, as Apple makes the case slimmer, that means the heat has less area to radiate. Maybe in your old MBA the heat could dissipate through the top case, air through the keyboard etc. I believe now, 100% of the exhaust air goes out through the hinge vent. Might be the same temperature, just less dispersed.

 

[MSastre]

Glad you got it sorted out and regained some space.