Is your Mac hotter than when it's new?

Definitely a possibility. I haven't measured the temperatures of my mac's right when I got them, so I'm not sure on a personal level. Maybe they run hotter because the longer you have your device, the harder it is "working" due to more content and applications/files?

 

I have a 09 27" and it is a flipping heater, worse for sure, just got SMC fan control app and have to have the fans on about 1/2 to keep the temp down to about the 35-38c which is ok in my office now. Before i would have to keep putting it to sleep.
Was going to get a new one but might see how it goes.

Got a 15" mbpr refurb 2 days ago and it gets Hot along the alluvminum at back of keyboard and underneath, you couldn't use it on your lap.
Sending it back maybe not sure?

So far the only Apple product i have had that doesnt get hot is the iPad mini.

 

I've been running a retina 15 inch for at least 10 hours daily, for months and it usually remains quite cool, haven't noticed any changes

 

Mine has not had that issue (slightly older than two months now) yet.

However, that makes sense. As OS X gets more advanced and more demanding, your computer will run hotter.

It could also however be related to dirt/dust.

There's various possible reasons really.

 

This. And all the parameters you've changed over time and the little "inconsequential" performance tweaks you made/installed and forgot about. You can't compare a fresh new machine with a well used and fully loaded one. That's why Apple's common solution to all problems is to do a clean install.

 

I feel a dirty fan has something to do with this

 

Probably the thermal paste. The 2011 models are notorious for having sheer wasteful amounts of paste poorly globbed on, which in turn has the paste acting more like an insulator rather than a conduit to channel heat...

As the paste ages, it will lose its ability to transfer heat. Especially if poor quality grease is used.

If people can, buy Arctic Silver, go to an Apple store, and convince them to apply a proper amount on the CPU and GPU properly...

My2011macbookpro, before it went down, had a great guide on how to replace that... and they also showed another great engineering gaffe - a gap between a controller chip and heatsink (the USB controller or something)... and how to fix it, voiding the warranty in the process... pity it went down, it was a useful resource...

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Very true - as the air channel is reduced thanks to dust, temperatures will increase due to limited airflow output...