Macbook Air top right corner is getting hot

[xforbesx]

Actually left side is quite cold. Fan, system, cpu usage everything is ok but right side is always hot even when the system is idle. I couldn't solve this problem. I have tried clean install, smc and nvram/pram reset and it's overheating while sleeping, when it's closed it heats the screen top right and when I wake up it no battery at all.

 

[Willo34]

Just to state the obvious, the machines do get quite hot in and of themselves....sounds it could be a problem with your battery if it drains that quick.

 

[xforbesx]

Just to state the obvious, the machines do get quite hot in and of themselves....sounds it could be a problem with your battery if it drains that quick.

Thanks for your reply. Battery condition is good 45 cycle and I'm getting 5 hours on Mojave, also tried without battery and same result. I suspect to thunderbolt chipset, I tried connecting an external display and disappears image after warming up, strange issue, I can't solve it...

 

[Willo34]

Strange stuff. Prob have it checked by a proper repairshop at some point....

 

[Audit13]

The fan and cpu is next to the Magsafe I/O board and I would expect the top left area of the keyboard to be warmer than the top right side. The top right is where the LVDS cable connects to the screen so I'm not sure why the right side would be hot.

 

[nityi]

Did anyone find solution for this? I am facing the same issue!

 

[UnrealGecko]

Same here. I am running a mid-2013 MacBook Air with the latest OS. In the last several months, I have been trying to fight a sleep issue but that doesn't seem to be it. Safe mode or no, when sleeping, the right-hand upper corner gets blazing hot and the battery seems to drain faster than if I was using it. 10-20% an hour. it's absolutely insane for a low cycle count battery. the only thing I can think of is my USB on the right side powers but doesn't communicate. maybe a short?

 

[akh380]

Same problem here, mid-2013 Macbook air, latest OS & updates.
Any inputs?

 

[UnrealGecko]

great news!

I went crazy in terms of months of searching and failures trying everything I could find.
I ended up going to my last resort... tearing into the laptop.

I used an iFixit kit and opened up the laptop and found my USB on the right side shorting out and causing the 170-degree hot spot on the right side. This 170-degree temp was seen using an app called TG Pro (free for a short time).
The "Thunderbolt proximity" temp (which is right next to the USB in suspect) was 160-170 when awake. While sleeping, the temp was noticeably hot to the touch. Even after sleeping for a short or long time, the temp still registered 160-170 degrees. No logs showed waking issues so I was desperate as I lost over 10% an hour!

I decided to open it up and see what's going on....

I used the how-to: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Air+13-Inch+Mid+2013+Logic+Board+Replacement/15388
It was a lot of tedious work, pretty time consuming (2h or so) and VERY RISKY for what I was about to do.

I ended up removing the right side USB port from the logic board by gently rocking the port back and forth until all the solder points broke away from the board. I removed all remaining pins using a pair of needle nose. I then applied a bit of electrical tape to cover the bare/exposed solder points left behind.

After putting it all back together (VERY CAREFULLY), I found that the temperature at the Thunderbolt proximity sensor dropped CONSIDERABLY. It now sits at a very comfortable 80-85 degrees. I charged the battery all the way up and did some normal work. All was good. The laptop functioned as it should (WIN! I put everything back together correctly! haha) I closed the lid (which was a normal battery death sentence after several hours) and left it overnight... To my great joy the next morning, the battery only dropped 1%!!!!!! YAY!

TLDR: If you have a hot stop on the right side of your mid-2013 air, and it's verified by an abnormal temp via the Thunderbolt proximity sensor, open up your Air and see what's going on. For me, it was a busted USB port that, IMO, was shorting out on the board, draining the battery and creating the heat. Surgically removing the battery draining cancer fixed my problem!

Images:
1. board and USB suspected to be the issue
2. board without the USB port
3. board without the port v2
4. the usb port that was removed

p.s. I am in no way a how-to writer, pro or anything like that when it comes to this stuff, this was the result of desperation and many, many weeks of trial and error. Please forgive the novice writing and especially the lack of documentation and pictures. I didn't have much hope when tearing into this Air!

Good luck and don't give up!

 

[ericx87]

Registered to Thank You for the tips!
This is exactly the issue on my unit (2014 Macbook Air, thunderbolt controller shielding & top right body getting very warm even in sleep).

In my case, the USB port's metal casing/cover thing is shorting 2 of the near by components. I pried it up a little, making sure they are not touching each other, switched it on and the problem went away.

Thanks!

great news!

I went crazy in terms of months of searching and failures trying everything I could find.
I ended up going to my last resort... tearing into the laptop.

I used an iFixit kit and opened up the laptop and found my USB on the right side shorting out and causing the 170-degree hot spot on the right side. This 170-degree temp was seen using an app called TG Pro (free for a short time).
The "Thunderbolt proximity" temp (which is right next to the USB in suspect) was 160-170 when awake. While sleeping, the temp was noticeably hot to the touch. Even after sleeping for a short or long time, the temp still registered 160-170 degrees. No logs showed waking issues so I was desperate as I lost over 10% an hour!

I decided to open it up and see what's going on....

I used the how-to: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Air+13-Inch+Mid+2013+Logic+Board+Replacement/15388
It was a lot of tedious work, pretty time consuming (2h or so) and VERY RISKY for what I was about to do.

I ended up removing the right side USB port from the logic board by gently rocking the port back and forth until all the solder points broke away from the board. I removed all remaining pins using a pair of needle nose. I then applied a bit of electrical tape to cover the bare/exposed solder points left behind.

After putting it all back together (VERY CAREFULLY), I found that the temperature at the Thunderbolt proximity sensor dropped CONSIDERABLY. It now sits at a very comfortable 80-85 degrees. I charged the battery all the way up and did some normal work. All was good. The laptop functioned as it should (WIN! I put everything back together correctly! haha) I closed the lid (which was a normal battery death sentence after several hours) and left it overnight... To my great joy the next morning, the battery only dropped 1%!!!!!! YAY!

TLDR: If you have a hot stop on the right side of your mid-2013 air, and it's verified by an abnormal temp via the Thunderbolt proximity sensor, open up your Air and see what's going on. For me, it was a busted USB port that, IMO, was shorting out on the board, draining the battery and creating the heat. Surgically removing the battery draining cancer fixed my problem!

Images:
1. board and USB suspected to be the issue
2. board without the USB port
3. board without the port v2
4. the usb port that was removed

p.s. I am in no way a how-to writer, pro or anything like that when it comes to this stuff, this was the result of desperation and many, many weeks of trial and error. Please forgive the novice writing and especially the lack of documentation and pictures. I didn't have much hope when tearing into this Air!

Good luck and don't give up!

 

[UnrealGecko]

@ericx87 You're welcome! That's great to hear it helped you too!