MBP 13 issue

[ocgirl]

Hello,

I don't know what is happening, but the last 2 days my MBP has gone weird.
The fans have gone to 6000 RPM, only watching video streaming and having firefox open. Now, I am watching a movie on VLC + firefox and the fans are going @ 5500 RPM, CPU is 88 degrees, enclosure base is 36 degrees.
Moreover, i feel like its taking over my battery life since its giving me only 2 hours !!
I tried to let it cool down by shutting it down and not using it for a few hours but it didnt help. =(

Do you have any opinion on the subject?
Thanks !

 

[GGJstudios]

The Intel processors used in Macs are designed to automatically shut down to prevent damage if they truly overheat (around 100C/212F - 105C/221F, depending on your processor). iStat Pro will give you accurate readings of your temps, among other things.

Unless there is a rare defect in your Mac, your temps are well within the normal operating range, considering the workload you're putting on it. Websites with Flash content, games and other multimedia apps will put higher demand on the CPU/GPU, generating more heat. This is normal. If you're constantly putting high demands on your system, such as gaming or other multimedia tasks, expect temps to rise and fans to spin up accordingly. It's just your Mac doing its job to maintain temps within the normal range.

Your fans are always on when your Mac is on, spinning at a minimum of 2000 rpm (for MBPs) or 1800 rpm (for MBAs and MBs). They will spin faster as needed to keep temps at a safe level. If they're spinning up without increased heat, try resetting the SMC. Also, make sure you don't block the vents, which are located at the rear, near the hinge.

You may have better success in attracting responses to your thread, and you'll make your thread easier to find for those searching for the same answers, if you follow this tip.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

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Have a look at Activity Monitor (Applications / Utilities /) and select All Processes and sort by CPU to see what the culprit may be.
Also check the "System Memory" tab to see what your "Page ins:", "Page outs:" and "Swap used:" are.

image below uses sorting by CPU as an example

Further reading:

Mac OS X: Reading system memory usage in Activity Monitor
Making The Most of Activity Monitor
What Is Activity Monitor (or How to Take Your Mac's Pulse)​

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Adobe Flash Player is CPU intensive, thus more power is needed to feed the CPU, which results in higher temperatures and often higher fan speed(s) on mobile computers. As more power is used due to Flash, the battery life of mobile computers is shortened by a good bit.
To check, if Adobe Flash Player is responsible for less battery time, go to Applications / Utilities / Activity Monitor and select to show ALL PROCESSES and sort by CPU as noted above.

There are a variety of Flash blockers for all the four major browsers available.
A Flash blocker does what it says, it blocks Flash content, but via a click on the marked Flash object, the Flash object can be activated and used.

• Safari: ClickToFlash, for which there is an extension and a plug-in; CTF allows you to download YouTube and other kinds of MPEG-4 encoded video too.
• Opera: has a built-in Flash blocker
• Firefox: Flashblock is an add-on to block Flash
• Chrome: FlashBlock is an extension to block Flash

Also make sure to have the latest Adobe Flash Player version running, you can get it here.​

Btw, no need to shut the Mac down, as it will shut down if it gets too hot.

 

[ocgirl]

Thank you, simsaladimbamba and GGJstudios
I knew that the MBP is small and streaming is more intensive, but the computer had never done that before, so I was a bit thrown off, and the 88 degree were getting too close to the 100 degrees to my taste =/

Anyway, I checked the activity processor, and i found out that with Parallels, Windows was running in the background (even though it was not shown on the dock!!), as soon as I removed it, all went back to normal (2000 rpms with VLC + firefox and 5 hours battery life).

Thank you, I needed the precious hours and quiet since I am going on an 8 hour flight, so need some entertainment!