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mbp retina extreemly hot and 4h battery

G

guido.coza

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 12, 2011
155
7
South Africa
Hi all
After much resarch which is the best mac for me I decided on a mbp retina. This is my 5th mac after 2 early mac g4's, macbook, iMac and a mba 13" which i promised my child.
But from the start I think it was a mistake!
I use the mac for some Lightroom work and the occasional photoshop stacking and pano work.
Right from the start I noticed that the mbp gets much hotter and faster so than the mba ever did. But I wasn't worried too much.
However 3 days ago I wanted to mirror a movie via Apple TV and stopped as not even 5min into the movie the fan went on and the machine was unpleasantly hot! Today I wanted to do some tethered photo shoot and I nearly burned my hands on the bottom of the machine. I have no thermometer but it was too hot to touch with comfort, and I only had the camera on live view without even doing something yet.
The other "bad thing" I noticed that battery life is a max of 3-5 h. that is with surfing the net via wifi, or cataloging pics in Lightroom. I know this is not scientific but I would guess that I got nearly double the time out of my late 2012 mba 13"!!
The worst is, that when I contacted my local iStore here in South Africa, they had an attitude.The laptop is more than the 7 day warranty old and there is nothing they can do except to book it in and send it away :(
3 questions
Are the MBP'S known for getting THAT hot??
Is the battery only lasting 3-5H max
And does Apple really has such a bad after-sales attitude, or what can I do to not loose a 10day old laptop for 3 weeks because of a manufacturing fault if it is one??
All help would be most appreciated
Thanks in advance
 
There are many factors that impact your battery life, and running more resource-intensive apps will shorten the time you can run on battery. You can always plug in and run on AC power, if it's available. See the BATTERY LIFE FROM A CHARGE section of the following link for details, including tips on how to maximize your battery life.
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The link below should answer most, if not all, of your battery/charging questions. If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend you take the time to read it.
If you're not already doing so, use iStat Pro (free) or iStat Menus ($16) to get accurate readings of your temps, fan speeds, etc., rather than relying on your sense of touch or sound. A forum member has posted a copy of iStat Pro that has been "tweaked" to enhance compatibility with recent OS X versions. You can download it here.
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The Intel processors used in Macs are designed to automatically shut down to prevent damage if they truly overheat. CPU Tjmax = 105C (221F), GPU Tjmax = 100C (212F) on i3, i5, i7 processors. (Source: Intel)
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Unless there is a rare defect in a Mac, most temps are well within the normal operating range, considering the workload being put 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.
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It is also quite normal for your Mac to become extremely hot to the touch during intensive operations. The aluminum body transfers heat more effectively than other materials used in computer casings, so you will feel the heat more. This doesn't indicate that it's overheating and will not harm the computer to be hot to the touch.
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The fans in Macs are always on when the Mac is on, spinning at a minimum speed which varies by Mac model. They will spin faster as needed to keep temps at a safe level. If your fans are spinning up without increased heat, try resetting the SMC. (PRAM/NVRAM has nothing to do with these issues, so resetting it will not help.)
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The intake and exhaust vents are in the back of the computer near the hinge on all Mac notebooks (except the new MBP with retina display, which has intake vents along the sides at the bottom). The iMac vent is on the back of the computer. Make sure the vents remain unblocked to allow your computer to perform at its best. For Flash-related issues:
 
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