Mid 2010 13" Macbook Pro Heat problem in left palm rest area

[chupacabra31]

Hello,

I have noticed that with certain apps and games the left palm rest area of the laptop getting uncomfortably hot. I am just wondering if this is normal? I cant remember or not if this has always been the case because I never used to use my macbooks keyboard or mouse in all honesty I always used it as a desktop but now that I travel more I find I use the built in keyboard. One app that will consistently cause it to run hot in that area is diablo 3. I am running OSX 10.8.5. I assume this is because of the battery no? Is there anything I can do about this? Do I need to buy a new battery? The battery seems to recharge just fine. Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[Kissmyne]

The main component in that area of your notebook will be the battery. If you are running intensive apps such as the aforementioned Diablo 3 on battery power, since it will force the battery to rapidly discharge, it will get hot(unpleasant to touch, but not painfully so), this is expected behavior.

 

[chupacabra31]

The main component in that area of your notebook will be the battery. If you are running intensive apps such as the aforementioned Diablo 3 on battery power, since it will force the battery to rapidly discharge, it will get hot(unpleasant to touch, but not painfully so), this is expected behavior.

That's just it is painful, unfortunately. I guess I will have to play with a mouse and keyboard externally which is kind of a drag. Is there anything that can be placed between the palm rest and my hand to keep that area cool I wonder?

 

[Kissmyne]

That's just it is painful, unfortunately. I guess I will have to play with a mouse and keyboard externally which is kind of a drag. Is there anything that can be placed between the palm rest and my hand to keep that area cool I wonder?

If it is painful, I strongly recommend visiting your nearest Apple Store so that they can investigate(Apple is very serious about customer safety, they usually will try to address it even if out of warranty)

 

[DeltaMac]

Could be interesting to see what the temp actually is. "Painful" is a little subjective, I think.

Keep in mind that the heat can be distributed quite well by the aluminum case - it's pretty good at that. The heat may appear to be localized around the battery, but actually reported by the sensors around the RAM. A utility that charts those sensors may give you a better idea about what's hot - and what's not so much.

There's several utilities that display the temps that the various sensors report in your MBPro.
iStat menu is one, there's others that you can search for.

 

[Altemose]

I have had my 13" MacBook Pro for a long time now and it has never gotten to the point of burning on the palm rest. Does the battery show "Service Battery" or a similar warning when clicking on the battery option in the menu bar? I would have a Genius Bar check it out to be safe.