New Macbook Pro - Heat Issue

[CalebWynn]

Basically, my MBP has been running pretty hot. Not just hot, but HOT. I've talked to Apple several times and have been in the store twice about this issue, but when asked to reproduce the problem, it does nothing. He told me to download istat and take a screenshot if the CPU goes above 196 degrees (F). Well, while running iTunes and iPhoto (not downloading, just looking through my library), my MBP actually reached a CPU temperature of 204 degrees (F). I was wondering if I should even continue to push this through with Apple... obviously any computer's going to get hot, but in the beginning they had told me that unless it's melting the insides, they cannot do anything (and obviously by then, I lose material).

How should I go about handling the situation from here?

 

[soco]

There is sooooooo much discussion on this. Basically, consider the environment you're in (the room too) and ventilation. If you're running that hot all the time and it's clearly an issue, just go get a replacement. That's what Apple's awesome stores are for.

 

[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.

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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[palpatine]

Basically, my MBP has been running pretty hot. Not just hot, but HOT. I've talked to Apple several times and have been in the store twice about this issue, but when asked to reproduce the problem, it does nothing. He told me to download istat and take a screenshot if the CPU goes above 196 degrees (F). Well, while running iTunes and iPhoto (not downloading, just looking through my library), my MBP actually reached a CPU temperature of 204 degrees (F). I was wondering if I should even continue to push this through with Apple... obviously any computer's going to get hot, but in the beginning they had told me that unless it's melting the insides, they cannot do anything (and obviously by then, I lose material).

How should I go about handling the situation from here?

That sounds very odd to me and I would definitely get it looked at. The fact that you cannot reproduce the problem suggests it is an environmental problem (blocking the vent behind the screen, using it while sitting inside a blast furnace, etc.). The first step is to use iStat and take a screen shot. We might be able to get an idea from it about what the problem might be.

 

[CalebWynn]

As far as environment goes, it's always kept on a flat surface with nothing blocking the vents... here's the screenshot. It had just hit 204 degrees F then went down quickly before I could take another at 200.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

As far as environment goes, it's always kept on a flat surface with nothing blocking the vents... here's the screenshot. It had just hit 204 degrees F then went down quickly before I could take another at 200.


Image

No need for an enlarged screenshot. As you can see, your CPU is used for 98%. In order to find out which process is the culprit, you can use Activity Monitor as mentioned before.

 

[palpatine]

No need for an enlarged screenshot. As you can see, your CPU is used for 98%. In order to find out which process is the culprit, you can use Activity Monitor as mentioned before.

yep. you have your answer. you've got a program running somewhere that is basically maxing out your cpu. let's see your activity monitor.

 

[parapup]

As far as environment goes, it's always kept on a flat surface with nothing blocking the vents... here's the screenshot. It had just hit 204 degrees F then went down quickly before I could take another at 200.

You are using nearly 100% CPU - are you doing that intentionally to test out the temperatures or is some rogue process running? What happens if you reduce the CPU usage?

Also, why is it not reproducible? Sounds like you can just peg the CPU and show the Apple store guys and they can hopefully do something about it since it is above 196. For reference my 2010 17" hits 146F when watching Hulu.

 

[ghsDUDE]

If it's within 14 days return it.
If not you definitely need to make sure it's replaced or fixed.

I know they have limitations, but when you're spending around $2000 on a machine it better be close to perfect (and by that I mean not a bad apple like yours seems to be). No pun intended.