nTB MBP 13'' getting hot

[MBX]

Hi

I'm using my new nTB MBP 13'' for same tasks that I used my previous MB-Air for but seems the Air handled these tasks much better. New MBP is getting hotter quicker.

It's mostly browsing web, YouTube, Safari & Chrome open and stock market chart fluctuations.

I was expecting the new MBP 2.0ghz i5 to handle things better than the 1.4ghz on MB-Air.

Any idea?

 

[Willo34]

My take on it is that the airs are the only devices that might be worth the money, the new pro's are terrible. Could be anything. Had a look at which programs are running (in the background)?

 

[MBX]

My take on it is that the airs are the only devices that might be worth the money, the new pro's are terrible. Could be anything. Had a look at which programs are running (in the background)?

Probably right. Seems the current 1st generation of all new MBP's are poorly engineered/ assembled. And we have to wait for 2nd gen for it to work the way it's supposed to.

It's still great machine, just curious why it gets hotter more often.

 

[Sanpete]

Your new machine should handle them at least as well as the Air. If you want to see where the problem is, follow @Willo34's advice and look at what programs or processes are using up power. Might be easiest to check in your Activity Monitor.

 

[Eason85]

paging sanpete to the rescue

 

[MBX]

I see nothing unusual in the Activity Monitor. Most of the main apps use about 10% of CPU.

Sometimes I also notice it getting sluggish when I drag windows around when doing heavier tasks. It used to be super fluid on my MB-Air. Can this be a graphics card issue with the integrated card on the nTB MBP 13''? I have screen resolution set to "more space" (highest) but should still be super fluid when doing heavier tasks.

Really hope this is something a next macOS update will fix. Just ridiculous that MB-Air from 2014 doesn't feel much slower at all compared to a near-2017 machine.

 

[Sanpete]

I think the graphic card in your new machine is better than in the Air, so it's more likely a driver issue for the UI lag. That's been an issue for all the new models for some people, but curiously not for others. Maybe related to monitor scaling, but I don't know if that's been tested much.

10% each for apps seems a lot to me, but I'm used to quad cores. What does it show for the System at the bottom?

 

[MBX]

System shows about 3-5%
User about 10-15%
Idle about 80-90%

 

[Eason85]

If you were running Windows I could help you, but I don't know much about macOS. You want a program that can measure CPU/GPU clock speeds and temperatures. Something like HwInfo. You should be seeing like 1-2% on idle and temperatures around 40-50C max on the CPU.

 

[Sanpete]

That's higher than what I'm used to, but again with a larger processor, so I'm guessing you're within a normal range. Yet most people aren't having this issue. The new machines usually run cool under normal load.

How hot is it right now?

One possibility is vent blocking. Is it on a desk or a lap? In a case?

iStats is software some people use to measure internal temps, and there are others too you could try.

 

[MBX]

Thanks all. I'll see how next weeks go. At the moment it's nothing extremely annoying. But it would be nice if next macOS updates improve it if in case this can be optimized via software updates.

 

[csurfr]

While there is certainly room for optimization with the integrated drivers across the board from 13" to 15", don't forget your new 13" is driving nearly double the amount of pixels than your MacBook Air did. The new 13" screen is some 227ppi whereas the old was 128ppi.

Ultimately I think Apple will have the display lag issues worked out. That being said I don't notice any issues on my 15". But as Sanpete mentioned above, it's not something that everyone sees.

 

[Eason85]

Being slow is one thing, being hot is another. Maybe consider a repaste?