Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Where's the 13"'s ventilation fan?

R

ramzhh

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 21, 2010
173
0
Hey guys.

From what I think I've read somewhere, the fans on the 15'' and 17'' are on the bottom(correct me if I'm wrong, please). And because of that, leaving the MBP in a bed or on your lap would be bad. But from what I've read and seen on my 13'', the fans are between the Unibody and the screen. Is that also where the air is drawn into the vent system? I'm asking this because I've searched and still wondering whether it is safe or not to have it on my lap, since my legs wouldn't cover the air holes.

Take care :)
 
FkpKKrqQlYsgNBq6.huge


from http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook-Pro-13-Inch-Unibody/814/1
 
The MBP Airflow..

The intake on ALL MBP's involve intaking the air from the space around keys on the KEYBOARD, and EXHAUSTING it out of the vent in the top of unibody/HINGE area. In my opinion, it's great for quietness, but really hinders what could be done with a PROPER dedicated intake vent, like what used to exist on the old POWERBOOKS. Hence, I(personally) heavily use smc fancontrol, and recommend it's use(on all my mac's, MBP, Mini, MacPro), ALL the time......:apple::apple::apple::apple::apple:

In addtion, I have 4 MBP's (and a Mini, and MacPro)

2006 15 (2 Fans)
2008 15 (2 Fans)
2009 15 (2 Fans)
2009 13 (1 Fan)
 
Miles, i know that, as i've taken apart 3 units, BUT its still true......

THERE ARE NO OTHER AREAS TO INTAKE AIR. THE ONLY TRUE VENT IS THE EXHAUST VENT AT THE HINGE!!!

Have you even thoroughlty inspected your machine??? I have, and i know it's true.....
 
miles01110 said:
This is completely ridiculous. There's a layer of plastic in between the keyboard and the logic board/fan.
Click to expand...

Nope, in every MacBook and MacBook Pro there are areas in the keyboard and of the plastic covering which allow cool air to be pulled in by the fan(s) and exhausted out the back.
 
brdnboy said:
Nope, in every MacBook and MacBook Pro there are areas in the keyboard and of the plastic covering which allow cool air to be pulled in by the fan(s) and exhausted out the back.
Click to expand...

Really? Where?

lECoqwOfdSQKosy4.huge


There's probably some incidental airflow through the keyboard, but it's certainly not significant. Just turned my fans up to 6k... don't feel any sort of airflow right above the keyboard.
 
miles01110 said:
Really? Where?

lECoqwOfdSQKosy4.huge


There's probably some incidental airflow through the keyboard, but it's certainly not significant. Just turned my fans up to 6k... don't feel any sort of airflow right above the keyboard.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I was referencing the older design. In the new design, at least in the 15" and 17" a lot of air comes through the speaker grills and some air still come through the keyboard as the plastic shield is not air tight.

t_16975-01.jpg

922-7886.gif
 
Also, to add on to the ventilation topic, the way fans in MacBook Pro (and pretty much all laptops) function is to pull air in from their open tops and bottoms and the push it out the outlet, which in the MacBook Pro's case is in the back. This means that all the airspace above and below the fan is part of the thermal pathway. In the new unibody design there is a surprising amount of airspace between the bottom cover and the rest of the components inside. There is also a lot of airspace between the top case (keyboard) and the logic board. This means that a lot air that is pushed out the back is coming from random areas like the keyboard, speaker grill, ports on the side, leaks around the optical drive slot, leaks through the bottom cover, etc.

41409574eb.jpg
 
brdnboy said:
Also, to add on to the ventilation topic, the way fans in MacBook Pro (and pretty much all laptops) function is to pull air in from their open tops and bottoms and the push it out the outlet, which in the MacBook Pro's case is in the back. This means that all the airspace above and below the fan is part of the thermal pathway. In the new unibody design there is a surprising amount of airspace between the bottom cover and the rest of the components inside. There is also a lot of airspace between the top case (keyboard) and the logic board. This means that a lot air that is pushed out the back is coming from random areas like the keyboard, speaker grill, ports on the side, leaks around the optical drive slot, leaks through the bottom cover, etc.

41409574eb.jpg
Click to expand...

By doing this, they cool all the other components as well. If they had a direct intake port, they would only cool the GPU/CPU.
 
Thank you for the break down brdnboy.

Although I already knew how it works, I still don't believe its a very efficient means of cooling the components that make the most heat (CPU/GPU). Once again, why I use SMC fan control religiously.

It just seems that a heat "pipe" design (over the CPU/GPU) needs a cooler DEDICATED "source" of incoming air, vs. sharing the air that is likely already warmed by passing over the other components (as it is now).

Anyway, just my opinion...
 
osxtasy said:
Thank you for the break down brdnboy.

Although I already knew how it works, I still don't believe its a very efficient means of cooling the components that make the most heat (CPU/GPU). Once again, why I use SMC fan control religiously.

It just seems that a heat "pipe" design (over the CPU/GPU) needs a cooler DEDICATED "source" of incoming air, vs. sharing the air that is likely already warmed by passing over the other components (as it is now).

Anyway, just my opinion...
Click to expand...

I agree, it is not the best way to cool off the very hot CPU and GPU die. Most other makes and models of notebooks have vents all over the bottom, sides and front. Apple has just chosen to make a more aesthetically pleasing notebook with less ventilation and make it out a heat conductive material (aluminum) and our laps suffer because of it. Thats why they claim it is a 'notebook' not meant to be used on laps... Still annoying. My current notebook is a MacBook Air and it is even worse than the MacBook and MacBook Pro in terms of heat dissipation. I have changed out the thermal paste and use SMC fan control and still suffer form overheating and core shut down.
 
Lol now I realize that I can't have my 13'' on my lap, since the pants, from flexibility, cover the bottom part of the ventilation area. What a shame....
 
Originally Posted by Ramphex View Post
so is the design win or fail?

FAIL, but I do like my MBP's, all 3 of them. Sometimes we just have to overlook the design shortcomings( if not too blaring) and modify them as we see fit.
I do hope Apple eventually gets it right though....:(:(:apple::apple::apple::apple::apple:
 
The unibody air intake seems like BS. I covered the top and bottom of my fan on my dell. And it blows out air. Not as strong as with it uncovered, but enough to stay cool even with max load on the chips. It LOOKS like the shaped fins pull air in, and twirl it around and shoot it out. think of a circular motion.
 
ramzhh said:
Lol now I realize that I can't have my 13'' on my lap, since the pants, from flexibility, cover the bottom part of the ventilation area. What a shame....
Click to expand...

Ehh.. don't worry about stuff like that. Just use it. The CPU won't overheat, it's protected. And just having something in front of the air outtake doesn't mean the air doesn't get out.

It's pretty ridiculous not to use your laptop on your lap... It's designed to be used that way. You're overcomplicating using a device that was designed to be simple as hell.
 
Take a close look... INGENUITY!! in plane sight

Here is the answer most of the comments.
You can leave it close.. or open but dont obstruct the vents!!
the air vents work both ways,
well more like half and half, or more like 25/75.
you guys get the point. right?

oh, yeah sorry for the drawings
i dont got my stuff with me else i can even
animate the whole thing for you

past the green line the air is a bit warm since here the pipe is hotter,
then it goes all the way around to hit the pipe again but on a longer
section and escaping out. I say this is great like gasoline stove, but
backwards. heat a bit to then burn backwards is cool a be to then chill!
but the only problem with this u-turn design is that HEAT ALWAYS PREVAILS!!!
( at high temps hotter air goes in heating the whole fun-case)

but the desing is EXCELLENT for the requirements and restrictions of the project. get what us asked: 1 inch thick, big batt, etc. only so much works!
 

Attachments

  • 41409574eb.png
    41409574eb.png
    967.9 KB · Views: 9,731
Bosmonster said:
Ehh.. don't worry about stuff like that. Just use it. The CPU won't overheat, it's protected. And just having something in front of the air outtake doesn't mean the air doesn't get out.

It's pretty ridiculous not to use your laptop on your lap... It's designed to be used that way. You're overcomplicating using a device that was designed to be simple as hell.
Click to expand...

As someone already said, its not a laptop, its a notebook...
 
I your laptop doesn't have heat issues then just use it and enjoy!

I still can not comprehend why people go buy something, then start doing the research, and when they find something not to their liking, then the company has bad engineering.

Do your research before you plunk down 2K.

I can see asking the questions just for sake of knowing, but calling a design FAIL just because you don't agree with the way the engineers designed it is just wrong. Do you really think Apple has grown this explosively over the past 4 years due to having sub-par engineering staff design their products? And yes they will make mistakes, but cooling in the MBP line is not been proven to be one of them.

When you start your post with "I have an engineering degree from MIT and worked at NASA's JPL for 25 years then I may give some weight to your theories. Otherwise just use the product the way it was designed or return it.

I will close saying, if you have major heat issues then complain away, but I don't recall seeing that in any of the posts above.

I didnt intend to troll or flame any one with my comments, but the extent of the armchair engineering on this forum is just a little too much at times.
 
they said that the mac got too hot and burned my lap

i said its a free cauterization.

they said that the mac got too hot for the legs were burned.

i said its a free epilation.

they said that the aluminum design heated everything.

i said its a fire shield to block the frost dragon.

.
.
.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back