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why is apple stupid with temperature

firelighter487

firelighter487

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 30, 2014
385
238
The Netherlands
i've got a macbook early 2009, and it was running really hot , so i decided to install smcfancontrol on it. as soon as i started the program, it was reporting 66 degrees celsius. why is apple letting these computers run so hot? me personally, i ramp up the fans to max rpm if it gets above 60 degrees, and freak out above 70 degrees. especially because my laptop is now 7 years old and the solder and everything isn't in the best condition anymore. i just don't understand why apple lets their computers run so hot. it's like they want them to break after about 4 years due to overheating.
 
A 2009 Macbook in its prime would have been sitting at 40'c ish idle. After 7 years I'd expect it to need a good clean internally and fresh thermal compound.

Also remember that the older Intel chips run hotter so reported temps under load will be higher.
 
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that is not the problem. with the fan at 4000 rpm (maximum is 6200) while writing this it's sitting at 38/40 degrees, while previously doing exactly the same thing (browsing macrumors) it was sitting at 60/70 degrees. my problem is that apple doesn't let the fan rev up when it gets hot.
 
Not sure about yours but my core 2 duo is good up to 120C.

Idles around 60C. After cleaning the fan it was around 30-40C. Huge difference.

Edit: Maybe 105C, can't be bothered to look up my model ATM, but it's definitely well above 70C.
 
Last edited:
firelighter487 said:
that is not the problem. with the fan at 4000 rpm (maximum is 6200) while writing this it's sitting at 38/40 degrees, while previously doing exactly the same thing (browsing macrumors) it was sitting at 60/70 degrees. my problem is that apple doesn't let the fan rev up when it gets hot.
Click to expand...
60-70ºC is not a problem for temperature in portables. Depending on the exact model of CPU, Intel specifies the maximum safe temperature at over 105ºC. If nothing is being damaged at that 60-70ºC, why make the user listen to a noisy fan, and suffer with reduced battery life caused by running the fans faster than necessary?
Further, there's simply no evidence that running a CPU 20ºC cooler while still within the safe operating range of the CPU will cause that CPU to last longer.
 
when it was new maybe, but with time, the solder deteriorates and can withstand less heat. also, 120 degrees is way hotter than i'm comfortable with
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chrfr said:
60-70ºC is not a problem for temperature in portables. Depending on the exact model of CPU, Intel specifies the maximum safe temperature at over 105ºC. If nothing is being damaged at that 60-70ºC, why make the user listen to a noisy fan, and suffer with reduced battery life caused by running the fans faster than necessary?
Further, there's simply no evidence that running a CPU 20ºC cooler while still within the safe operating range of the CPU will cause that CPU to last longer.
Click to expand...

it's not the cpu i'm worried about. i'm more concerned about the gpu
 
firelighter487 said:
when it was new maybe, but with time, the solder deteriorates and can withstand less heat. also, 120 degrees is way hotter than i'm comfortable with
Click to expand...
This is one of the CPUs Apple put into the Macbook: http://ark.intel.com/products/39311/Intel-Core2-Duo-Processor-T6500-2M-Cache-2_10-GHz-800-MHz-FSB
You're nowhere close to the maximum of 105ºC.
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firelighter487 said:
it's not the cpu i'm worried about. i'm more concerned about the gpu
Click to expand...
The CPU and GPU are the same chip in a Macbook.
 
oh ok. i've got the 2 ghz core 2 duo model. but i thought intel has it's own integrated graphics. i've got the geforce 9400m, and it's weird that intel would build an nvidia chip into it's processor.
 
firelighter487 said:
oh ok. i've got the 2 ghz core 2 duo model. but i thought intel has it's own integrated graphics. i've got the geforce 9400m, and it's weird that intel would build an nvidia chip into it's processor.
Click to expand...
Oh those are a bit different. The 9400m is an integrated GPU that's separate from the GPU. Nonetheless, that is also rated at 105ºC.
 
yes, but as i stated before, the solder will deteriorate and can withstand less heat. if not, we would never have had the nvidia and radeon failures on certain models of MacBooks.
 
firelighter487 said:
yes, but as i stated before, the solder will deteriorate and can withstand less heat. if not, we would never have had the nvidia and radeon failures on certain models of MacBooks.
Click to expand...
That's a specific manufacturing defect. It's not a problem on the 9400m.
 
Your temps are fine. I'd consider them quite good for a laptop. Not much of a comparison here but I had no fear when running my old AMD HD5570 in my desktop at 95c.
 
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