Will the MacBook Air get damaged by 'hard' gaming?

[dmelgar]

My base 13" 2012 MBA is reporting CPU temperature as high as 107 degrees Celsius. Isn't that higher than the maximum? When idle, the temp seems very reasonable and realistic so I don't think the sensor is broken.

 

[Kirixis]

The fan will need replacing

As other users have noted, the fan will be pretty much the only component with a shorter lifespan. Fans are cheap and easy to replace. It's most certainly free with apple care within three years. Outside of three years? It's probably time for a new MBA anyways.

 

[theSeb]

My base 13" 2012 MBA is reporting CPU temperature as high as 107 degrees Celsius. Isn't that higher than the maximum? When idle, the temp seems very reasonable and realistic so I don't think the sensor is broken.

Which app are you using to monitor the temps and what refresh interval is it set to? Do the temps stay at 107 for period of time under load?

 

[NeonBible]

Which app are you using to monitor the temps and what refresh interval is it set to? Do the temps stay at 107 for period of time under load?

Try the Dashboard widget 'iStat Pro'.

 

[theSeb]

Try the Dashboard widget 'iStat Pro'.

I know pretty much all of them; I was just wondering which one you are using.

 

[dmelgar]

Which app are you using to monitor the temps and what refresh interval is it set to? Do the temps stay at 107 for period of time under load?

I am using "Temperature Monitor" v4.11. smcFanControl shows the same temp. Its "CPU A temperature monitor".

To get it to 107 Celsius, I had 4 "yes > /dev/null" running, then running Cinebench OpenGL benchmark repeatedly. The temp gets up that high while the machine is still overall cool and the fans are slowly spinning up. Once the fans are really cranking the temp maxes out around 97.

 

[theSeb]

I am using "Temperature Monitor" v4.11. smcFanControl shows the same temp. Its "CPU A temperature monitor".

To get it to 107 Celsius, I had 4 "yes > /dev/null" running, then running Cinebench OpenGL benchmark repeatedly. The temp gets up that high while the machine is still overall cool and the fans are slowly spinning up. Once the fans are really cranking the temp maxes out around 97.

I see. I would say it's not something to be concerned about and just let smc do it's thing. I've been using my 2011 MBA for encoding videos for hours at a time and it's nearly a year old.