MPB 15" running hot when idle

After upgrading to OS X Lion, I have noticed my MBP (15-inch, Early 2011, 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7) started making much louder fan noise, so I started investigating why is the MBP running hotter. What I found out was that computer is now using discrete GPU virtually all the time - few example applications that it depends on: Firefox, Google Chrome, BusyCal, ForkLift, Skype well anything using Core Animation. So apparently with discrete GPU on, even though there's virtually no CPU usage, fans are running at 3-3.5krpm. I took the MacBook to Apple Store and The Genius told me this is normal - GPU gets hot, fans are cooling it down.
While I understand the physic basics, in my opinion, this is a really bad hardware design because it is both making an irritating noise (only at 2krpm fan noise is virtually unnoticible) and it's draining battery even more (in addition to extra power that discrete GPU needs). That's not a full story however.
When I discovered this, I decided to disable the discrete GPU (using gfxCardStatus) which did make the GPU problem go away, however computer was still running at 2.8-3krpm rather than the usual 2krpm and making distracting noise (I bought SSD just so I get rid of the noise that HDD makes). Then I discovered that my Audio interface (TC Konnekt 8) driver is increasing kernel_task CPU usage by ~5% - and that was enough to increase the CPU temperature to ~45-50C (113-122F) and make fans spin at 2.8-3krpm.
So, only when the system is running 99-99.5% idle and discrete GPU (AMD Radeon HD 6750M 1024 MB in my case) is OFF, CPU temperature drops to 42-44C (107.5-111F) and fans spin at 2.5-2.6krpm.
This is my fourth MacBook, yet first one making such a distracting noise. I'm very disappointed and surprised this is not going to be fixed by Apple as a broken hardware when a solution is found. I'm wondering if I'm the only one with such an issue and if there's anything I can do about it other than complain here.

In the same unchanged configuration, is OSX running a bit cooler? Windows does run hotter a bit compared to OSX on Macs, unlike PCs.
Some others have similar experience - Re: Bootcamp Windows 8.1 Overheating on Macbook Pro Mid 2014

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MacBook Pro hot when idle

Hello
I resently installed an SSD in my MacBook Pro and a DataDubler to have my orioginal HDD in the SuperDrive bay
I don't know it that has to do with anything but resently my mac is running hot (80ºC) while doing nothing. it idles with 2-5% usage... and if I turn op the fans to full and still doing nothing it get's down to 60ºC and it's in power savings mode (with only the 9400M graphics card)
is there anybody that has experiens the same, and know what to do...

Hi to everybody!
I have exactly the same problem. I don't know if i'm obsesed with my macbook pro temperature, but before the ssd upgrade (i have made a Fusion Drive with one Samsung SSD 840 + Apple Retail 500 Gb 7200 HDD), the temperature was under control with my fans at 2000 RPM. At 86ª, my fans were at 2000 rpm and when my computer reaches 92ª or the process has been consuming cpu resources during a long time, my fans usually went faster. Only in that case!
But with my new install, and my new ssd, at 75ª i have my fans at 2500-3000 rpm. What's the problem? I have been comparing the cpu temperatures and are very similar, but the speed of the fans is always bigger than with only one tipycal hdd.
Of course, my macbook pro has all the content indexed, trim enabled, and my cpu is completely ilde!!! at 0%, 3000 rpm. That's unacceptable!
I have been reading about the problems of the nvidia MCP79 chipset. Apple has limited it's hdds to 1,5 gbps, but with the new ssds, we are forcing to the system to go at 3gbps. This will cause an increase in the temperature of the chipset (obviously is running faster and making more operations per second than before the update), but i'm not sure if this is the guilty success.
Any suggestions?
Thanks a lot to everybody. (sorry for my poor english)

MBP running hot when connected to Cinema Display

I have a 2.33 MBP that I use for work and at home. I also have a 23 inch Cinema display on my desk at home. I have noticed that when I have my MBP connect to the Cinema and the screen on the MBP closed it runs hot and the fans never seem to stop running. I was wondering if anyone has seen the same thing and if so what they have done to resolve the issues. I have had looked at the laptop coolers that go under the laptop and that powers the fans off an USB port, but I really like my desk clean and don't want to add something else to it. Any ideas or suggestions would be great.
Thanks
Matt

Try running with the lid open and see it temps drop.

MacBook runs hot when battery is in

Maybe I haven't entered the right searches, but my problem seems unique as far as I can tell.
It's basically all in the title -- the MacBook gets very hot when (and usually only when) the battery is in. This started happening just yesterday and is now persistent. Several observations:
1. Without the battery, the MacBook is around 56 degrees Celsius or so, don't really hear any fans.
2. If I put in the battery (after putting the Mac to sleep), the MacBook very quickly goes slightly above 70 degrees and the fan gets very loud while awake, spitting out very hot air.
3. It has nothing to do with charging -- this happens whether or not the power adapter is attached.
4. It is not the battery itself that is hot -- when I remove it, it feels about room temperature.
5. I don't notice any CPU usage spikes with the battery in.
The most undesirable side effect to me, frankly, is not so much the noise and heat as the decrease in battery life with the fans running continuously full blast. My battery still has 95% of its capacity yet is only good for about an hour and a half of usage on a full charge, with the screen brightness set to the lowest possible level and Energy Saver set to "Better Battery Life." Just a couple days ago I was getting almost an hour more of use per charge.
I haven't tried too many things to remedy the problem myself since I can't think of too many things to try, although I did reset the PMU (shut it off, removed battery and power adapter, held down power button for 5+ seconds). I also have all the firmware on OS X updates including the ones that came out a couple weeks ago (I just went to Software Update and it didn't find anything new, either).
So if I seem to have eliminated the battery itself, the charging mechanism, and the CPU as a cause, what then could it be? If someone thinks the battery could somehow be defective and short-circuiting something inside the MacBook I'd like to try swapping out the battery with a friend's (I'd do it anyway, but it's a bit of a drive). Otherwise, it's straight to the Genius Bar (even longer of a drive).
Thanks in advance!
Dave
MacBook 2.0 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Still not sure why the MacBook would produce more
heat with the battery in, all other things seeming to
be equal, but I'll take it.
My reasoning is along this line. The "stuck" process is asking the computer to do something as fast as it can. The CPU produces heat in proportion to the frequency it's running at: when it's running at 2 GHz, it produces more heat than at 1 GHz. When the battery is removed, supposedly the CPU is throttled to 1 GHz. So even though the process is making the computer run as fast as it can, the computer can't exceed 1 GHz and therefore there's less heat with the battery out than with it in.

Macbook pro runs hot when asleep

i have a macbook pro 2.26 intel core 2 duo
when i shut the macbook it goes to sleep, then when i go back to it an hour later, it is too hot to even touch.
the only open programs were ical and address book.
any help?

Open Activity Monitor in the Utilities folder. Select All Processes from the Processes dropdown menu. Click twice on the CPU% column header to display in descending order. If you find a process using a large amount of CPU time, then select the process and click on the Quit icon in the toolbar. Click on the Force Quit button to kill the process. See if that helps. Be sure to note the name of the runaway process so you can track down the cause of the problem.
These are symptoms of a computer that does not actually go to sleep but continues to run.

MBP runs hot when in Bootcamp (xp)

Any ideas why this could be happening? I currently am running two tabs in my browser and Skype. Dont think these two should be asking too much of my MBP. Any remedies would be appreciated.

I have the same issue with Vista which is probably normal. And the only thing I can speculate on is that I only have an option of using the 9600GT which requires more power and produces more heat. I'm sure the energy management that was given to us for Vista or XP is not optimal. I could be wrong but Vista x64 sure does eat up the battery power. There is no complaint from me I just accept that Vista or XP is a different OS and pretty much a power hog to run optimal even running apps that doesn't require muscle. When running OS X with performance settings I get basically the same heat as running Vista x64. They tell me this is perfectly normal.

Macbook Pro running hot when using iPhoto

Hi Folks,
I hope someone can help me with this...
Last night I was working on some pictures in iPhoto and noticed that my MacBook Pro was getting extremely hot and the fan was working overtime.
I then quit iPhoto and the fan started slowing down until finally 10 minutes later the MacBook Pro cooled down.
I also noticed that the whole system was slow and safari would load pages anymore or very slow...
I called customer support and we have done the following:
- reset Safari
- deleted cookies and cleared history
- reset SMC
- reset PRAM
- reinstalled Mountain Lion
The installation of the OS fixed my computer but this morning when I continued to work on my pictures again it started doing the same thing.
I opened up Activity Monitor and saw that iPhoto uses >400% CPU and sometimes even more!
Now my whole system is very sluggish again and doesnt respond for minutes at the time...
What is the problem here?
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks.

Hi Folks,
I hope someone can help me with this...
Last night I was working on some pictures in iPhoto and noticed that my MacBook Pro was getting extremely hot and the fan was working overtime.
I then quit iPhoto and the fan started slowing down until finally 10 minutes later the MacBook Pro cooled down.
I also noticed that the whole system was slow and safari would load pages anymore or very slow...
I called customer support and we have done the following:
- reset Safari
- deleted cookies and cleared history
- reset SMC
- reset PRAM
- reinstalled Mountain Lion
The installation of the OS fixed my computer but this morning when I continued to work on my pictures again it started doing the same thing.
I opened up Activity Monitor and saw that iPhoto uses >400% CPU and sometimes even more!
Now my whole system is very sluggish again and doesnt respond for minutes at the time...
What is the problem here?
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks.

MBP runs HOT when playing online games

Hi,
Yesterday I was playing online flash games and istatpro reports the fans were running at 4500rpm (they were very loud). Today I am running the same game and the fans don't run higher than 2800rpm with the cpu temperature at 92 degrees Celsius. Is this cause to be concerned? I got this macbook pro about a month and a half ago so if something is not functioning right I have free genius repairs.

Oh and random question: is it advised to keep the lid open when doing that graphics intensive stuff? Does that allow it to cool easier?
Yes, I'd say that's advisable when you're doing demanding work (or play) with it. All of its internal air circulation takes place through the vents below the display hinge, but it would certainly be able to radiate away more heat from its top case surface with its display open. You can also improve cooling by raising its back edge an inch or so to allow freer air convection underneath the bottom case.
When you're just emailing, word processing, working in spreadsheets or doing other low-demand tasks, the machine will stay quite cool in clamshell mode. No need to open it then.

MacBook Pro running hot when watching streaming video

... But not on all browsers!
Hi all,
It's me again. I hope I'll have more luck with this new topic than with the one I posted earlier about my MacBook Pro shutting down because it was (I think) overheating.
(see here: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2221808&tstart=0 )
Anyway, I think we're along the same lines here: I visited YouTube and launched an NBA-related video on Opera (my default browser) and Firefox, and both caused instantly my Mac to overheat again (up to 90°C on Firefox), but when I tried the same trick with Safari, I noticed nary a rise in temperature!
My question is simple: how come...? Better integration and plug-ins? Better caching? Some other thing?

At a guess they are using different Plug-Ins to play the video.

Downloaded Xcode 5.0.2 and Macbook is running hot

I just downloaded Xcode 5, and then the update to XCode 5.0.2, and my processor is running over 100%. As a result, my computer is running hot only while XCode is running. Can anyone give a solution why, or how to prevent this issue? Thank you much for your assistance.

I ultimately deleted XCode 5.0.2, emptied the Trash, which took 2 days, and then downloaded XCode 5.0.2 again. Unfortunately, it did not solve my issue. My CPU is currently running at 98.5%.
The processor does not run hot when XCode 5.0.2 is not running. This issue only started occuring after installing XCode 5. My CPU never ran hot while running XCode 4. I still need some suggestions on resolving this issue.
Thank you for your response.

IMac running hot (21.5-inch, Mid 2011)

Hi
I just wanted to give a heads up on my new intel iMac running hot when the monitor is brighter than half way or (newer) games are set to high graphics performance.
I was concerned from the back of the computer feeling very hot so I popped off the front glass and LED screen and took a couple pictures of the logic board where I assume capacitors or on the other side:
You can clearly see where the logic board is getting hot with a little scoring.
to resesolve this issue, I simpy run my games (which are newer ones btw) at lower graphics settings and keep the monitor level below half way. . .
anyway, just thought you should know.

Ok panic over
I found this http://www.derman.com/iMac-Fan-Control
I set the minimum fan speed to 2000, machine is much cooler now. I suppose so long as the fan does not wear out I'll be fine now.
You know picures like you have taken are very worring, iMac is VERY expensive and I expect quality and I don't expect to see what you have. I feel your pain bro...

My system is running HOT

I started noticing that my MacBook Pro 13" is starting to run hot when I see videos or movies. Don't know if it's because 60% of the 500 GB HDD is full (mainly photos, music, movies). My system is currently running on Mountain Lion 10.8.4, 2.7 GHz, 8 GB RAM.
I do have a external HDD with a good running Time Machine setup. I have been thinking of doing a last back-up, and then do a clean install and bring back all my stuff. Don't know if this will take care of the current hotness.
Anyone with a similar problem that haves some advise?
Thanks!

Hi Ozz Ibarra,
Under periods of high processor load (such as decoding video), it may be normal for your MacBook Pro to warm up. Generally, available storage space on the hard drive would not affect operating temperatures. If you have concerns about the temperature of your notebook, you may find the following article useful:
Mac notebooks: Operating temperature
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1778
Cheers,
- Brenden

THE MACBOOK GOT VERY HOT WHEN I WATCH VEDIO

I found that when i watch vedio or movie, the computer got very hot ,and the speed of the fans is really high. My macbook is 15-inch late 2013 with retina. i think it shouldn't happened when i watch vedio. sometimes, it also happened when i was only use safari to open the website. i dont know whats wrong with my computer

nothing is wrong with your computer. Macs run hot when under stress (Watching movies, gaming etc). When I watch a movie on my MacBook Pro, the temps get as high as 86°-94°c.

Macbook air runs hot and makes noise like processor running hard when connected to display - even when not actively using air book

macbook air runs hot and makes noise like processor running hard when connected to display - even when not actively using air book

You could use the free tool iStat Pro to see what changes when you connect your MBA to the display. Without doing anything the CPU pane should show a high percentage for "Idle". If the idle value is too low, launch the Activity Monitor and sort by CPU usage. There is a pane showing the different temperatures of your computer. Watch them for a few minutes after connecting the display.

Once my iphone4s updats to ios 6.1.2,the electric quantity runs so fast!And the mainboard is so hot, when I use it,especially,make calls. If I make calls exceed two minutes, it gets so hot, that I can't be able to hold.

Once my iphone4s updats to ios 6.1.2，the electric quantity runs so fast！And the mainboard is so hot， when I use it,especially，make calls. If I make calls exceed two minutes, it gets so hot, that I can't be able to hold. If the battery is full at night, it falls down almost a half, when I get up. I don't know what is wrong with my phone, need help.

Thanks for the input.

MPB 15" running hot when idle

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