Okay, I'll say it: The MacBook is too darn hot.

While I dearly love this new MacBook (price, build quality, speed, video-out, etc.), it does have one problem: It's too darn hot!
I've read the specs about when the fans are supposed to come on and, frankly, it makes the unit so hot that you simply can't set it on your lap. I'm not as concerned when it's plugged into power as I'm using it on a desktop at that point but there really should be one add'l setting in the Energy Saver preference: Let's have a "Be Cooler" checkbox that turns the fan on at a lower setting - maybe 50C should be "on" point. This should be applicable to either or both the Battery or Power Adapter settings.
If the battery lasts a bit less between charges, well, that's my problem, right? I can always uncheck the box and live with the heat if I'm more concerned about using it for the longest time possible unplugged.
What do you think? Am I blowing smoke out of my USB port (or is that my MacBook burning the skin on my thigh)?

Barry, I just asked about the temps because you didn't mention it in your first post and I was curious. An empirical measurement is always better than, "It feels too hot to me." I wasn't trying to be argumentative.
You are right - heat is the enemy of electronics, but if Intel says that the CPU can run up to 100C without damage, then I will take their word for it as they know a whole lot more about thermodynamics than I do. I am sure that Intel put enough R&D into this CPU to know that they struck the right balance between useful life and heat.
Apple may be over-zealous when it comes to keeping their computers as thin and quiet as possible, but I have equal confidence in their abilities to do so without causing undue damage.
That is not to say that I will not keep a watchful eye on things. There are a lot of people here - and I am not pointing a finger at you - that seem to want to find something wrong with their Macs. I am not minimizing the concerns of those who have actual problems with their Macs and I certainly am not telling you to, "Get over it" but I am not too concerned about temps on mine. Hopefully that will work out OK for me.
My fan has come on in the mid to high 80s and quickly cooled things back down. I have noticed recently that my temps seem to be a little lower, but since I am on the iMac now I cannot give you an exact temp.
I do all the "heavy lifting" on my iMac as well, but that is mostly due to the screen size for me.

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[SOLVED] mplayer says that the system is too slow?

I've noticed that mplayer has been complaining that my system is too slow to play videos lately.
mplayer CLI output:
AVI file format detected.
[aviheader] Video stream found, -vid 0
[aviheader] Audio stream found, -aid 1
VIDEO: [XVID] 640x352 12bpp 25.000 fps 1537.8 kbps (187.7 kbyte/s)
Clip info:
Software: Nandub v1.0rc2
==========================================================================
Opening video decoder: [ffmpeg] FFmpeg's libavcodec codec family
Selected video codec: [ffodivx] vfm: ffmpeg (FFmpeg MPEG-4)
==========================================================================
==========================================================================
Opening audio decoder: [mp3lib] MPEG layer-2, layer-3
AUDIO: 48000 Hz, 2 ch, s16le, 128.0 kbit/8.33% (ratio: 16000->192000)
Selected audio codec: [mp3] afm: mp3lib (mp3lib MPEG layer-2, layer-3)
==========================================================================
AO: [oss] 48000Hz 2ch s16le (2 bytes per sample)
Starting playback...
VDec: vo config request - 640 x 352 (preferred colorspace: Planar YV12)
Could not find matching colorspace - retrying with -vf scale...
Opening video filter: [scale]
VDec: using Planar YV12 as output csp (no 0)
Movie-Aspect is 1.82:1 - prescaling to correct movie aspect.
[swscaler @ 0x89d5f50]SwScaler: using unscaled yuv420p -> bgr24 special converter
VO: [gl2] 640x352 => 640x352 BGR 24-bit
[gl2] You have OpenGL >= 1.2 capable drivers, GOOD (16bpp and BGR is ok!)
[gl2] antialiasing off
[gl2] bilinear linear
A: 866.0 V: 866.0 A-V: 0.012 ct: 0.099 21651/21651 2% 3% 0.2% 4 0
A: 868.6 V: 867.9 A-V: 0.763 ct: 0.099 21698/21698 2% 3% 0.2% 50 0
**** Your system is too SLOW to play this! ****
Possible reasons, problems, workarounds:
- Most common: broken/buggy _audio_ driver
- Try -ao sdl or use the OSS emulation of ALSA.
- Experiment with different values for -autosync, 30 is a good start.
- Slow video output
- Try a different -vo driver (-vo help for a list) or try -framedrop!
- Slow CPU
- Don't try to play a big DVD/DivX on a slow CPU! Try some of the lavdopts,
e.g. -vfm ffmpeg -lavdopts lowres=1:fast:skiploopfilter=all.
- Broken file
- Try various combinations of -nobps -ni -forceidx -mc 0.
- Slow media (NFS/SMB mounts, DVD, VCD etc)
- Try -cache 8192.
- Are you using -cache to play a non-interleaved AVI file?
- Try -nocache.
Read DOCS/HTML/en/video.html for tuning/speedup tips.
If none of this helps you, read DOCS/HTML/en/bugreports.html.
mediainfo output:
Format : AVI
Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave
File size : 698 MiB
Duration : 58mn 0s
Overall bit rate : 1 684 Kbps
Writing application : Nandub v1.0rc2
Writing library : Nandub build 1852/release
Video
Format : MPEG-4 Visual
Format profile : Streaming Video@L1
Format settings, BVOP : Yes
Format settings, QPel : No
Format settings, GMC : No warppoints
Format settings, Matrix : Default
Muxing mode : Packed bitstream
Codec ID : XVID
Codec ID/Hint : XviD
Duration : 58mn 0s
Bit rate : 1 538 Kbps
Width : 640 pixels
Height : 352 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16/9
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Resolution : 24 bits
Colorimetry : 4:2:0
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.273
Stream size : 638 MiB (91%)
Writing library : XviD 1.1.2 (UTC 2006-11-01)
Audio
Format : MPEG Audio
Format version : Version 1
Format profile : Layer 3
Codec ID : 55
Codec ID/Hint : MP3
Duration : 58mn 0s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 133 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 128 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Resolution : 16 bits
Stream size : 55.1 MiB (8%)
Alignment : Aligned on interleaves
Interleave, duration : 24 ms (0.60 video frame)
Interleave, preload duration : 477 ms
Writing library : LAME3.90.
Encoding settings : ABR
~/.mplayer/config contents:
vo=gl2
monitoraspect=16:9
Any ideas?
EDIT: Well, it looks like adding "ao=alsa" to ~/.mplayer/config did it. I guess that it uses OSS by default, which is apparently too slow.
EDIT 2: If anyone else can offer any mplayer performance tips, I'd still appreciate them.
Last edited by mrbug (2008-10-24 00:42:05)

Perhaps. Also, in that error message, do as it says and play around with combinations of those.
Possible reasons, problems, workarounds:
- Most common: broken/buggy _audio_ driver
- Try -ao sdl or use the OSS emulation of ALSA.
- Experiment with different values for -autosync, 30 is a good start.
- Slow video output
- Try a different -vo driver (-vo help for a list) or try -framedrop!
- Slow CPU
- Don't try to play a big DVD/DivX on a slow CPU! Try some of the lavdopts,
e.g. -vfm ffmpeg -lavdopts lowres=1:fast:skiploopfilter=all.
- Broken file
- Try various combinations of -nobps -ni -forceidx -mc 0.
- Slow media (NFS/SMB mounts, DVD, VCD etc)
- Try -cache 8192.
- Are you using -cache to play a non-interleaved AVI file?
- Try -nocache.
Read DOCS/HTML/en/video.html for tuning/speedup tips.
(Taken directly from your post )

10.9.4 update the macbook is too hot

when I update to 10.9.4
I feel my 2013 retina macbook pro is hot than osx 10.9.3 version
there is something wrong with my macbook pro?

Runaway applications can shorten battery runtime, affect performance, and increase heat and fan activity

Fixing the macbook heat issue

Hi,
There is a fairly simple solution, to at least reduce the risk of damaging your macbook by letting it run at high temps. I bought my 2.0GHz macbook over the weekend, it was idling around 70 - 75 C. Thats a little high in my book.
I put the macbook on the vantec lap2cool laptop cooler that I have for my AMD64 HP laptop. Within about 30 minutes of running, the macbook was running between 42 C (idle) and 60 C (being taxed). Now the vantec is pretty cool, but its a little bulky for the little macbook.
I picked up a targus cooler for about $24 at the local walmart, its keeping it idle around 48 C, and under normal conditions (text mate, iTunes, Firefox, Thunderbird) its running around 54 C. The targus cooler is pretty quiet, slim, but a little cheap. They sell some high-powered solutions on newegg.com with better CFM and higher RPMs.
Now I'm sure a lot of typical mac users are going to have a fit about using a laptop cooler that makes the macbook a little bulker, but its way better than the damage your going to do to the macbook by running it hot on a daily basis!!

Intel processors (at least recent ones) are well known for having heat related issues. AMD processors offer better price/performance with reduced energy consumption and output. My HP zv5000z which is AMD64 based, has two large fans on the base, and kicks off a fair amount of heat exhaust. That however is heat thats NOT in my system. If I use it for games, then I'd be crazy not to have it hooked up to the Vantec Lap2Cool.
Apple in my opinion are taking a bit of a gamble. They've had to trade-off heat issues, performance with keeping the system quiet. To me, kicking the fans in on the macbook is a last ditch attempt to keep the system from keeling over, hence the loud noise (high RPM fans). What Apple is likely gambling over is that most users will run the machines in a "cool place" and the average user won't tax the system. Your business, designer, etc types aren't going to be playing games on it. They are gambling that the system will hold up to the level of heat abuse until the warranty runs out, or you purchase AppleCare. Either way, I assume they don't lose money.
In terms of melting, I seriously doubt you'll see physical melting of the system. What you are more likely to see is heat related damage to electric components (either the processors themselves) or surrounding components, resulting in system failure (or odd issues like display problems, random crashes etc). Lets just say its in the best interest of the health of your system to keep it cool.
The fact that Apple has corrected this on the MacBook Pros with firmware / hardware changes, would suggest there is some teething issues with the move over to Intel, and perhaps a shift in the type of customers buying the macbook.
With the market being so competitive, do you really think Apple is going to say -- "Hey these Macbooks look nice, but they overheat, you need to get Apple Care because they'll fail sooner than expected, and you should buy a laptop cooler to extend the life of the product". This adds what $300.00 to the price of the laptop, thats already slightly higher than lightweight options from vendors such as Dell, HP etc. When you go to the Apple Store and the person working there insists that you should buy Apple Care because the system is going to fail sooner rather than later, that tells you something right there.
Now if a laptop cooler keeps the system running between 43 C and 60 C instead of 60 C and 90 C, then aside from your own comfort with the thing on your lap, keeping the system cool is a good idea. Unless you like to return things to the Apple store?

Why I chose the MacBook over the MacBook Pro

This year I had a choice between the MacBook and MacBook Pro and pricing aside, chose the MacBook instead. Like many who have grappled with this decision I thought I'd share my thoughts on why I ultimately went with a MacBook:
1. Nearly identical processing power between the two. Most of the time larger means better/faster, but apple has nearly identical hardware so in this case larger just means larger.
2. I don't play many games or require a dedicated graphics card. A lot of people will say the graphics card on the MacBook Pro is far better, and in some sense it is, but the MacBook still has a decent card and the changes for someone not doing a ton of video work are non-existence. Plus, as I tell people who really want to play a lot of games, you should get a cheap pc desktop since the cards are worlds better than anything Apple sells.
3. Larger (better?) keyboard. I contend the keyboard is better although many would argue. Either way you see it the keyboard is larger and it is ridiculous that a 13" laptop has a larger keyboard than a 15" and 17". Apple really needs to update the casing for keyboards on the MacBook Pro's that actually use the space given. This was a big point for me since I cant stand the cramp keyboard of the MacBook Pro.
4. Lighter/Compact. I must say small size means you can take it almost anywhere easily. I can't imagine pulling out a 17" MacBook Pro on an airplane.
5. Harddrive swap and casing. While many are attached to the titanium design of the MacBook Pro (not me) the MacBook casing is amazing in its ability to swap in new drives and memory. This is another advantage I can't imagine why apple hasn't added to the other models.
6. Price. Now, originally I did say I chose them pricing aside, and I did. I could have gotten either, but at the end of the day its nice to know I saved $1000 and I travel comfortably knowing that if someone steals my laptop on a trip or it breaks, I won't have to sell a lung to get a new one.
I think if Apple finally updates the MacBook Pro casing with some of the features of the MacBook and makes a real difference in hardware between the processors I might have changed my mine, but I'm am so glad I purchased the smaller more compact MacBook than its counterpart the MacBook Pro.

"I think if Apple finally updates the MacBook Pro casing with some of the features of the MacBook and makes a real difference in hardware between the processors I might have changed my mine, but I'm am so glad I purchased the smaller more compact MacBook than its counterpart the MacBook Pro."
I like the casing on the MacBook better too and wish the MBP had that same rugged one. The aluminum, or whatever they use on the MBP has always seemed sort of frail to me, with wobbly lid closings and poor fits of the battery case, etc.
But I did go for the MBP. The main point for me? The higher screen resolution. I would have had a resolution DROP going for the MB and instead I got a resolution INCREASE going to the MBP.
In fact, the screen resolution of the MBP is the same as that on my 20" iMac G5!
I guess different things are different priority for different users.
doug

It takes like more than a day to copy folders of total 30gb from my external hard drive to my macbook pro. And same is to transfer from one destination to another within the macbook. i bought it on november 2012 it was fast then. don't know what happen?

i am having problem copying any files or folders from any external device or moving between folders within the macbook. its too slow and takes a load of time. as you can see above picture it makes all clear.
its not even old i just bought it on november 2012. it worked fine 2-3 weeks but now it not good. even apps take more time to open. it is getting too slow so soon. anyone with solutions ? please help me.

What kind of external device is it? USB 2 is the slowest port on the Mac, Firewire 800 and eSATA and Gigabit Ethernet are much faster, USB 3 and Thunderbolt are extremely fast.
Also, if the hard drive is almost full things can slow down.

HT4101 My ipad says the device uses too much power when I connect my camera

I brought my ipad 2 on holidays and have purchased the camera connection kit. I tried to download my photos and an error message came up saying that the device uses too much power! My ipad is powered up to 100% and I have closed any open files and it still says the same thing? Does this actually work or do I have to return it?

What have you connected to the kit ? The amount of power that is supplied to the kit is limited, and can't be changed - and a lot of card readers and cameras need more power than is supplied to it. If you have connected the kit directly to your camera then does your camera have a setting to enable 'mass storage device' and/or PTP (picture trasnfer protocol or pictbridge) ?

Does the Macbook Air need to have a fan under it to prolong its life?

I just bought a Macbook Air and would like to know if an external fan is necessary as it was for my Macbook. Even with the fan the Macbook would get really hot. I noticed that the Macbook Air gets warm also, but with everything internal being solid state I don't know if the external fan would be beneficial or not. Thanks for your thoughts, in advance.

Anytime you can keep an electronic device nearer to a preferred temperature, you will do nothing but good for it. In this case, you may make the fan work at slightly lower RPM. Primary cooling of the MBA is acccomplished by means of an interior fan, coupled to a heat sink/pipe leading to the CPU/GPU. This same fan also draws air over the logic board. Interior heat is also expelled, to a lesser extent, by means of being radiated and conducted by the case bottom.
However, blowing a fan across the bottom is probably the least efficient manner in which to aid cooling of the MBA, especially if you are drawing power from the MBA to run that fan.
If your goal is to extract heat from the case, you can more efficiently do so if your heat conduction to the case itself is more efficient than air, as the case bottom has a rather low surface area to exterior dimension ratio. There are heat conducting materials suited for contact cooling, such as the Targus Heat Defense Pad. This device also consumes no power from the MBA. The downside is that it is only functional for a finite period, wherein the crystals remain somewhat solidified and are able to take on heat.
If you are using the MBA for extended periods, perhaps a fan type cooler will offer some help, but don't expect much if it also contributes to heat generation by being powered from the MBA itself. Look for something that actually conducts heat from the case, and uses a fan across a high surface area element to transfer conducted heat to the air.
But as far as the MBA actually "needing" additional cooling, ...in most cases no. If it were the case, then Apple would be making the recommendation. However, there are definite situations where users are putting much more heat loading than what would be considered "normal", and in such cases, it is definetely something to consider. I use a heat defense type pad from time to time, and it works great.

Macbook Pro gets really hot including the power adapter

Hi Guys,
Good day to you all!
I just have an inquiry about my recently purchased Macbook Pro 15-inch (non-Retina). On the first 2 days of using it by just running Mac Mail, Safari, and iTunes, it's temperature is really acceptable. However, on the 3rd day, the base of the Macbook Pro was really hot, including the Power Adapter. I even noticed that the fan was making a loud noise, just like a jet engine (just being exaggerated). But the fan activity is really unusually loud. When it got that hot, I was doing Skype with my wife, playing music in iTunes, copying photos from an external hard drive to iPhoto, and using Facebook in Safari.
What I did was I unplugged the power adapter, and let the battery reach 0% until it automatically goes to sleep. Then I will be charging it while it's off as part of the battery calibration link that I've found at the Apple support page. Also, I did the SMC reset.
I was just concerned because I don't know if I'm going to ask for a one to one exchange since it's still within the 14days return period for Apple Online Store purchase.
I hope someone can give me a suggestion and other recommendations to sort out the heat and fan issue.
Best regards,
Aris

It could if the camera wasn't properly wired and the camera was used a lot, or if the Skype software accessed the graphics chip a lot and the graphics chip was somehow damaged. A cooling pad is not a bad idea. But heating issues with Macs that present themselves with automatic shutdown are about the only one's I'd really get concerned about for the Mac. The notebook is not a laptop, and a cooling pad makes sense mostly if you are going to use it as one. Cooling it down would certainly help it regardless. If you notice a difference in performance with it, that might be worth while checking the hardware test mentioned on my tip and taking it in for. Do get AppleCare before it is a year old. That way you can bring it in and get the hardware fixed up to the third anniversary of buying the machine.

Got an Error Message using the Featured News Composition Widget regarding the locations are too large to rasterize. Cannot Preview page.

I keep getting an Error Message when Previewing a page that has the Feature News Composition Widget. The Message says that the locations are too large to Rasterize and I need to make it smaller in size. I tried all of this burt nothing worked.

Hi Zak,
Many thanks for your 'correct' and prompt answer. I tried to make it CORRECT on the Forum, but after clicking the link, did not know where to go since this is my first time using this forum.
As it turned out, I was indeed using the font (Georgia) but did not realize that this particular font can also be used as a System font as well. So I chose the wrong Georgia font which was the System font. I corrected this issue throughout and made doubly sure that I used the Web Font Georgia.
Many thanks again for your help and assistance.
The Shulammite

The Power Adapter is Scalding Hot

I'm using my MacBook right now for a ton of stuff and the fans have been going nonstop. This is nothing unusual, but my power adapter (I don't know if that's the correct name for it; I mean that white box) is unbelievably hot to the touch. I think I burned my foot on the thing. Does anyone know of a way to keep this from happening? Is it defective or do all power adapters get this hot when working hard? Thanks

The power adapter can get quite hot.
Regarding your fans, of course the macbooks can run quite hot, but you may want to check your activity monitor to see if you have a stuck process taxing the CPU.
Yesterday I found a widget that went unresponsive and through the cpu to 150%, I had to close the widget and force quit the process.
People have found some printer help utilities in the monitor will do this too!
Good luck.

My Macbook pro is rejecting my Iphone 5 charger. When ever I plug it in it says that the usb is taking to much power, yet when i plug in a different Iphone 5 charger it works fine. I'm just wondering why this is happening and how to fix it?

My Macbook pro is rejecting my Iphone 5 charger. When ever I plug it in it says that the usb is taking to much power, yet when i plug in a different Iphone 5 charger it works fine. I'm just wondering why this is happening and how to fix it?

My Macbook pro is rejecting my Iphone 5 charger
Do you actually mean the white cable with a lightning plug on one end and a USB on other
If so that is not the charger ,that is the cable
The charger is the device that plugs into the mains socket
If so
cable may be faulty if less than 12 months old take it to Apple Store genius bar for checking

I want to buy a hard case for my macbook pro, but I don't know what year it is. When I use the serial number to try and find out, all it says is, "~VIN,MacBook Pro (15-inch Glossy)". When I type that into amazon for a case it gives me nothing!

I want to buy a hard case for my macbook pro, but I don't know what year it is. When I use the serial number to try and find out, all it says is, "~VIN,MacBook Pro (15-inch Glossy)". When I type that into amazon for a case it gives me nothing!

Hi T,
Either of these will give you the info you seek:
http://www.appleserialnumberinfo.com/Desktop/index.php
http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html

Iphoto on my macbook pro has stopped working. It comes up with a message saying that the library is either being used by another user or it is unreadable. Any ideas why I should be receiving this message?

MacBook Pro 2009
Model Identifier: MacBookPro5,1
Processor 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
Software OS X 10.8.5 (12F45)
Iphoto '11
Iphoto on my macbook pro has stopped working. It comes up with a message saying that the library is either being used by another user or it is unreadable. Any ideas why I should be receiving this message?
"Your photo library is either in use by another application or has become unreadable"
Offered solution doesn't work:
Shut down and restart your computer, and then open iPhoto again. If the problem persists, try rebuilding your photo library. To do this, quit iPhoto, and then reopen it while keeping the Option and Command keys pressed. You can also try restoring your photo library from a backup.
I have already copied my photographs to the a library manager but when I tried to reuse iphoto and import the photos back into iphoto, it would not let me.
I can't download photographs from my iphone or my digital camera.
Any ideas on how I can solve this problem?
There is a possibility that when I went to update applications that I started to install Mavericks which I then interrupted and cancelled. I am not definite that this caused this problem but it was at about the same time as when this problem started.
Many thanks,
Ed

I have already copied my photographs to the a library manager but when I tried to reuse iphoto and import the photos back into iphoto, it would not let me.
You can't "copy" your photos to the "library manager", there is just no way to any such thing.
Option 1
Back Up and try rebuild the library: hold down the command and option (or alt) keys while launching iPhoto. Use the resulting dialogue to rebuild. Choose to Repair Database. If that doesn't help, then try again, this time using Rebuild Database.
If that fails:
Option 2
Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. (In early versions of Library Manager it's the File -> Rebuild command. In later versions it's under the Library menu.)
This will create an entirely new library. It will then copy (or try to) your photos and all the associated metadata and versions to this new Library, and arrange it as close as it can to what you had in the damaged Library. It does this based on information it finds in the iPhoto sharing mechanism - but that means that things not shared won't be there, so no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your events, albums and keywords, faces and places back.
Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one.
Regards
TD

I bought the Keynote app for my MacBook, but when I open the application and try to install it, I get an error message saying that the application will not work with my MacBook. What gives? And, can I please request a refund? ($19.99 = a week's groceries)

I bought the Keynote app for my MacBook, but when I open the application and try to install it, I get an error message saying that the application will not work with my MacBook. What gives? And, can I please request a refund? ($19.99 = a week's groceries).
Thank you for your help! - I did try looking for all available specs about Keynote on the Apple iTunes website, and found nothing that could help me. HELP!

1
Close all iWork applications
2
Uninstall Keynote; this must be done with an application remover tool to delete the installation properly. Appcleaner is known to work correctly for this purpose, it is free and can be downloaded from here: Appcleaner Download
3
empty the trash
4
shutdown the Mac and restart. After the start up chime, hold down the shift key until the apple logo appears
let the Mac complete the start up procedure completely, it will take longer than usual as the hard drive is being repaired
5
Reinstall Keynote by logging into the Mac App Store using download / install

Okay, I'll say it: The MacBook is too darn hot.

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