problems with my new macbook

hopefully you guys can help me out.

my macbook is running waay to hot...like 75degrees celsius constantly. i goes upto 90degrees celsius after one hour of watching a dvd. is this too hot??

also, sometimes the fans turn on and off...on and off...its pretty annoying and doesnt really help cool the laptop.

 

Normal temperature should be somewhere under 50 deg. 75-90 is abnormal, maybe something wrong with your fan.

 

check if you have the rare plastic film covering your fan vents at the bottom of the monitor. you could have one of the odd units that the packing guy was drunk and forgot to remove it.

 

well its almost never under 45..maybe for like 2mins when i first start it up. it goes up to 70after 5mins of light use (only safari). the fans go on and off...after 80degrees, they're on full blast.

another note: whenever i test the temeprature (i have used several applications), the computer freezes.

i just got it 3days ago and this is my first apple computer. is this common with most macbooks? do you guys think i should return it and get a different laptop or get apple to replace it?

btw, thanks for the quick reply Juz_follow_ATI

 

what does the plastic thing look like?? i am pretty sure its be removed from mine. i can feel the air from the fans when they are running...so yeah i think its been removed

 

That's pretty hot, but I think its on the more normal side for MacBook temps.Try unplugging the notebook and see if it still runs hot.

 

roberto,

there is a lot going on with some macbooks. many are having logic board issues. are you able to do a return/exchange as you have only had it three days?

you may want to check apple.com in the Discussion sections on MacBook. Issues are definitely there.

good luck

susan

 

k, if your fans are running and you can feel the air flow, my next thought is improper thermal grease application/incorrectly seated cpu heat sink. it should not be running that hot.

i agree to exchange if within the 2 week period, or call applecare.

 

I think average MacBook temps are in the 60's.

 

I could be wrong but MacBooks only have 60's tempatures during the first week or so during the Burn In Period for the heat fluids. I could be wrong on this though, and I thought the average was mid 50's.

On anouther note though, the 90's tempature means there is a defect. It should NOT be running that high, even pluged in during the Burn In period. You should call 1800-MYAPPLE and talk to them, thell do something for you, whether or not it is replacing the MacBook or doing a fix job on it they are your guys.

 

I'd suggest you look on macnn.com and macrumors.com. I had a Macbook Pro and had a bunch of problems with it and that's where I looked to get more info (I wound up returning mine). Two of my professors got Macbook Pros at the same time as I did and had zero problems though. Good luck!

 

I have had My Macbook since the first week and the temperatures after about an hour of regular use is in the 60's. A poll on here shows that most users are in the 60's also.

 

what program are you guys using to test the temperature?

i have used three different ones and they have all report temps of 70-90 when i test it but then the computer just freezes and i have to restart it.

thanks for all the great replies people. much appreciated. =)

oh yeah, i guess i will call up apple later today.

 

You deffinitely got a bad unit. Wherever you got it from, return it. Normal temps should be high 40's to mid 50's anything higher is unusual and if it is freezing there is obviously something not right. Sorry to say, but you got a lemon. Return it.

 

Right now, Mine has been on for 12 minutes, under light usage(Safari, mercury msn, itunes), with battery and is arround the 45-47 degrees. Get yourself a replacement, thats defective for shure.

 

The Apple manual states that anything under 100C is operating within parameters, most likely contacting Apple isn't going to help anything, they will simply ask you to make sure you don't have that thin film covering the vents by the LCD screen.

There is a burn-in period for any new hardware, during this period hardware abnormality can be rampant, but after a week it goes away and starts operating fine.

Please remember this is a DUAL core processor, meaning there are two processing cores, so basically double the heat! You cannot compare the acceptable heat standard of a 'one' processor core (30-60C) to a Dual core temperate which is believe to have an acceptable range of 45-100C.

Saying 70-90 is abnormal isn't right, when the manual clearly states 45-100C is acceptable. Give it some time to break in, if nothing changes in a week, call up AppleCare. I hate to see you leave Apple so soon after potentially getting a bad one.

 

Not so much as the temperature itself, but the fact that the computer freezes when you are measuring may indicate you have a faulty unit. Perhaps the heat sensor, perhaps incorrect thermal paste application, perhaps something else. My Macbook is fairly hot, but it has never surpassed the low 80s Celsius. I would try exchanging it right away, if you can. If you must give an excuse for doing so, say it freezes up when getting over 90C (you aren't lying after all).

 

well, it also depends if you are running on AC. Right now im running with AC, full brightness, Top Performance settings with low usage and its been on 15 min. Its arround 62 degrees.

Try to stress your CPU with "openssl speed" (if you really wanna stress it, try doing it 2 times at the moment, with full brightness)

To do this open spotlight and find "terminal" (or shell, mine its in spanish) Open it, its like an MS-DOS terminal then type "openssl speed" and hit enter, then File-> New Shell and type again "openssl speed" and hit enter. That will make your CPU go to the 100% on both cores. Mine hits the 85 degrees, 87 sometimes, but the fan goes to full speed and it lowers to 84-85. If there are not any crashes then I would say its ok.

Leave it for 10 minutes.

 

I have two comments to this, first being that I like how its only 62 degrees with AC power full brightness. Second thing being about the Duo Core Full 100% use 82% thing. Is it possible to run it at that speed all the time, if a laptop cooler was implamented? I know thats REAL hot but with a nice cooler you could bring that to low 70's maybe high 60's.

 

I noticed that my MBP was VERY hot the first few days I ran it. Alarmingly so. However, after using it for about 2 weeks now, I can use it on my lap most of the time, unless I'm doing something that cranks up the video card or is processor intensive. It doesn't even really feel warmer than my last laptop now, most of the time.

If your machine is hot enough to give you skin burns, then you might have a real problem. I would at least call Apple and talk to them.

 

Yes, Ogando probably forgot to mention one little tidbit, to correctly end the terminal process he said, you hit ctrl+c or it might be the Applekey + C, you will notice that it stops whatever is running, just closing out the window doesn't mean its truely stopped, it could still run in the background as a background process.

By the way Georgine whats the word on that wifi card of yours?

 

xbandaidx well, openssl will end up automatically when the test finish.

About the temperature, well, I know that 82-85 its really high, but as far as it is stable i dont think that is risky. Keep in mind that this will use 100% of your CPU on both cores a while.

 

it MAY be within operational specs, but it doesent mean that it is good for the processor to run that hot continuously, or for the rest of the notebook for that matter. Dual cores are supposed to surpass the specs of single core in the areas of temp (cooler [due to the 65nm process), and use much less power then single cores.

i have to agree yet again that you should get it replaced.

 

roberto, please consider the exchange/return option. if the notebook has any manifestation when it is new, why take the risk?

been using Macs forever. got two bummers in all, both purchased new. returned w/o hassle and got excellent replacements.

have purchased refurbs also. no issues with them. luck of the draw i guess.

good luck

susan

 

xbandaidx: I still haven't called them. I don't want to call them until I've had a chance to back up the system and purchase AppleCare. I want to back it up in case they want me to send the unit in, and I want to purchase AppleCare so I won't have to listen to their spiel on on good it is and how I need it.

I'll post and PM you when I talk to them about it.

 

okay, so i have decided to call them up after tom after class. another thing happened today...it would't turn on at all! it was still very hot (likely above 80degrees) and this was with it turned off. what i mean is that although the unit was not booting up, it was still hot. i ended up just taking the battery out , letting it cool down and then put the battery back. it seems to be working now but is still hot.

i still cannot test the temperature for more than a couple of sec..maybe mins because either it will freeze or respond after about 3mins.

it unfortunate as this was my first mac since elementry school and i have always wanted to go back to apple. =(

i haven't decided if i will exchange it or just return it and get something reliable and better quality. i love lots of features on this computer but money doesnt grow on trees and if this is what iam gonna get for my money....there no way i'll ever get another mac.

i guess this was a bit of a rant but seriously, was i expecting too much?? a laptop that would last a couple of years while being able run some pretty easy tasks (email, dvd, video editing, music).

i guess i got stuck with a rotten apple eh? =(

 

Give them a second chance. I gave them 4! And on the fourth they delivered in a big way! You see, by the time I gave them a second chance I was hooked on OS X and could never go back to Windows as my main OS, Trust me at least give them a second try, you just got a lemon that's all. It happens.

And if it would not turn on until it cooled down you obviously have an overheating unit, and is most deffinitely deffective. I agree with xbandaidx that the temp specs go to 100 and that the temps you experience are not necessarily out of the realm of normalness (is that a word?), but with shutdowns and needing to cool, and getting that hot that fast, there is a problem.

 

roberto,

sounds as if you got a Bad Apple. it happens. please take the notebook back and get a replacement of your money. if the purchase was from corporate apple, there is NO RESTOCK fee for defective units.

there are issues with MacBooks, random shutdowns, independand power-ups, hot, all kinds of goodies. logic boards are on backorder due to the number of repairs.

hope the next unit is a good one.

please post back and good luck

susan

 

Couple things, to begin with I like the comment on getting a "Bad Apple", but on a serious note I would like to just say that you simple got a defective modle. I would recomend like others said, back up your files onto CD if you can get your unit Booted properly and booted long enough to make a CD/DVD backup, then simply call apple, hopefully you got the notebook through them, and get it replaced as soon as you can. If you got it somewhere else see what thier replacement policy is and follow it, just get it replaced, not all of them have these problems just the select ones that are defective.