Hands-on Experience With MB and MBP

This is a cross-post from macnn.com.

I should preface this post by saying that I owned an iBook G4 for two years that I loved working with. I am also an experienced PC user. I have little bias toward one platform or the other.

After reading these forums (macnn.com) obsessively since the release of the MB, I finally had the opportunity to see both the MB and MBP in person at an Apple Store. In general, my impressions were favourable. The units look incredible in person (particularly the black) and are blazingly fast (especially compared to my old iBook). None of the display units were very dirty and the black keyboards and touchpads were surprisingly free of grease.

Feeling the hand rest, the keyboard, and sides of several units, each was only slightly warm to the touch. However, the underside of these computers was a different story entirely.

The MB and MBP aren't simply warm... they're hot. Scaldingly hot. I picked up MB first. The bottom of the computer, near the ports, was uncomfortably warm to the touch. I picked up three more MBs and all of them were equally as hot. I ran yes > /dev/null on one of the units and the temperature slowly climbed from the low 60s (idle) to 85 or so (load). The bottom of the MB became unbearably hot. Like black plastic left out in the sun on a hot summer day. I tried the MBP next. At idle, the unit was hotter than the MB at load. Ramping it up to 100%, the bottom became too hot to keep my hand on for more than 10 seconds. It was as hot as a metal seat belt buckle in a car left out in that same sun. Not quite as hot as a stove burner (no immediate scalding), but it would definitely burn your skin if left sitting on your bare lap for any great length of time.

I was shocked and extremely disappointed. But the story doesn't end there. I had heard people's claims (on this forum) that all Core Duo laptops run similarly hot and that it was 'the price to pay' for such high performance. This is simply not true. I made my way over to the Sony Store and found an SZ series laptop containing a Core Duo 1.83 GHz processor. I felt for any sign of heat and could find none. The bottom of the laptop was cool to the touch, despite the fact that the fan wasn't running.

Whatsmore, I've since read reviews on other Core Duo laptops, including several models from Lenovo. These reviews report only mild to moderate heat.

The bottom line is that the MB and MBP are flawed machines. Anyone who says otherwise is simply an Apple apologist. I had wanted to love both of these computers, especially the portable and svelte MB. Though it is slightly cooler than the MBP, it is still, in my opinion, an unreasonably hot machine.

 

They were plugged in. Mine is only warm when unplugged. When plugged it is very much like you described. Maybe not quite that bad, but deffinitely uncomfortable. So, basically if it's plugged in its on the desk.

 

I was most likely going to order online, but I think I'll be going to an Apple Store first to check this out for myself...thanks for posting...

 

Really? Do you own a MB or MBP? Could you estimate how much cooler it runs when on battery power? I rarely plug a notebook in while it is in my lap, so if either computer runs considerably cooler on battery, it could be a good compromise.

 

Not every notebook is 1" thick . . . or made of aluminum.

 

Pressure, with respect, the SZ is only 1.3" thick and is less wide and deep than the 15" MBP. Furthermore, the MB is not made out of Aluminum and runs nearly as hot as the MBP.

 

Well, let me try to describe. You know if you sit on a couch and get up and th cushion is warm? Pretty much like that. I can deffinitely keep it in my lap unplugged. Plugged is VERY hot. I have a MacBook Pro btw. And you should know that I am considering returning it. Having a real hard time deciding because there is much that I love about it!

 

I am certain .3" makes a big difference. Have you seen the size of the cooling unit in the MacBook Pro? Let alone have one?

I think the real problem is the way Apple programmed the SMC software that controls the fans to first start relatively late, when they reach 70°C+.

Apple clearly picked quietness over heat. If we could control it ourselves, we could lower the temperature threshold needed to set off the fans.

 

It's a tad shocking, but realistically, not surprising.

The V6va I own is also quite thin, 1.1", and it does heat up quite a bit, though the main reason is that, the fan barely ever turns on, and manually controlling it is still impossible ATM, even when its 75+ degrees. The bottom also gets quite hot after a while, and it even overheats once in a while.

Again, its not that surprising if you think about it, but of course, perhaps some kind of software that activates the fans could be a big problem solver.

 

Hi everyone. I agree that selectable fan speed would go a long way to solving the problem. This is a feature on some LG laptops and it seems like it would be easy to implement in the MB/P.

Re: cashmonee - That sounds like a signficiant difference. Good news since people are less likely to have it on their lap when plugged in. Are you considering returning it only because of the issues with heat?

 

I went to Small Dog today to look at some mac books (considering the 17" MBP) and the macbooks were merely warm, not 'hot' at all. the 17" was also only slightly warm and it had been on all day. the 15" was fairly hot, uncomfortably hot but not like some people who say 'I touched it and almost burned my hand OMG!!!' no, not at all, a bit hot but not that bad. the 17" and macbooks were not bad by any means at all, and their great looks, thinness, and the fact they run OS X more than makes up for it, but I'm sure Apple will release something to help with the heat issues or at least fix it in the next rev.

 

At this point, ya pretty much. I have pretty much solved all the other issues. I am going to be near an Apple Store this weekend and have them look at it to make sure the heat it puts off while plugged in is normal.

 

huh? I thought ur returnin ur macbook pro?

 

I keep going back and forth. I have until Saturday to decide. I love it so much, I would have a hard time getting rid of it.

 

I just saw the Black MacBook at a local ConUSA store and just loved the sleek design and look, even next to the MBPs. The only thing that bothered me was the kind of flimsy feel of the keyboard especially the spacebar, although i really liked the fact that they were spaced apart. Other than that, the look and feel of the MB was immediately attention grabbing and quality seemed really good. I would definitely pick the black one over the white.

 

Did you notice if it was hot?

 

I looked at some macbooks and MBPs and the macbooks wernt really hot at all, I mean a bit warm but nothing more than to be expected after being on all day at a store... the 15" MBP was quite hot as I said, but the 17" wasn't at all, if you can afford it, I'd reccomend going up to the 17"

 

I had a quick play with a mb and 15"mbp at my local store here in France, both were warm to cool depending on specific areas but nothing different from other lappies...except for a small (2-3cm square) area around where the a/c plugs in....this was very hot, not enough to burn but getting there... I checked out the pc laptops sitting next to the mb's and they didnt have this kind of localised heat around the a/c...nor do my 2 lappies here at home..its abit worrying that there is so much heat at that specific point, could be asking for electrical trouble...hopefully any issues will be sorted out soon, I plan on switching at Xmas !

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Did you notice if it was hot?

no i didn't notice any heat issues with the MB at all.

 

I am very suspicious of that MagSafe connector. It seems most heat problems occur when connected to the power and the area around it is deffinitely hot.

 

A laptop feeling 'solid' and a laptop feeling 'dense' are two different things.

Solid: No creaks, no rattles or flex, no points of structural weakness.

Dense: Heavy for its size (weight is deceiving) giving the impression of high quality.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I went to an Apple store and played with the Macbooks a second time and was SHOCKED to see the sides of the laptop easily pushes in.

If you take your index fingers and push with little force on the sides, you will see they are separate pieces from the top face where the keyboard resides. The sides will noticeably move inward. I assume this behavior exists along the edges in between screws.

I couldn't believe my eyes. MB doesn't seem so sturdy anymore.