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    Heat on MacBook Air vs. MacBook Pro

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by J Untitled, May 3, 2008.

  1. J Untitled

    J Untitled Notebook Consultant

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    Which gives off more heat typically: the MacBook Air (even with the SSD option) or the MacBook Pro?
     
    J Untitled, May 3, 2008
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  2. hage

    hage Notebook Enthusiast

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    There is no comparison, the MBA is the least heat intensive Apple Laptop I've used in years. It was bad until I did an SMC reset, but it's the only of the Intel generation of Macs that I can actually use on my lap without feeling like I'm at risk for sterilization. The MBP, on the other hand, not quite so much.
     
    hage, May 3, 2008
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  3. blurb23

    blurb23 Notebook Consultant

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    I've actually heard contradicting reports about the MBA's heat. Some people, like hage, say that it's the coolest laptop that Apple has while others say that it's plagued with overheating issues.
     
    blurb23, May 3, 2008
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  4. Sam

    Sam Notebook Virtuoso

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    I'd say more likely the MacBook Air being cooler, as it runs on a much smaller processor and has no graphics card either. Hard to say though, its so thin it might not have much dissipation room.
     
    Sam, May 3, 2008
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  5. hollownail

    hollownail Individual 11

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    It seems to depend on what you are doing. If you are dogging it, the MBA is hotter. The MBP on the other hand, if you game with it, it will run hotter (more sources of heat).

    One of the heat benchmarks I think had each doing processor intensive work, and the MBA got a lot hotter than the MBP, but during minor things, like simple browsing (no flash) the MBP got hotter.

    In other words, the average temp of the MBP will be higher for doing less processor intensive work.
     
    hollownail, May 5, 2008
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  6. Phil

    Phil Retired

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    I think the reason is that things changed after a recent update.

    I have a MBA on my lap now, it does not get hot at all.
    Must say I am not really hitting the CPU.
     
    Phil, May 5, 2008
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  7. Phil

    Phil Retired

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    Ok let me withdraw my words.

    When I spank the CPU a bit, it does get hot! The fans are working hard and it makes quite a bit of noise. (both on OS X and XP)

    There is a solution though, but I am reluctant to carry it out.
    http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=471266
     
    Phil, May 7, 2008
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  8. Durious

    Durious Notebook Evangelist

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    There's also software to undervolt the cpu... But regardless the only thing that makes it get warm for me is vid watching. And unless it's HD quality the machine doesn't get very hot.
     
    Durious, May 7, 2008
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  9. killer23d

    killer23d Notebook Geek

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    The MBA runs about 65-69C during full load. The MBP runs about the same.

    The biggest problem I've seen for heat in MBA are:

    1) Plastic thermal module - plastic is lighter than copper, and the contact between the thermal module and the CPU is not as tight as a conventional copper heatsink.

    2) Excessive thermal paste - When I serviced my first MBA, there was excessive amount of thermal paste. I was joking about the guys building it were using ice-cream scoops. Anyways... I applied the Apple thermal paste as the service manual says, it is working great.

    I did another application with Arctic Silver 5, but it needs a lot because of the not-so-tight heatsink.
     
    killer23d, May 7, 2008
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  10. Jaymz

    Jaymz Notebook Evangelist

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    Can you please explain the process a little bit more detailed? Thanks.

    Also, how about the new Penryn processors in the MBP 2008... still that hot?
     
    Jaymz, Jul 10, 2008
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  11. sulkorp

    sulkorp Notebook Deity

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    It's a matter of taking apart your laptop, removing heatsinks, removing thermal paste, then putting on new stuff. Definitely not for the faint of heart, and if you mess something up, your warranty wont help you.

    Penryn's are cooler then Santa Rosa MBP's.
     
    sulkorp, Jul 10, 2008
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