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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > What is your MacBook case temperature.

What is your MacBook case temperature.
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wako
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Jul 2, 2006, 07:01 PM
 
So I just called Apple about my Moo and somehow we got into talking about the temperature. I told him that I had stuck a thermometer on the outside of the case to measure it and it had reported about 120 Fahrenheit. This was under the load of relatively about 50-55% CPU usage. When the guy heard of this he quickly told me to take it in for inspection because the outside should never be that hot. I told him the condition it was under and he said it should still usually be around room temperature but never that hot. He even transferred me to a product specialist who questioned me a bit about it.

I was wondering if any of you guys have done this before. What is the temperature of the outside (case)? If you guys can, can you put your CPU usage to around 50% and see how it does? I found that playing music with visualization works best, or even do the terminal command.


FYI: CoreDuoTemp tells me internal temperature of the CPU. You actually need a thermometer to measure it.
     
j0nkatz
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Jul 5, 2006, 09:12 AM
 
Mine reads 70C for the CPU via CoreDUOTemp and 50C on the keyboard via my IR Thermometer. I called Apple and they told me to take it in too. I want to take it in hopes of getting a replacement ( I also had problems viewing DVDs) but I'm scared they will want to keep it.
     
Lucky8
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Jul 5, 2006, 06:16 PM
 
Base on everyday tasks, my week 26 replacement MacBook running 10.4.7 hoovers between 75-80C but after resetting PMU, it went down to 60-70C
My week 23 returned MacBook reads 75-80C running 10.4.6 but after 10.4.7 update, it was running 58-65C
     
wako  (op)
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Jul 6, 2006, 02:45 AM
 
Umm... we are talking about CASE TEMPERATURE Lucky8...


if anyone has a case temperature of 75-80, or even 60-70, you probably should have suffered a second degree burn...
     
mavherzog
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Jul 6, 2006, 05:56 AM
 
You can see some of my temp measurements in this thread.
     
j0nkatz
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Jul 6, 2006, 11:22 AM
 
Guy at the Apple store told me a case temp. (yes case, not CPU) of 50C is "within spec". Kinda bad if you ask me.
     
Guy Kuo
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Jul 6, 2006, 11:25 AM
 
The bottom left portion of my MacBook case reaches 135 deg F during heavy load.

Please indicate the C or F when discussing temperatures!
     
harrisjamieh
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Jul 6, 2006, 01:32 PM
 
Originally Posted by Guy Kuo
Please indicate the C or F when discussing temperatures!
Should be obvious, no? If the case temp was 135C, you would have no skin left as it wuld all be burnt off...
iMac Core Duo 1.83 Ghz | 1.25GB RAM | 160HD, MacBook Core Duo 1.83 Ghz | 13.3" | 60HD | 1.0GB RAM
     
Blubby
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Jul 6, 2006, 03:48 PM
 
Originally Posted by harrisjamieh
Should be obvious, no? If the case temp was 135C, you would have no skin left as it wuld all be burnt off...
http://www.stayingalive.ca/burn_information.html

Look at that YEAH? "Skin exposed to 160 degree water for ONLY 1 second" WTF you on about? If you don't know what you're talkin bout DON'T! Idiot.
     
Blubby
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Jul 6, 2006, 03:50 PM
 
Also the Core Duo chip can get up to 120oC and is still in SPEC. YEAH? So think bout it before you post OK??
     
anamexis
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Jul 6, 2006, 04:01 PM
 
Originally Posted by Blubby
http://www.stayingalive.ca/burn_information.html

Look at that YEAH? "Skin exposed to 160 degree water for ONLY 1 second" WTF you on about? If you don't know what you're talkin bout DON'T! Idiot.
You seriously need to calm down. Also, you are wrong. Those temperatures on the webpage are clearly in fahrenheit. 120°C would equal 248°F, which I am fairly sure would burn you in slightly less than 10 minutes. And if you don't believe me, go boil some water on high heat and put your hand in for 9 minutes.

Secondly, there is a huge difference between the core temperature and the case temperature. One touches your body and thus its temperature is relevant to burning, and one is contained in a cool case.
     
Simon
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Jul 6, 2006, 04:06 PM
 
Originally Posted by Blubby
Also the Core Duo chip can get up to 120oC and is still in SPEC.
That is true, but that doesn't mean the case will get anywhere near 120C in normal operation. 120F OTOH is an absolutely common case temp.
     
Blubby
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Jul 6, 2006, 06:21 PM
 
Originally Posted by anamexis
You seriously need to calm down. Also, you are wrong. Those temperatures on the webpage are clearly in fahrenheit. 120°C would equal 248°F, which I am fairly sure would burn you in slightly less than 10 minutes. And if you don't believe me, go boil some water on high heat and put your hand in for 9 minutes.

Secondly, there is a huge difference between the core temperature and the case temperature. One touches your body and thus its temperature is relevant to burning, and one is contained in a cool case.
Lol! Sorry, I didn't mean to come across all moody. I was trying to be sarcastic, but I guess you can't really convey it across the internet.
     
wako  (op)
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Jul 6, 2006, 06:53 PM
 
So to take my thread back on topic....


I just called Apple again and it seems the guy I just talked to again seems to think differently about 120 degrees Fahrenheit. He says it is perfectly within specification and is normal. He even said that he has had customers report in case temperatures of 145 degrees Fahrenheit, and he still considers it normal. At that point I knew it would be futile to try to go any further with that idiot since at 145 degrees you can easily suffer a 2nd degree burn.
     
j0nkatz
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Jul 8, 2006, 11:36 AM
 
48C on the KEYBOARD is not acceptable. This will be my last Apple purchase if the can not fix this issue.
     
   
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