MacBook

[GeeZa]

Apple posted yesterday a firmware update to cool the MacBooks down. Virtually all users are reporting a significant drop in temperatures of their laptops. I think it's been posted to the Software Update servers.

I *think* what this does is keep the internal fan on low speed. It should therefore cool the computer down, keep the core temperatures lower, and prevent the 'mooing' sound a lot of people have when the fan had to spike into top speed.

The downside obviously will be faint-but-constant fan noise. I could hardly hear it anyway but ymmv, caveat emptor etc. etc.

[Snakey]

Ah, fuckin' nice one.

I'm hoping it does two things:

1. Turn the fan on BEFORE the thing gets hot
2. Run the CPU at 1ghz (i.e. slowest speed) when idle, instead of 1.5ghz.

This is great news, the heat issues are a real fucking pain

[GeeZa]

Ah, fuckin' nice one.

I'm hoping it does two things:

1. Turn the fan on BEFORE the thing gets hot

Yes.

2. Run the CPU at 1ghz (i.e. slowest speed) when idle, instead of 1.5ghz.

This is great news, the heat issues are a real fucking pain

Aaah, you mean like XP? No.

However, for me, this firmware update has fixed the last remaining problem with my MacBook which was heat and fan moo (although the latter wasn't a big deal). I decided to put this to the test by using Ffmepgx to convert my Floyd Live8 mpeg4 to DVD format which pegs both CPUs at about 85%.



The bottom line is that my case stays warm, about the same temp as the high-end Thinkpads we have at work. Gone is the heat. It's gone. The fans kick in appropriately and blow all the hot air from underneath the screen out the back through the vents. It works very well, the air is hot but is being expunged, the bottom of the case stays largely constant. If you hold your hand behind and at the bottom of the screen you can feel the hot air whooshing out.



The fan noise is fairly low (though certainly audible) and when my video conversion was over, everything cycled down and returned to normal near-silence. Impressed (that they actually overcame this fuck up). Very good news for MacBook owners in general I would say, operating temperatures are now sensible. Mine's been on for about four hours now and it's on my lap. For simple stuff it's sticking around the 45c mark and feels about the same as the T60 I've had at work for the last couple of weeks. Hurrah, get it right first time though please. As usual with these things, ymmv, I'm pretty chuffed though. Some users are complaining aboust constant fan 'noise' but I don't hear it.

[Snakey]

Fan noise? What fan noise?

Can't hear a damn thing over the aircon anyway

Well so far I'm around 45 degrees which is a huge improvement from nearly 70. Still, why the FUCK does the thing still idle at 1.5ghz? C'mon, Apple, sort it out...

You're right, though - much happier with it now.

[GeeZa]

Fan noise? What fan noise?

Can't hear a damn thing over the aircon anyway

Tell me about it, I've got floor-vents and ceiling fans on full blast and it's nearly midnight. Agreed about the 1GHz thing though, that might be an OS thing, not sure.

I dunno, sue me, the Apple forums are full of total whinging idiots. They seem to shit the bed over everything these days.

[Snakey]

Agreed about the 1GHz thing though, that might be an OS thing, not sure.

Yeah, I'd guess so. They really need to nick that one from Windows.

I dunno, sue me, the Apple forums are full of total whinging idiots. They seem to shit the bed over everything these days.

Nothing changed there, then
Well, now I've had it on for quite a while, sitting idle while I went out for a bit, and it's up to 54 degrees. Still way better than before. Bottom of the case still gets pretty hot, though not as hot as before, and the heat has moved from being the whole top left quarter to somewhere in the middle. I'd guess that's were the CPU lives. So... 1.0Ghz, please, Apple

BTW: What's that app you're running to show the usage?

[GeeZa]

BTW: What's that app you're running to show the usage?

The CHUD tools, useful coz you can see both CPUs:

http://developer.apple.com/tools/download/

There's a processor preference pane that gives you those little graphics. The CoreDuoTemp thing gives you the CPU % hit too which is handy.

[Snakey]

Ah bollocks.

After a couple of hours of doing nothing but browse yakyak, i'm back up in the 60s, and the bottom feels as hot as ever.



Now I'm more pissed off than I was before

[zbandito]

is it on a chill pad?

[Atty]

Ah bollocks.

After a couple of hours of doing nothing but browse yakyak, i'm back up in the 60s, and the bottom feels as hot as ever.



Now I'm more pissed off than I was before

I thought your lappy used to get up to something daft like 80 when it had been on for a couple of hours? I may be mis-remembering, though.

Also, were you using it on your lap? It's possible you were suffocating the cooling slightly.
It's a bit daft that modern laptops are unsuitable for laps..

[GeeZa]

Ah bollocks.

After a couple of hours of doing nothing but browse yakyak, i'm back up in the 60s, and the bottom feels as hot as ever.



Now I'm more pissed off than I was before

You're fucking joking? That sucks the big one. 60c isn't even that hot, the fans should be blowing any serious heat out through the vent. When mine was at 75c it was warm/hot but still not uncomfortable, the Thinkpads I've used were very similar. Dunno what to suggest, sledgehammer?

[Bubba]

Tried taking it back? Either that or if it's out of warranty - not sure if Canada has similar warranties to the states (90 days or something stupid?!) crack the bugger open and try reseating the heatsinks with better thermal paste...

Pretty shocking IMHO. Dell Core Duo's don't reach anything like that temperature - certainly not enough to make it unpleasant using one on your lap. Maybe I'll hang on for revision 2...

Cheers

Bubba

[zbandito]

The US Apple machines have one year warranty. Applecare adds two years for a total of three. A worthwhile investment on laptops.

My dad's died a couple days ago. I suspect there are either some electrolytic capacitors in there that haven't taken to the heat well and evaporated, or, that his keeping it on a chillpad fucks with the temperature sensors on the mobo and alters the operating environment enough that the cooling system isn't functioning properly. He noted temperature readings from the CPU and the HDD; who knows if there is another sensor elsewhere that confuses the whole reading... If you have it on a chillpad, it might be worth trying without it.

[Jon]

Apple stores are down. I wonder if we'll finally see a Core 2 Duo Macbook/Macbook Pro. There's been a lot of rumours that it might be happening this week (for the MBP at least).

[matt]

Just spotted that myself.