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Why is my laptop so hot?

Why is my laptop so hot, and what laptop can I buy that won't burn me?

  • Do all laptops get this hot? I currently own a 15" powerbook g4 that gets so hot I can't actually put it on my lap. I had the same problem with my previous computer, a 12" powerbook g4. Does this happen with all Apple laptops, or is it just powerbooks that end up like this? It's bad enough that I'm considering buying a new computer, but I don't want to get burned (no pun intended) again. What's the coolest computer I can get?

  • Answer:

    How high is the ambient temperature in the room? Newer laptops just got hot due to how small they are, that's why they have begun calling them "notebooks" rather than LAPtops. The MacBook Pro line, for instance, gets ridiculously warm when doing things that take a substantial amount of CPU power or if it's warm. So, first what you can do is just check out if there is any program on your computer that is requiring it to work extra hard (the processor is the main source of heat in the computer) by going into the Activity Monitor in OS X and sorting by CPU %. What I'd recommend if this is a real issue for you is to get a laptop cooler. It draws power from USB and you set your laptop on top of it and it just helps disperse heat allowing it to run cooler and it won't burn you. Cooler Master makes some nice ones as does Antec. They shouldn't run much more than $40 for a nice one.

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The aluminum MacBook Pros (and the PowerBooks before them) all get very very hot, yes. The aluminum case is part of the heat dissipation. It's better than the insides cooking, I guess, but it's pretty inconvenient sometimes. (I swear Apple must think "Pro" means it's always on a desk. They're always too hot for bare laps.) Laps and clothing and pillows and such also block airflow and hamper cooling. When I use mine in bed, for example, I rest it on top of a large hardback book. Then it stays cool... or at least less hot. Also be sure you're NOT using "Better Performance" type settings in the Energy Saver prefs. Using the battery-saving options keeps it cooler. The regular (black and white plastic) MacBooks don't get nearly as hot. In fact, I suspect no plastic laptop gets as hot as any metal one.

rokusan

(I'm aware of this battery charging/calibration issue- it's still too hot. Also, I did have my battery recalled already).

BuddhaInABucket

Certainly all don't. My Macbook (non-Pro) almost never gets warm enough to be "hot" if I'm doing basic web-browsing and other lightweight tasks. Photoshopping, it sometimes gets a little hot, but that's pretty rare. Note, however, that I nearly always wear jeans, and so a threshold based on bare skin may be very different.

Tomorrowful

Anecdotally, I have my Toshiba Satellite on my bare leg (wearing shorts) right now, and it's only very slightly warm.

drjimmy11

Anecdotally, I have burn marks on one of my legs from my former Toshiba Satellite. Have a Dell Latitude now I cannot use it on my lap either. I generally try to keep it propped on something to avoid blocking the fan vent.

fuse theorem

n'thing 'completely normal behaviour' for a mac. this and battery life are issues we'll probably laugh at five years from now. (I'm hoping that because batteries seem to do for laptops what they did for cell phones in 1993 and five years later the issue was pretty much resolved.)

krautland

We have one of those http://notebook-world.blogspot.com/2007/12/notebook-cooler.html that cgomez mentions and it works pretty well. We also have some http://www.silvermac.com/2007/cool-feet-review/ that do the trick too.

dog food sugar

Mac laptops tend to get ridiculously hot. Frankly, I think it's a design problem, and a major one. I actually managed to fry the motherboard on an ibook fairly recently. The best things to do are a) ALWAYS use it on a hard surface, not a bed or anything, so as to not block any vents, and b) get one of those coolers.

paultopia

It's normal for notebook computers to get uncomfortably warm. That's why they have to call them notebooks now, instead of laptops.

ROU_Xenophobe

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