burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Mac NOTEBOOKS get hot, normally. Don't worry about it. If you treat it nicely, it should last five years or more, by which time you'll want another. Just don't use it on your lap without a hard surface underneath it.

EdJ0307 Loc: out west someplace

I believe I mentioned that already.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Sorry... I hadn't read your post when I wrote that.

Teacher Loc: Alabama

My MacBP heats up as well. I took it to the Apple store and they have a test they run on it that makes it very hot. If it survives you are good to go. If it fails, they replace the entire mother board free! They told me the welds will sometimes weaken after heating up and cooling. This free replacement program has about 6 months left.

scaltony

You have received a lot of replies from people who do not know that a Macbook has NO bottom ventilation. You can keep it on your lap all night long. I and my son both had this problem until i replaced the battery. It is easy. On Youtube

scaltony

I should have written that the Macbook Pro you mention has no botom ventilation.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Batteries might become defective and cause excessive heat, but it's just as likely the PROCESSOR is the main source of heat. If you download any of the free or cheap apps used to monitor processor temperatures, you'll see the processor get quite hot when rendering video, audio, or large still photos.

Also, you might be able to stand the heat... But your 'nads are being cooked slowly by the WiFi and Bluetooth microwave transmitters. It's probably a good idea NOT to use any Mac notebook or PC laptop computer on your lap...

For the same reason, it's also a good idea to use the speakerphone or headphones with your cell phone, too... Keep it away from your body when it's in use. A side benefit: better reception and call quality!

I keep my WiFi-equipped computers at arm's length, to minimize exposure to RF.

You can buy accessory platforms with fans in them to keep your lap or desktop and computer cooler. But I'd still want some separation from my lap.

Simply put, portable computers with metal cases get hot. The case is a heat sink for dissipation of the energy they waste. My old 2005 PowerBook G4 got much hotter than my 2008 MacBook Pro. Still, I nearly always used those computers on a desk or table. After a few hours, I could feel the heat from the G4 or MBP coming through the table top onto my legs... especially when I was running batch actions in Photoshop, or running Parallels Desktop with Windows XP and 6-8 apps open on both platforms.

My PowerBook G3 from 2000 only got warm, because the case was plastic. It was well-ventilated and fan-cooled.

splitwindow Loc: Grapevine TX

Make sure both fans are running. One fan failed on my MacBook Pro and it was running very hot. I bought a replacement fan and installed it my self. Fixed the problem.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Yeah, that's why you install a temperature monitoring app.

EdJ0307 Loc: out west someplace

I have one on my desktop and on my laptop. On the desktop it told me the CPU and the graphics card were running hot. Cleaned the dust off the heat sink for the CPU and replaced the fan for the graphics card. Both are running a lot cooler now.

rustfarmer

Great info! Thanks to all responders.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Everything runs better when it's cool. Cleaning once every six months or so is a good idea.

splitwindow Loc: Grapevine TX

That's how I knew a fan had failed. Macs Fan Control. Great program.