[mbriant]

Is anyone who owns a 2011 quad core MacBook pro, NOT having heat issues with it?  I'm thinking about upgrading my early 2008 model MacBook, but I've been reading a lot of complaints from owners of recent MacBook Pros and am interested in hearing from those who are HAPPY with their purchase, and TROUBLE-FREE.
 
I realize that blog and chat room topics which address product problems, mostly attract those with problems, which can create an unfair, overly-negative perspective .... so I'd like to find out if the problems are actually common, or just spotty.  The overheating problems appear to have been an issue with some MBPs for several years now, but I'm primarily concerned about this years' models as now with them,  I'm reading about issues with total screen freezes requiring re-booting .... something I"m not anxious to pay a premium laptop price for.
 
If you have a recent model MacBook Pro and HAVE had problems, I'm still interested but again, I'm very interested to hear if anyone has owned and is using one without problems.
 
I'm not interested in conjecture, hear-say, rumours, stuff people have read ( I've read plenty myself ) and especially anti-Mac banter.
 
Please advise which model and processor you are using.
 
Thanking you in advance.
 
Mike

 

[Lurkumaural]

I have a Mid-2010 i5 MBP but in the past I've been a heavy user of most of Apple's metal laptops.  They all get too hot for lap use.  This one I'm using now is uncomfortable to the touch directly above the keyboard.  This one's rarely on my lap.  My older Macs used to live on my lap.  I hated it.  I was also a tough guy and would not have stopped using my gear due to discomfort.
 
That said, I've not dealt with performance problems as a common issue due to heat, and I've repaired perhaps every model many times over, up to about 2009.  This does exclude the recent products you're referring to.
 
One guy's perspective with hundreds of machines; truthfully, I've never been one to read about what everyone else's issues are.

 

[mbriant]

Thanks Lurkumaural.  That's what I'm looking for.  It seems that most laptops are running hotter these days as the processors get faster and more ram gets added.  It also seems that because of the thin, unibody design of the MBPs, a design limited in ventilation, the problem could be a little worse than for some other brands.  I intend to be doing some cpu-intensive video rendering with my next laptop, and while I'd prefer to be able to keep it on my lap sometimes, my biggest concern is that it doesn't fry during hours of chugging away.
 
I never used to bother looking into purchases of well-known brand items in the past, but several years ago, I purchased 2 Nikon D2H professional digital cameras, and having been a satisfied Nikon user for decades, never dreamt they'd have manufacturing problems.  But sure enough, both cameras, purchased from separate retailers and miles apart in serial numbers, had the same, serious defect.  When I finally checked the internet, there were pages and pages of complaints about this defect ( there's 47 pages of MacBook heat problem complaints at one site alone) ... which Nikon denied was a manufacturing problem until finally, 1 1/2 years later, they admitted there was a problem and corrected it with a major recall. This was professional equipment, where reliability is paramount, and still Nikon tried to deny it was a problem.  Had I checked before I purchased, I'd have saved a lot of time and grief. 
 
More recently I purchased a Nikon D300s because I wanted video capability in a digital still camera.  I also bought a $300 RODE microphone for it.  I discovered that the resulting audio contained a clicking sound.  At first I thought either the camera or mic was defective.   Checking the internet however, ( after the fact ) I found out that the D300s model, for some reason, isn't compatible with that particular microphone.  I'd purchased both the camera and mic from separate private vendors, so returning something wasn't an option.  Once again, had I checked first, I could have saved myself wasted time and money.  I still have 30 year old Nikon equipment that's a good as new .... but these days, Nikon, like Apple, are only as good as their most recent products....and not to be trusted to own up to known issues unless there's a consumer uproar.
 
Having said that, I will admit that pre-emptive, pre-purchase, problem investigating, can make you paranoid and crazy. 

 

[J W]

I got a new Macbook Pro in July of this year. It's the 15" with the 6750M and 2.2GHz CPU. I haven't had any troubles, though it can get warm when the dedicated graphics is on. I wouldn't play a game while it's sitting on my lap. For casual use it seems to run fairly cool. I don't think I've had any screen freezes.

 

[Merck]

Is there ever any warnings with the MBP that discusses heat issues?  It seems like that would be something mentioned as it might make people worried.

 

[evilshenaniganz]

My 2010 MBP gets crazy hot. When I'm watching movies I have to move it off my lap. They do get rather warm.

 

[nikp]

13" Macbook Pro 2011
 
Generally, the faster the computer, the hotter it may get when pushed to its limits. Macbooks are generally more efficient than PCs so they don't heat up too quickly. My Macbook Pro heats up only when gaming (really hot) or doing heavy tasks (hot but nothing to worry about as long as you don't put it on your lap). It's not perfect but I'm quite happy with it.. Solid build, quick start ups and shut downs. The processor handles difficult tasks well although it may heat up. Lags and freezes a few times in the past, now not so much. Just warning you, OSX Lion will cause you a lot of trouble - wifi issues (even after the "update fix"), lags and freezes. On snow leopard, I never encounter wifi issues and experienced very little lags and freezes. Oh and one more thing, USB connection issues. Move/rattle your USB DAC/ stick/ whatever a little bit, it disconnects and shows an error (plug it back in and it isn't recognised until 5-10 minutes later). I installed a PC on the MBP and it has no issues with lag, wifi, usb, etc except for the heating part. Actually I'm quite happy with W7 on the MBP. It runs and booted up quite fast but shut down time is still slow like a snail. Don't worry about heating, it'll happen in every laptop + macbooks heat more slowly than PCs.

 

[Shay]

I heard the pre-unibody ones got REALLY hot, and the unibody ones aren't as bad.
 
Anyways, it sounds like you're less concerned with surface temperature and more concerned with the internals getting overheated, especially during prolonged, CPU/Memory-heavy tasks.  I use this free app called Temperature Monitor that monitors CPU temperature and can give alerts if overheating occurs: http://download.cnet.com/Temperature-Monitor/3000-2094_4-41089.html  Might help regardless of your decision.