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RogrWilco

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 16, 2016
4
0
First-time poster, long-time lurker. I picked up a 13" 2016 MBP with touch bar this morning and I'm finding it runs much hotter than I expected. It's maxed out with an i7 3.3 GHz CPU. The fans don't spin up often—in fact, they've only been audible when playing Civ 6—but the keyboard has been anywhere from warm to uncomfortably hot and the bottom case ranges from moderately to uncomfortably hot.

I haven't read similar complaints from others. Am I right in concluding that the upgraded CPU is producing excess heat compared to the baseline 2.9 GHz CPU? Can others with the 13" touch bar share their experiences with heat so I can determine whether I should return this computer and step down to the baseline CPU or even the non-TB model?
[doublepost=1479339840][/doublepost]CPU temperature is approximately 48 degrees celsius, which doesn't seem hot at all.
[doublepost=1479340057][/doublepost]But fans are spinning at about 1250 RPM. I was under the impression that the fans don't run at idle?
 

dekka007hk

macrumors member
Nov 10, 2015
42
69
First-time poster, long-time lurker. I picked up a 13" 2016 MBP with touch bar this morning and I'm finding it runs much hotter than I expected. It's maxed out with an i7 3.3 GHz CPU. The fans don't spin up often—in fact, they've only been audible when playing Civ 6—but the keyboard has been anywhere from warm to uncomfortably hot and the bottom case ranges from moderately to uncomfortably hot.

I haven't read similar complaints from others. Am I right in concluding that the upgraded CPU is producing excess heat compared to the baseline 2.9 GHz CPU? Can others with the 13" touch bar share their experiences with heat so I can determine whether I should return this computer and step down to the baseline CPU or even the non-TB model?
[doublepost=1479339840][/doublepost]CPU temperature is approximately 48 degrees celsius, which doesn't seem hot at all.
[doublepost=1479340057][/doublepost]But fans are spinning at about 1250 RPM. I was under the impression that the fans don't run at idle?

48c is by no means hot. Heat may be generated by installing, indexing
 

oebalus

macrumors newbie
Oct 21, 2016
23
8
First-time poster, long-time lurker. I picked up a 13" 2016 MBP with touch bar this morning and I'm finding it runs much hotter than I expected. It's maxed out with an i7 3.3 GHz CPU. The fans don't spin up often—in fact, they've only been audible when playing Civ 6—but the keyboard has been anywhere from warm to uncomfortably hot and the bottom case ranges from moderately to uncomfortably hot.

I haven't read similar complaints from others. Am I right in concluding that the upgraded CPU is producing excess heat compared to the baseline 2.9 GHz CPU? Can others with the 13" touch bar share their experiences with heat so I can determine whether I should return this computer and step down to the baseline CPU or even the non-TB model?
[doublepost=1479339840][/doublepost]CPU temperature is approximately 48 degrees celsius, which doesn't seem hot at all.
[doublepost=1479340057][/doublepost]But fans are spinning at about 1250 RPM. I was under the impression that the fans don't run at idle?

background proccess running (such as indexing). i did not spec out my cpu like you did. Mine runs fine. never reached the point of uncomfortable heat/.
 

Cindori

macrumors 68040
Jan 17, 2008
3,528
378
Sweden
You've been playing games and the machine got hot? :rolleyes:

Maybe it's you first MBP, but there is no Macbook with alu case that doesn't get unfomfortably hot when doing graphics intensive tasks. It's part of the design to let heat dissipate through the alu case.
 

RogrWilco

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 16, 2016
4
0
You've been playing games and the machine got hot? :rolleyes:

Maybe it's you first MBP, but there is no Macbook with alu case that doesn't get unfomfortably hot when doing graphics intensive tasks. It's part of the design to let heat dissipate through the alu case.

My last computer was a 2011 MBA, which was always cool to the touch. To be clear, this new MBP was hot before and apart from booting up Civilization. The heat has become much less noticeable now, though, so it may be right that installing, indexing, and encrypting my FileVault caused increased temperatures.
 

Dukat

macrumors 6502
Mar 9, 2012
306
76
My last computer was a 2011 MBA, which was always cool to the touch. To be clear, this new MBP was hot before and apart from booting up Civilization. The heat has become much less noticeable now, though, so it may be right that installing, indexing, and encrypting my FileVault caused increased temperatures.

How does Civ 6 play on the 13"? Smooth when scrolling? Do mid-game turns take noticeably longer than on a desktop?
 

RogrWilco

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 16, 2016
4
0
How does Civ 6 play on the 13"? Smooth when scrolling? Do mid-game turns take noticeably longer than on a desktop?

I haven't had a chance to get into it, unfortunately. At 1080p, I was able to get 30-40 fps at low to medium-low settings over the first few turns. Scrolling is smooth and it's definitely playable.
 

yillbs

macrumors 6502
Oct 2, 2015
382
158
Texas
I have a maxxed out touch bar 13 inch with the 3.3 I7, the machine doesnt run hot , even to the touch. Unless.. i fire up civ 6 lol. The temp of the CPU is to low to cause actual issues here. You're likely getting bad airflow from a bed, pillow, or lap.

FAns do not run at idle, but 1250 isn't idle either. Even when spun up to max, these little guys hardly make any noise at all.
 

Dukat

macrumors 6502
Mar 9, 2012
306
76
I had the 2016 13", 8gb i5, it ran cool. Unless I was running a long 10+ minute benchmark it never felt more than room temperature.
I had a video issue (screen would randomly flicker), they didn't have the same model in stock so I picked up a 13" 16gb i7.
What a difference.. this one is hot when surfing the web! Not painful hot huge a huge amount hotter than the 8gb i5 was.

I'm shocked that 8gb ram and an i7 that isn't running under load makes such a huge difference. Anyone else have a similar experience? I'm considering finding a store with the 8gb i5 in stock and swapping back.
 
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