13' MacBook Pro 2018 Temperature

[Freddy1111]

Hi guys,

I just bought a new 13' MacBook Pro 2018 (16GB Ram) with Touch Bar, and I am a little concerned about cpu temperature. I have read a lot on this topic in the last couple of days, but I am still not sure.

What I found out is that MacBooks in generell are hot, but usually people state idle temperatures around 45degree C (range of 35 to 50, varies a lot). If I close everything, I might get down to 52, and while browsing I am usually between 55 and 60 (I checkt if there are threads in the background using CPU resources). Watching youtube can get me up to 70 and I just tested Final Cut Pro exporting a 4k Video and that got me temporarily to 97, then thermal throttling and the fans kicked in (which is what I expect). [Room temp is probably 25 degrees right now].

I know those temperatures don't harm the CPU in short-term, and I trust Apple on heat handling. But I just want to be sure that there is no hardware issue with my new 2500€ machine.... (idk something wrong with the thermal paste,...)

I have to say, the reason I got concerned with temperatures on my Mac in the first place was one of apples "great" features. When I set up my Macbook I imported my 10 000 picture iCloud library. Doing so, your Mac will start analyzing those pictures in the background using a lot of cpu resources and heating up your macbook. Not knowing this, I was very concerned when I started my new macbook and it heating up extremely without any obvious reason. Note: When taking the temperatures above, I always made sure, that no job was performed in the background.

So, I am not concerned about high temperates when under load, but I am about the mid temperatures. Doesn't it harm all other components (battery, ssd...) and the CPU when in use, being always at least between 55-70 degrees (since app development, browsing and youtube will probably take the most run time of my MacBooks life)?

I would appreciate any input on this topic!

Thanks,
have a nice weekend,
Fred

 

[maflynn]

Those temps look pretty normal and you should be fine. Get iStat Menus and that app will report the temps across all of the sensors. I found that while the CPU gets toasty the other components are not impacted and those temps rare relatively cooler.

 

[Lennyvalentin]

I know those temperatures don't harm the CPU in short-term, and I trust Apple on heat handling. But I just want to be sure that there is no hardware issue with my new 2500€ machine.... (idk something wrong with the thermal paste,...)

"High" idle temperature (60C actually isn't particularly high for a modern CPU) is simply because Apple prioritizes silence over temperature. There's really not much point in cooling your CPU down below this limit; the CPU is specced for a certain temp, so it's designed to handle that if other operational factors also are within spec (voltage, power etc), and 60C is well below this limit.

You're not going to wear out your CPU. Don't worry about it. CPUs are one of the most reliable components in a modern computer.

 

[Freddy1111]

Thanks for the replies!

I guess I also don't have to worry about battery temps around 40 when plugged in?

Thanks,
Fred

 

[M1ndFu7]

Thanks for the replies!

I guess I also don't have to worry about battery temps around 40 when plugged in?

Thanks,
Fred

Wow glad i found this thread. I had the exact same Mac spec, and funnily was having the exact same issue as you Freddy. I was mid importing icloud photo (60gb), and all i could hear was the fan blasting at max speed. After restarting the laptop, the fan noise was considerably low, but temp remains pretty toasty to touch at the base of the laptop. I use a fan control app to observe the fan speed and cpu temperature. The CPU temp is consistently around high 50C. '

This "Idle" temp remains the same for the next few days even with just light usage and general browsing. I guess its just how Mac had set the fan vs temp profile, since you are reporting similar numbers.

It is however quite strange that my older MBP 13 - 2014 runs at about 10C lower on idle typically.... Any thoughts?

 

[JamestheCharming]

Wow glad i found this thread. I had the exact same Mac spec, and funnily was having the exact same issue as you Freddy. I was mid importing icloud photo (60gb), and all i could hear was the fan blasting at max speed. After restarting the laptop, the fan noise was considerably low, but temp remains pretty toasty to touch at the base of the laptop. I use a fan control app to observe the fan speed and cpu temperature. The CPU temp is consistently around high 50C. '

This "Idle" temp remains the same for the next few days even with just light usage and general browsing. I guess its just how Mac had set the fan vs temp profile, since you are reporting similar numbers.

It is however quite strange that my older MBP 13 - 2014 runs at about 10C lower on idle typically.... Any thoughts?

You’re right. My 2013 MacBook Pro is also 10 Celsius degree lower than my 2018 one. Very sad about it!
It is literally a laptop when the temperature is around 2013 models because you can put in on your laps when using. Whilst 2018 one is just too hot to bare. I’m very disappointed on this aspect.

 

[ZeuSGoKiL]

As much as possible keep your battery level in check, if you are charging from 20% upwards it will surely flame your MBP so as for me I keep the charge at least 65% and charge it till around 91% . Top up charge will always be the best and unplugged when it starts to gets hot.

On another note if you are placing it on your lap make sure that you don't blocked the air ventilation area of your device.

 

[Webster's Mac]

As much as possible keep your battery level in check, if you are charging from 20% upwards it will surely flame your MBP so as for me I keep the charge at least 65% and charge it till around 91% . Top up charge will always be the best and unplugged when it starts to gets hot.

On another note if you are placing it on your lap make sure that you don't blocked the air ventilation area of your device.

What? The last 10% would arguably generate less heat because it will trickle charge once it gets to 95% or so...

Don't completely screw with your usage habits just to "reduce heat" or "prolong the battery". Generally good batteries will last a long time no matter what and crappy batteries will fail prematurely no matter what.

The most common-sense thing to do is occasionally use it on battery down to like 40% and charge full to exercise the battery. There is no need to "calibrate" a modern lithium ion battery unless you have a really erratic power meter (in which calibration might fix that...but that's the power management chip, not the battery)

Use it on a hard, flat surface as well to reduce heat. If it's heating up excessively while charging, take in to an Apple Store