Cold Weather

[jessep28]

I am contemplating purchasing a MacBook here in the near future.

I live in Nebraska where it can get pretty cold. Will the Mac notebooks usually survive shut down pretty well in the cold assuming I give ample time to warm up before booting? I don't want to have to haul this thing everywhere I go.

Essentially it will stay in the car if I can't bring it with me. Of course it will be brought in at night.

Thanks.

 

[wentwj]

Well it's been a while since I've done any additional research on the subject, but I know that atleast a few years back LCD screens didn't fare so well in cold temperatures, leading to increased dead pixels and the like.

That said I've only occasionally left my PB in my car over night (always by accident) and it's been fine, minus a small amount of condensation which... I can't really imagnie is all that good for the machine.

So while I don't think macbooks would be any worse in the cold than any other laptop, I'd advise against leaving any laptop in a cold environment if it could be avoided.

With all that said, apple offical lists storage temperatures of the macbook at:
Storage temperature: -13° to 113° F (-24° to 45° C)

So based entirely off that I don't think it'd likely be an issue, but again... it'd personally concern me.

 

[jessep28]

Yeah from my research, that's what I kind of gathered.

So, I will just be careful to take it with me inside if I can.

 

[jsd]

My PowerBook is Aluminum and it shrinks when it gets cold, which causes two curious occurrences: the DVD slot rubs on discs, and the PC card slot falls open and won't snap shut.

 

[jessep28]

Okay, so all from what I gathered, if I leave it in the car for a couple hours and let it warm up to room temperature before booting, I will be fine.

But it's a bad idea to power it up right out of the car or store it in there for an excessively long time.

 

[Temujin]

Okay, so all from what I gathered, if I leave it in the car for a couple hours and let it warm up to room temperature before booting, I will be fine.

But it's a bad idea to power it up right out of the car or store it in there for an excessively long time.

Yeah, it should be fine. The aluminium chassie on the MBP takes a really long time to heat up. So a MacBook would be a good choice in the cold.