How hot does it get

[gregk205]

I am going to be getting a Macbook air when I get back to the States from Europe. But I was wondering how hot it gets as far as the bottom of the case. I have a Black Macbook and it gets pretty hot to the touch...

 

[iHerzeleid]

Warm, but never too hot to touch. The aluminium dissipates the heat very good.

 

[PDE]

It gets warm but nothing like the macbook pros or macbooks. It's the most comfortable laptop heatwise that Apple has produced for many years...

 

[teerexx52]

Mine runs between 45-50 degrees

 

[Clix Pix]

The MBA is A LOT cooler than my 15" MBP! I can comfortably have it on my lap for a long time without heat issues, whereas the MBP tends to heat up quickly and stay hot.

 

[instant hit]

under I/O-intensive operations (especially running VM or secure empty trash), it can get fairly warm. my istat readings range 35-50 -- tending to stay on the low side if i'm outside with the mba and there's a cool breeze.

 

[Cybergypsy]

of all the macbook and MBPs this is the coolest.......PS had about 6 last year

 

[mcvaughan]

Warm, but never hot. My typical temp is around 110-115F with Safari, iTunes, iCal and a few other apps running. As others have said, they run cooler than the MBP.

 

[BPerdeck]

kind of offtopic, but my iMac's airport card is at 142 degrees F. Is this normal and for all other components to be running at over 100 degrees F?

 

[gregk205]

I am glad to hear it is not as hot as my macbook.. I hate having to put a nice thin laptop on something bulky to keep it from burning my legs.. My macbook runs at about 120 to 130 degrees most of the time.. But it is too hot to put on my legs for too long.. I have a thinkpad T61 with the same processor and it never gets hot.. It is hardly even warm..

So thanks for your help everyone. I guess the Air should be fine for computing on my lap..

 

[raremage]

under I/O-intensive operations (especially running VM or secure empty trash), it can get fairly warm. my istat readings range 35-50 -- tending to stay on the low side if i'm outside with the mba and there's a cool breeze.

Agreed. No comparison with my old MBP, which runs way too hot to use on the lap (I use the MBA on my lap or in bed all the time).

Hottest I see is when running any sort of game - the graphics load seems to really get the temp up.