Is my MacBook pro safe to use with FCP heating it up to 90deg

[TechandFaang]

Hi, fellow Apple Users

So im new here and I have been searching for answer for this everywhere but can't find it so have ended up here, looking to get some help

So im using a 2018 13” i5 8gb MacBook Pro, with plenty of free space on the hard drive

So I've been using it for 2 years with no problem, but have now shifted over from iMovie to FCP
Whenever I open up FCP it gets hot, can’t really use the keyboard or put it on my lap it’s that hot
I’m using macs fan control and it reads temps of about 80-90 occasionally going above 90 and hitting 100

Is it safe for me to use it like this, because I need to spend about 5/6 hours a day editing and I was thinking of getting an external display for 4K but it will probably heat it more, maybe I’ll have to settle with FHD display instead
Do you think it’s safe for it to stay like this and could I get a 4k 27" display or will it be pushing it?

 

[Toutou]

This is what MacBooks do. They let the CPU run hot all the time, only ramping up the fan slowly. Then, if the temperature rises even more, into the high 90s, the CPU throttles and slows down a bit, so it only generates as much heat as it can dissipate.
So you don't have to worry about the temps getting even higher, but you DO have to worry about them staying that high for prolonged periods of time.
We (as a society) are pretty sure that high temperatures DO damage the chips, but we're kinda unsure about the timeframes involved. MacBooks have been doing that for many years and they usually survive until the point of obsolescence. There are even passively cooled MacBooks (the 12" MacBook, the M1 Air) and almost-passively cooled MacBooks (the 2020 Air, lol) that rely solely on throttling for temperature control, so they just heat up to the 90s and stay there, so it seems that Apple is pretty sure about pushing the silicon like that.

 

[hobowankenobi]

If you want to change fan settings yourself to keep temps down, check out Macs Fan Control. I use it on quite a few older machines with good success. Besides letting you adjust fans exactly how you want, you also get to easily see all the temp sensors at a glance.

 

[Toutou]

I’m using macs fan control and it reads temps

check out Macs Fan Control

about that...

 

[TechandFaang]

This is what MacBooks do. They let the CPU run hot all the time, only ramping up the fan slowly. Then, if the temperature rises even more, into the high 90s, the CPU throttles and slows down a bit, so it only generates as much heat as it can dissipate.
So you don't have to worry about the temps getting even higher, but you DO have to worry about them staying that high for prolonged periods of time.
We (as a society) are pretty sure that high temperatures DO damage the chips, but we're kinda unsure about the timeframes involved. MacBooks have been doing that for many years and they usually survive until the point of obsolescence. There are even passively cooled MacBooks (the 12" MacBook, the M1 Air) and almost-passively cooled MacBooks (the 2020 Air, lol) that rely solely on throttling for temperature control, so they just heat up to the 90s and stay there, so it seems that Apple is pretty sure about pushing the silicon like that.

Thx for the reply,

and yep, its staying there which is the problem as when using FCP, I could be init for up to 4 hours, even though most of the time the temp will be 80-90deg and I want to connect an external 4k monitor

 

[Toutou]

On the other hand, there are literally hundreds of thousands of people who game on their Macs. Quite a lot of games don't have FPS limits, so they push the hardware to the max all the time, for hours on end, and the machines survive that -- for example my 2013 MacBook, my primary school+play+work tool for five years, still going strong and enjoying its retirement as my GF's primary uni machine.

If I was you, I'd choose a sensor in Macs Fan Control that shows the highest temperature (for me it was the CPU PECI I believe) and let that sensor control the fan, setting the maximum temperature to around 85 degrees, to minimize the occasional trips above that. I'd also raise the machine above the table, so there's some airflow around it. Or even better, I'd get a laptop cooling pad. They don't cost much, there are quiet ones with big, slow fans, and they work great with the aluminum MacBook body -- it's like the whole machine is a radiator.

Then, I'd get the nice 4k screen and just start working, knowing I did more for the MacBook than 99 % people out there.
It's a tool after all and what's the point of spending money on one if it can't do stuff for you?

 

[hobowankenobi]

about that...

Oops. Scanned the post, missed that.

Is it safe to assume you have the fans ramping early, and they running at max speed?