macbook air 13 -- hot or not ?

[INEEDANOTEBOOK]

The new macbook airs are no doubt among the sexiest beasts out there , but do they get hot? I mean -- literally hot?

There are very contradictory reports about it: some say their macbook airs 13 stay very cool in comparison to their previous macbook pros, while others report that their machines get sufficiently hot to become uncomfortable.

Shall we organize a dedicated thread on this topic, if possible with precise mentions about the usage done / conditions / temp in order to get an idea?

 

[Mechinyun]

Its really a subjective question - based on what you use it for regularly.

Personally, my new 13'' ultimate runs cool, it has gotten "warm" when I watch alot of flash videos but that's about it. Typically im just web surfing and emailing with it. So for me.. no, its a cool machine!

 

[bamf]

Mine runs very cool to the touch. I've got a 2010 15" MBP as well, and it's a night and day comparison as to the feel at the base of the laptop.

 

[mixvio]

I've seen reports of them getting hot, but I find that stunning, frankly.

My 13" MacBook Pro would get warm in normal use, and verging on uncomfortable while playing a game. My 15" i7 MacBook Pro would verge on uncomfortable during normal use, and an absolute oven while playing a game. I could never use it in my lap, which was the first time I'd ever had a machine that got that hot during gaming; including a 15" Sager gaming rig which weighed 20 pounds and had dual Nvidia GPUs running in SLI.

The 13" Air on the other hand has never gotten even as hot as the 13" MBP did under general use -- even gaming.

The fan certainly runs like a wind tunnel, but the bottom of the machine only ever gets slightly warm despite the workload. It was astonishing.

I don't know what people who say it gets hot are used to, but it certainly stays cool enough for me.

 

[INEEDANOTEBOOK]

Its really a subjective question - based on what you use it for regularly.

Personally, my new 13'' ultimate runs cool, it has gotten "warm" when I watch alot of flash videos but that's about it. Typically im just web surfing and emailing with it. So for me.. no, its a cool machine!

---------

Yes I know, it's unavoidably subjective and depending on usage - but still, we can try to "objectify" the question a little bit, perhaps by describing how some people got their machine overheating...

I think I will most probably buy one to do light stuff, such as paper writing / data computing with office / stata / ucinet and keep my Imac for heavier duties. I usually need to have many windows open at a time. Hope that it won't be a pb - apparently multitasking is what MBAs are particularly good at.
I will also probably watch movies online.

 

[INEEDANOTEBOOK]

I've seen reports of them getting hot, but I find that stunning, frankly.

My 13" MacBook Pro would get warm in normal use, and verging on uncomfortable while playing a game. My 15" i7 MacBook Pro would verge on uncomfortable during normal use, and an absolute oven while playing a game. I could never use it in my lap, which was the first time I'd ever had a machine that got that hot during gaming; including a 15" Sager gaming rig which weighed 20 pounds and had dual Nvidia GPUs running in SLI.

The 13" Air on the other hand has never gotten even as hot as the 13" MBP did under general use -- even gaming.

The fan certainly runs like a wind tunnel, but the bottom of the machine only ever gets slightly warm despite the workload. It was astonishing.

I don't know what people who say it gets hot are used to, but it certainly stays cool enough for me.

----------

Is it really that great? Excellent!

 

[crazyyankeefan]

So far, mine has got to "warm" only. No computer can top Sony VAIO on temperature. Every Sony computers I've ever got in the past all got very HOT.

 

[ninjadogz]

Mine doesn't get even warm with multiple windows open - iphoto, safari, chrome, time machine backups, itunes, Office 2011 (word & excel mostly) - all run together, no problem.

But, with a single app (chrome) open on Hulu, the fan runs LOUD. Doesn't get hot though, just slightly warm.

Also I disagree that Sony gets the hottest. I had a Dell XPS, and jeezuz it used to BURN, even with a cooler pad. Seriously, I once wanted to toast bread on it or something it got that hot

 

[fswmacguy]

Regular tasks (web browsing, I use Firefox, chopping up some code in Espresso, emails, any iWork stuff, etc...) the fan runs at it's lowest speed and is inaudible in a general household setting. Heat is never a problem in these circumstances. Even Photoshop (which obviously doesn't run as well as it does on my desktop, but is still very usable) doesn't heat it up.

However, more CPU/GPU intensive tasks will heat it up. I made the mistake of exporting a movie from iMovie and it got pretty hot; it revved up the fan and was definitely noticable. Playing Minecraft is the worst. Just 15-20 minutes of Minecraft and it gets really hot, I can feel the heat through the keyboard.

Mind you, this is to be expected of an ultraportable. The world's thinnest nonetheless.

But, with a single app (chrome) open on Hulu, the fan runs LOUD. Doesn't get hot though, just slightly warm.

This is a known, well-documented issue with Flash. You should try the newest beta version of Flash (supposedly much better): http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashplayer10/

 

[jahman]

I've not stretched the machine in any significant way to be honest but this machine runs very cool. Apple has nailed the thermodynamics in this thing which is why it was so attractive to me that I bought one.

I expect if you hammer it with a game for a prolonged session then it'll get warm but I doubt it'll be hot enough to be uncomfortable or endanger your family jewels.

Cheers,

jahman

 

[MartiNZ]

Vs 2008 15" MBP, the 13" seems a lot cooler on the top, e.g. playing WoW the 15" would get to being uncomfortable to use the keyboard, and especially hot over the left speaker area. The bottom also seems cooler on the MBA; both I have had standing on an old iCurve, but I'm wondering about best options for closer, literally laptop play, whether just a plastic tray of sorts or something more dedicated.

 

[GraceinAction]

My macbook air gets used constantly and it has never gotten close to warm.
The fan has come on maybe twice since I bought it the beginning of November.

This is the best laptop! Its thin and light. Quick response time and the battery lasts easily all day.

I bring it everywhere.

 

[INEEDANOTEBOOK]

My macbook air gets used constantly and it has never gotten close to warm.
The fan has come on maybe twice since I bought it the beginning of November.

This is the best laptop! Its thin and light. Quick response time and the battery lasts easily all day.

I bring it everywhere.

I can't wait to buy one!

 

[MartiNZ]

Oh it gets pretty warm still. An hour on my lap just doing iPhoto imports and tidying (still don't trust the new version and I swear it just randomly changes timestamps!) and during that time I had to put a book between my legs and the Air, and the fan came on, quite loudly too - but with the loudness it also seems to do a better job of cooling things down than my old style MBP.

Menubar battery estimation is hilarious - it keeps jumping around in a range from 3 hours to 12 hours when still close to full and not varying activity at all, but it does seem to come down at around the 7 hours Apple claims for the 13", and it really is 7 very nice hours.

 

[1rottenapple]

From my personal experience, mba rev a, and b was HOT.

MBA 2010, mild hot for processor heavy work (flash, transcoding). But nice and cool on the palm rest for casual browsing.

 

[teski]

Only time mine gets 'hot' is when I'm doing processor intensive work like a ton of flash movie watching, but the bottom doesn't get really hot. The hotter spot is the metal strip above the keyboard, but nothing compared to my MBP 15".

 

[INEEDANOTEBOOK]

The new macbook airs are no doubt among the sexiest beasts out there , but do they get hot? I mean -- literally hot?

There are very contradictory reports about it: some say their macbook airs 13 stay very cool in comparison to their previous macbook pros, while others report that their machines get sufficiently hot to become uncomfortable.

Shall we organize a dedicated thread on this topic, if possible with precise mentions about the usage done / conditions / temp in order to get an idea?

________________

Ok guys -- it seems that the MBA 13 boasts pretty decent perfs so far ... Here is a quick summary:

Overall: MBA waaaaaayyy cooler than MBP

hot -- movie exporting / gaming (minecraft) (expected)
warm -- flash video / Hulu / transcoding
cool -- casual use: surfing / emailing / iwork (even with multiple windows open)

Only one report that it gets too hot to put on one's lap (after 1 hour of iphoto)

fan - loud but efficient

 

[ufkdo]

When you play game (or some other heavy programs) it is HOT, but otherwise it is NOT hot

 

[halledise]

The new macbook airs are no doubt among the sexiest beasts out there , but do they get hot? I mean -- literally hot?

no