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unkinkedash

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 21, 2018
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Helle everybody, I'm having a bit of a problem wit my macbook pro mid 2012 because is running in between 60-68 degrees celsius and I'm kinda worried about it. So, I'm considering buying a cooling pad called "Power Cooler Gamer from Multilaser" to try to decrease the temperature a little bit. But, as these macbooks have an aluminium plate under it (with no holes) to cover its internals, is it going to help anything? I was hoping that it helps cooling under it, and therefore, decrease a bit the overall temperature.
Also, I' using sometimes the SMC app that allows me to speed up the internal fans, but I don't consider doing it so often to preserve it's lifespan.

Thanks!
 
Helle everybody, I'm having a bit of a problem wit my macbook pro mid 2012 because is running in between 60-68 degrees celsius and I'm kinda worried about it. So, I'm considering buying a cooling pad called "Power Cooler Gamer from Multilaser" to try to decrease the temperature a little bit. But, as these macbooks have an aluminium plate under it (with no holes) to cover its internals, is it going to help anything? I was hoping that it helps cooling under it, and therefore, decrease a bit the overall temperature.
Also, I' using sometimes the SMC app that allows me to speed up the internal fans, but I don't consider doing it so often to preserve it's lifespan.

Thanks!

I had to take out my old 2012 MBP when my GFs PC broke down, when I was setting her up, I did notice that it's always running so god damn hot.

We tried cooling plates, and although it did cool the base, there wasn't really any performance gain or anything, barely helped to be honest, just looked daft and took up too much space.

SMC Fans though, thats a beast of its own, we ran that most of the time at 3000rpm minimum on both fans. Also I would contemplate opening the badboy up and clearing out the fans with a bit of compressed air. If you bought that back in 2012 and haven't cleaned it out yet, it's defo due a clean. That will reduce temps drastically, even before you start running SMC Fan Controller.

Let us know how you get on.
 
Thanks! I'll open it up so I can clean it properly and see if does a difference. I believe that those cooling pads won't help much for real.
 
There was some folk who cut holes in the base of the MBP for proper ventilation haha, I wouldn't advise, but let us know if there was a shed load of dust in there
 
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Helle everybody, I'm having a bit of a problem wit my macbook pro mid 2012 because is running in between 60-68 degrees celsius and I'm kinda worried about it. So, I'm considering buying a cooling pad called "Power Cooler Gamer from Multilaser" to try to decrease the temperature a little bit. But, as these macbooks have an aluminium plate under it (with no holes) to cover its internals, is it going to help anything? I was hoping that it helps cooling under it, and therefore, decrease a bit the overall temperature.
Also, I' using sometimes the SMC app that allows me to speed up the internal fans, but I don't consider doing it so often to preserve it's lifespan.

Thanks!
I agree with the others, a cooling pad is going to do minimal difference on the actual running temp of a MacBook Pro.

Having said that, you didn't provide context on what you are running on your MacBook Pro when it hits those temps. There are a lot of things that will cause a MacBook Pro to run in the 60s (or higher). Chrome, Adobe Suite products, Microsoft Office Suite, or any other photo/video editing programs can easily bump up the temp.

As an example, on my 2017 MBP, I regularly hit the mid 40s just connecting 2 1440p external monitors via a Caldigit dock... if I run Affinity or play an HD movie the temp will jump up to anywhere from 50-65 celsius. If you are getting these temps while running something CPU intensive then I would say it's nothing to be overly concerned with.

Now if this is the temp with nothing else running (verify with Activity Monitor), then I'd agree its an issue worth looking into. Applying fresh thermal paste would be your best bet, as well as cleaning out any dust inside the machine and fans.
 
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I had a cooling pad, but no longer use it because it made no difference. I watched the temps before and after of the internals, and the only thing it made cool was the outside case. Internal temps didn't change.
 
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Apple devices can run hot, mobile devices run hot.

Ivy Bridge has a TJunction Max around 105C. This is embedded in the CPU for self preservation, it will throttle and then eventually shut down if throttling doesn't help. I do not know Apples thermal management presets used to control the fan profile, but the long and short is CPU gets hot > fans speed up > CPU cools off > fans slows down...maintaining a specific temp that balances fan noise, CPU temp and thus CPU performance.

I mention that because mechanical "fixes", accessories, etc can only effect the fan speed NOT the CPU temp. If for example you fan is running at its medium speed while you see 68C cleaning the fan will just cause Apples thermal management system (whatever its called) to say "I don't need as much fan to maintain 68C" and slow it down. However you are still at 68C. There are exceptions obviously, like the fan maxed out. If the fan is maxed it cleaning it, or replacing the thermal paste on the CPU could lower the CPU's temps. However this will be much higher than 68C.

Another consideration is ambient temps. Laws of thermodynamics dictate the rate heat energy will flow to colder objects/states (heat from CPU to heatsink to air) is largely effected but the differential in temperatures. AKA Hot rooms don't cool computers as well as cooler rooms.

60-68 degrees on pretty much any Mac can be completely normal. Some background task syncing while you feel you are otherwise doing nothing can get you into the 60's.

For example, I'm transcoding a 4k video on my 2018 13" i5 MBP, this is a spike before the fans settled in...

Screen Shot 2018-12-21 at 6.08.50 PM.png

Core 2 spiked to 100C (TJMax).

The reason I mentioned all that is because without the aid of software you should just expect to see 60-68 with the task you are doing.

Cleaning the fans is a always a good idea. Possible replacing the thermal paste can help too. However don't expect desktop temps from a MacBook (or any laptop with a similar form factor). I've found some laptops aren't as aggressive as Apple with temps, and/or others are more aggressive with fan profiles as well. Typically though the heat sink becomes over saturated anyway due to its size.

If you are worried about your MacBook Pro...well I wouldn't be I would transcode video on my iMac (big laptop with desktop CPU) for 8 hours a day 7 days a week constantly in the 90 degree range for 4-5 years. Still runs like a top, and I even cleaned and the reapplied thermal paste (Kryonaut) to find it wasn't hardened pretty much at all.
 
I'll take it somewhere to clean, and maybe replace also the thermal paste with a good one. Maybe ir works fine for the temperature!
 
So, I'm considering buying a cooling pad called "Power Cooler Gamer from Multilaser" to try to decrease the temperature a little bit.
I use a cooling pad with my 15" 2018 MBP and get about 10F drop (92F to 86F low-speed fan and then 86F to 82F switching on the high-speed fan) in a room with ambient temperature of 70F and watching movies at 1080p on a 24" monitor and the MBP lid closed. It's probably not the answer to it all but I'll take it for the long haul. I'm planning to modify it to see if I can get more cooling out of it. I don't know about the Mid-2012 MBP's but on my 2018 the cooling pad sensors detect most heat under the power switch area.
 
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compressed air to dust it out (it will probably make 10degrees of difference) and after 6 years, the thermal paste is probably dead.
 
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