MacBook Pro late 2013 running hot

[Xebrafish]

Hi there

I've got an A1502 MacBook Pro 13" late 2013 (MBP 11,1; ME867LL/A) which I got secondhand. It's got the 2.8GHz i7 4558U, 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD.

Thing is; it runs hot. All the time. Idle temps fluctuate between 65°C and 99°C most of the times.

I changed out the thermal paste twice: tried MX4 and IC Diamond.
I removed the black adhesive on the CPU under which there was still some old thermal paste left behind.
I cleaned the inside of the machine and the logicboard with a soft toothbrush and isopropyl alcohol when needed. There is no dust or corrosion anywhere, thing looks MINT inside and outside.
Running Mojave 10.14.3 and firmware 149.0.0.0.0.

Nothing particularly alarming regarding OS activity (no spotlight indexing, no updating services, no nothing); an open tab in Firefox and that's it.

Is it just the i7 and poor cooling solution provided by Apple? The CPU throttles itself to death basically.

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: The machine received a new topcase and display by Apple itself.
EDIT: SMC and PRAM have been reset.

 

[keysofanxiety]

It may be worth resetting the SMC if you haven’t already. Beyond that, I’m stumped.

 

[cynics]

SMC and NVRAM reset first like mentioned. And I would actually CPU in activity monitor regardless of what you are doing. Booting into safe mode and/or guest user isn't a bad idea either.

What adhesive are you referring too? Should be bare copper heat sink pressed directly too the CPU die. And are you sure the temp you are seeing is from the CPU sensor?

99c is max junction temperature for the CPU so the fan should be running full tilt. I actually suggest using your face to feel the air temp since its your face (cheeks/month area, I know weird but humor me) are more sensitive to temp and air movement then your hands.

The air should feel not just warm but HOT. If the air feels luke warm or even cool there is poor conductivity between the heat sink and CPU (most likely) or the heat sink is bad (less likely) due to it being kinked/bent. I believe it uses capillary action and while I've never seen it a kinked heat pipe can slow/stop the movement of the fluid within.

I don't want to question your workmanship however its important to double check. CPU needs to be mirror clean, heat sink need to be clean and feel flat, if you can feel a notch, bump you'll never get even contact. Thermal compound on that die should be a small line from one end to the other (long ways). ALL the screws need to be installed, missing one can cause a gap which negates the majority of its ability to cool. The bracket needs to feel firmly welded to the heat pipe. That bracket design typically has A LOT of retention force too, I would start a screw a few threads on one screw, go catty-corner tighten a few threads then go clockwise (like you are installing a wheel on a car) doing a few turns on each screw one at a time until they bottom out.

Important, if that CPU has a PCH (controller hub) which will look like a small square CPU separate of the actually rectangular CPU do not put anything on it especially thermal pads. A thermal pad on the PCH can lift the heat sink off the CPU. Should look similar too...



If you are sure that is all good I would just feel the damn thing. Ground yourself first and being VERY careful, get the CPU hot and feel if its heat pipe over the CPU is hot and then feel down the heat pipe to see if it cools off. Should feel similar in temps.

EDIT: The above image and this image is from ifixit here...
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Retina+Display+Late+2013+Teardown/18695

But make sure that U shaped piece is in place as well...

It appears to be closing the gap around the case. Without it air is going to blow at the fins but not threw them.

Good luck.

 

[Xebrafish]

It may be worth resetting the SMC if you haven’t already. Beyond that, I’m stumped.

Ahh yes, forgot to mantion that I reset the SMC and zapped the PRAM. That's always my first line of troubleshooting.

 

[Xebrafish]

SMC and NVRAM reset first like mentioned. And I would actually CPU in activity monitor regardless of what you are doing. Booting into safe mode and/or guest user isn't a bad idea either.

What adhesive are you referring too? Should be bare copper heat sink pressed directly too the CPU die. And are you sure the temp you are seeing is from the CPU sensor?

99c is max junction temperature for the CPU so the fan should be running full tilt. I actually suggest using your face to feel the air temp since its your face (cheeks/month area, I know weird but humor me) are more sensitive to temp and air movement then your hands.

The air should feel not just warm but HOT. If the air feels luke warm or even cool there is poor conductivity between the heat sink and CPU (most likely) or the heat sink is bad (less likely) due to it being kinked/bent. I believe it uses capillary action and while I've never seen it a kinked heat pipe can slow/stop the movement of the fluid within.

I don't want to question your workmanship however its important to double check. CPU needs to be mirror clean, heat sink need to be clean and feel flat, if you can feel a notch, bump you'll never get even contact. Thermal compound on that die should be a small line from one end to the other (long ways). ALL the screws need to be installed, missing one can cause a gap which negates the majority of its ability to cool. The bracket needs to feel firmly welded to the heat pipe. That bracket design typically has A LOT of retention force too, I would start a screw a few threads on one screw, go catty-corner tighten a few threads then go clockwise (like you are installing a wheel on a car) doing a few turns on each screw one at a time until they bottom out.

Important, if that CPU has a PCH (controller hub) which will look like a small square CPU separate of the actually rectangular CPU do not put anything on it especially thermal pads. A thermal pad on the PCH can lift the heat sink off the CPU. Should look similar too...

View attachment 831856

If you are sure that is all good I would just feel the damn thing. Ground yourself first and being VERY careful, get the CPU hot and feel if its heat pipe over the CPU is hot and then feel down the heat pipe to see if it cools off. Should feel similar in temps.

EDIT: The above image and this image is from ifixit here...
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Retina+Display+Late+2013+Teardown/18695

But make sure that U shaped piece is in place as well...

View attachment 831858
It appears to be closing the gap around the case. Without it air is going to blow at the fins but not threw them.

Good luck.

Hi Cynics! Thanks a lot for the lenghthy reply!

SMC and PRAM were reset as a first line of troubleshooting. Didn't help.
As of the cleanliness of the CPU die and heatsink contact area; both clean until shiny as a mirror: no dust, no thermal compund, no residue of any kind. There are no obvious inconsistancies regarding the surface of the contact area. Heatsink looks fine to me; no dents or bends.
I didn't apply any thermal compound onto the smaller die next to the CPU. The rubber piece is in place.

(I did an EDIT in the original post: the macine received a new topcase and display assembly from Apple. Basically everything except the logicboard and heatsink is brand new.)

The adhesive I'm referring to is visible on the ifixit picture you posted: the CPU PCB is covered in black adhesive and was in a pretty ****** condition when the machine came back from Apple. There was a lot of old thermal compound sitting underneath that thing. I removed it altogether using an ifixit spudger, qtips and isopropyl alcohol to avoid it being an insulator.

The fan doesn't run top speed when T > 90°C, I thought that was weird (monitoring using iStatMenus). The outgoing airflow is not really hot to the touch. The topcase and bottom cover of the machine itself do get quite hot.

I'm guessing there isn't enough mounting pressure between heatsink and CPU. When it came back from Apple with the new topcase, I noticed that the upper right heatsink mounting screw can be turned infinitely -it doesn't stop. Though, it'd apply thorough pressure, but not enough in some cases?

Thanks a bunch!!

 

[cynics]

Hi Cynics! Thanks a lot for the lenghthy reply!

SMC and PRAM were reset as a first line of troubleshooting. Didn't help.
As of the cleanliness of the CPU die and heatsink contact area; both clean until shiny as a mirror: no dust, no thermal compund, no residue of any kind. There are no obvious inconsistancies regarding the surface of the contact area. Heatsink looks fine to me; no dents or bends.
I didn't apply any thermal compound onto the smaller die next to the CPU. The rubber piece is in place.

(I did an EDIT in the original post: the macine received a new topcase and display assembly from Apple. Basically everything except the logicboard and heatsink is brand new.)

The adhesive I'm referring to is visible on the ifixit picture you posted: the CPU PCB is covered in black adhesive and was in a pretty ****** condition when the machine came back from Apple. There was a lot of old thermal compound sitting underneath that thing. I removed it altogether using an ifixit spudger, qtips and isopropyl alcohol to avoid it being an insulator.

The fan doesn't run top speed when T > 90°C, I thought that was weird (monitoring using iStatMenus). The outgoing airflow is not really hot to the touch. The topcase and bottom cover of the machine itself do get quite hot.

I'm guessing there isn't enough mounting pressure between heatsink and CPU. When it came back from Apple with the new topcase, I noticed that the upper right heatsink mounting screw can be turned infinitely -it doesn't stop. Though, it'd apply thorough pressure, but not enough in some cases?

Thanks a bunch!!

Would you mind highlighting the adhesive you are talking about? Just to confirm, that heat pipe didn't leak its fluid out did it? This can be a variety of colors, sometimes resembling thermal compound in appearance but not when removing. The exhaust not being hot means heat isn't transferring too well.

But if one screw isn't tightening then its a possibility the heat sink isn't flush.

Keep in mind you are attaching the heat sink directly to the die not an integrated heat spreader. Without a heat spreader its easy to have a hotspot. Can you see any particular core getting noticeably hotter than the others?

This is a cinebench run on my 2013 iMac which has a heat spreader.



Depending on the design of the heat sink it may need more pressure against the die for adequate thermal conductivity. With overclocking there is a direct correlation between thermal conductivity and mounting pressure. Compared to other manufacturers I've worked on I feel Apple uses an incredible amount of force with heat sink to die.

This is a pic of the back of my iMacs logic board behind the GPU. You can see that piece of spring steel that looks like its typically flat.



Here is what it looks like once I removed the heat sink and let it relaxed. Looking at the same side as above btw.



It doesn't look like much but it takes a good 50-60 lbs to push that flat against a flat surface. If you didn't know better most people wouldn't think it was capable of bending at all. Honestly reinstalling it is the part I hate the most about reassembling an iMac because its awkward to hold everything straight (thermal grease is applied so there is little room for error) and then it takes nearly all my strength to get the second screw started. Bottoming out the screws feels like you are going to break it.

The MacBook maybe different but seriously, F that clamp on an iMac.

I mention all that because if the MacBook Pro has the same amount of heat sink pressure then it could just be preventing you from catching the female threads with the screw.

So you have one of several problems. One, the male threads aren't catching the female threads. Two, the grommet for the female threads is literally spinning in the logic board so the screw gets to a certain point and there is less resistance to spin that grommet then to tighten the screw in. Three, threads are stripped on the screw and/or grommet (I don't know what that grommet is called but I'm referring to the silver metal female threaded hole that the heat sink screw goes into).

If it concerns you for one and two you can take off the heat sink and put the screws in and see what its doing (grommet spinning, stripped, wrong screw, etc). If you mark the grommet in question you'd be able to see it spinning. Regardless if you thread that screw in first and push all the way down on that bracket for the heat sink so it doesn't cause resistance on the screw (thus making it easier for the grommet to spin) you can bottom out the screw and then do the other screws. If it still spins a set of thin needle nose may help hold the grommet. Or using a really sharp punch awl in the grommet pushing on the edge opposite of the direction it wants to spin.

If its stripped out I'm not sure what I would do. My first thought would be to drill out the grommet and replace it with a bolt and nut using plastic washers on the back side of the board. However that grommet doesn't go all the way through the board and it looks like there are components on the back. I never tried to tap a screw that short, not sure if that is an option or not. You can get taps that size for 2-5 bucks, I wouldn't even drill it, just run the T5 size in and then a T6, use compressed air to clean it.

Good luck! Post back if you find a solution. You mentioned Apple a couple times? Anyway this could be considered a callback on their work?

 

[Xebrafish]

Would you mind highlighting the adhesive you are talking about? Just to confirm, that heat pipe didn't leak its fluid out did it? This can be a variety of colors, sometimes resembling thermal compound in appearance but not when removing. The exhaust not being hot means heat isn't transferring too well.

But if one screw isn't tightening then its a possibility the heat sink isn't flush.

Keep in mind you are attaching the heat sink directly to the die not an integrated heat spreader. Without a heat spreader its easy to have a hotspot. Can you see any particular core getting noticeably hotter than the others?

This is a cinebench run on my 2013 iMac which has a heat spreader.

View attachment 831919

Depending on the design of the heat sink it may need more pressure against the die for adequate thermal conductivity. With overclocking there is a direct correlation between thermal conductivity and mounting pressure. Compared to other manufacturers I've worked on I feel Apple uses an incredible amount of force with heat sink to die.

This is a pic of the back of my iMacs logic board behind the GPU. You can see that piece of spring steel that looks like its typically flat.

View attachment 831907

Here is what it looks like once I removed the heat sink and let it relaxed. Looking at the same side as above btw.

View attachment 831908

It doesn't look like much but it takes a good 50-60 lbs to push that flat against a flat surface. If you didn't know better most people wouldn't think it was capable of bending at all. Honestly reinstalling it is the part I hate the most about reassembling an iMac because its awkward to hold everything straight (thermal grease is applied so there is little room for error) and then it takes nearly all my strength to get the second screw started. Bottoming out the screws feels like you are going to break it.

The MacBook maybe different but seriously, F that clamp on an iMac.

I mention all that because if the MacBook Pro has the same amount of heat sink pressure then it could just be preventing you from catching the female threads with the screw.

So you have one of several problems. One, the male threads aren't catching the female threads. Two, the grommet for the female threads is literally spinning in the logic board so the screw gets to a certain point and there is less resistance to spin that grommet then to tighten the screw in. Three, threads are stripped on the screw and/or grommet (I don't know what that grommet is called but I'm referring to the silver metal female threaded hole that the heat sink screw goes into).

If it concerns you for one and two you can take off the heat sink and put the screws in and see what its doing (grommet spinning, stripped, wrong screw, etc). If you mark the grommet in question you'd be able to see it spinning. Regardless if you thread that screw in first and push all the way down on that bracket for the heat sink so it doesn't cause resistance on the screw (thus making it easier for the grommet to spin) you can bottom out the screw and then do the other screws. If it still spins a set of thin needle nose may help hold the grommet. Or using a really sharp punch awl in the grommet pushing on the edge opposite of the direction it wants to spin.

If its stripped out I'm not sure what I would do. My first thought would be to drill out the grommet and replace it with a bolt and nut using plastic washers on the back side of the board. However that grommet doesn't go all the way through the board and it looks like there are components on the back. I never tried to tap a screw that short, not sure if that is an option or not. You can get taps that size for 2-5 bucks, I wouldn't even drill it, just run the T5 size in and then a T6, use compressed air to clean it.

Good luck! Post back if you find a solution. You mentioned Apple a couple times? Anyway this could be considered a callback on their work?

Thanks for the reply!

So I'm absolutely positive that the heatpipes are intact and not leaking fluid. The black adhesive I'm talking about is marked in red. It's some kind of tape, but only glued for about 2mm width at the very edges of the CPU. It had thermal compound residue underneath the parts where there's no glue... I removed it altogether (tape, glue and thermal compund residue) to avoid it being a thermal insulator -great job on Apple for leaving that sit there after reapir, imo.

Core temps are the same, but then again it only has two cores... So a hotspot would be tough to differentiate, software wise. (I don't have an IR camera )

Airflow proximity is only 43°C, while temps on the die are close to 90°C in this case. We can be almost 100% sure that the heat transfer isn't happening as it should be?

The heatsink mounting pressure only comes from the four screws holding it in place and the very slightly bent shape of the heatsink mounting 'arms' as seen in the picture - I find them very very flimsy as well, my 2012 15" had really strong and sturdy metal heatsink mounting arms, which were spring loaded as well. So: it doesn't have nearly the amount of pressure on it as in the case of the 2012 MacBook and certainly not as in the case of the iMac...

The screw in question is able to grab the logicboard standoff screw, the female and male threading aren't stripped as far as I can see. It catches the threading and screws in normally, until the deepest point is reached, where it just goes round and round. I find this really odd, as it's unlikely for the logicboard standoff to be rotating in its place. You can see in the picture that it's basically part of the logicboard itself. Anyhow, I'll take a closer look at it.

Your idea of replacing the standoff is great. That's what I was thinking about as well. I'll try that if everything else fails.

I think I'm going to pay a visit to Apple in the first place, but I expect them to not take responsibility for it. They're going to say that since I've opened it and removed the heatsink, that I'm the one that fehcked the screw and not them.

 

[cynics]

Thanks for the reply!

So I'm absolutely positive that the heatpipes are intact and not leaking fluid. The black adhesive I'm talking about is marked in red. It's some kind of tape, but only glued for about 2mm width at the very edges of the CPU. It had thermal compound residue underneath the parts where there's no glue... I removed it altogether (tape, glue and thermal compund residue) to avoid it being a thermal insulator -great job on Apple for leaving that sit there after reapir, imo.

View attachment 831926

Core temps are the same, but then again it only has two cores... So a hotspot would be tough to differentiate, software wise. (I don't have an IR camera )

Airflow proximity is only 43°C, while temps on the die are close to 90°C in this case. We can be almost 100% sure that the heat transfer isn't happening as it should be?

View attachment 831930

The heatsink mounting pressure only comes from the four screws holding it in place and the very slightly bent shape of the heatsink mounting 'arms' as seen in the picture - I find them very very flimsy as well, my 2012 15" had really strong and sturdy metal heatsink mounting arms, which were spring loaded as well. So: it doesn't have nearly the amount of pressure on it as in the case of the 2012 MacBook and certainly not as in the case of the iMac...

The screw in question is able to grab the logicboard standoff screw, the female and male threading aren't stripped as far as I can see. It catches the threading and screws in normally, until the deepest point is reached, where it just goes round and round. I find this really odd, as it's unlikely for the logicboard standoff to be rotating in its place. You can see in the picture that it's basically part of the logicboard itself. Anyhow, I'll take a closer look at it.

Your idea of replacing the standoff is great. That's what I was thinking about as well. I'll try that if everything else fails.

I think I'm going to pay a visit to Apple in the first place, but I expect them to not take responsibility for it. They're going to say that since I've opened it and removed the heatsink, that I'm the one that fehcked the screw and not them.

Your CPU is doing something....

For comparison here is my 2018 MBP at idle...



When you look in energy (significant usage) and CPU in Activity Monitor there should be something somewhat obvious unless this is a one off.

 

[Xebrafish]

Your CPU is doing something....

View attachment 831937

For comparison here is my 2018 MBP at idle...

View attachment 831938

When you look in energy (significant usage) and CPU in Activity Monitor there should be something somewhat obvious unless this is a one off.

>Yep, I think that was a random spike of something. Don't know what exactly.

And yep, that was what left me wondering as well... I checked activity monitor and iStat earlier, loking for power hungry processes, but most of the time there's absolutely nothing going on.

I checked again just now to take a screenshot: nothing obvious eating system resources. Like I said: one tab in Firefox and 68°C on the die.

 

[leman]

Well, there is definitely something wrong with your machine, it shouldn’t behave like this. Sorry if you already mentioned it, but when did this start? Was it always like this? Also, you mentioned throttling - do you obverse reduced performance then?

 

[cynics]

>Yep, I think that was a random spike of something. Don't know what exactly.

And yep, that was what left me wondering as well... I checked activity monitor and iStat earlier, loking for power hungry processes, but most of the time there's absolutely nothing going on.

I checked again just now to take a screenshot: nothing obvious eating system resources. Like I said: one tab in Firefox and 68°C on the die.

View attachment 831954

Download intels power gadget and keep it in the foreground as you do stuff.

https://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/intel-power-gadget-20

Getting that heat sink mount sorted should help a bit although generally the first thing you'll see is lower fan speeds.

However if you see power and utilization spike with temps that isn't because the heat sink isn't working or whatever its just a Macbook Pro being a Macbook Pro leveraging all the processing power the machine has and getting hot because of it. Poor heat transfer through the heat sink would be high temps with low to medium power usage and CPU utilization.

With Intels Power Gadget you'll be able to quickly see if the CPU is overheating due to a hardware defect or just because its has a load and using a lot of power. From there you can glance at activity monitor.

Your CPU has a TDP of 25-30 watts and since that translate directly into heat 90c isn't uncommon. Not uncommon for many laptops actually. However if you aren't doing anything there shouldn't be a background task hammering the CPU like that.

 

[Xebrafish]

Well, there is definitely something wrong with your machine, it shouldn’t behave like this. Sorry if you already mentioned it, but when did this start? Was it always like this? Also, you mentioned throttling - do you obverse reduced performance then?

Hi!

Well, it has always been kinda like this. It's only now that I start to find it annoying; the fans can ramp up quite a bit without me doing anything, and the machine gets really hot.

And yep: when the CPU gets hotter, I experience lag in the OS. Cursor starts lagging, and overall performance is to cry about...

 

[cynics]

Hi!

Well, it has always been kinda like this. It's only now that I start to find it annoying; the fans can ramp up quite a bit without me doing anything, and the machine gets really hot.

And yep: when the CPU gets hotter, I experience lag in the OS. Cursor starts lagging, and overall performance is to cry about...

Forgot to mention, that Intels Power Gadget shows you clock speed so you'll be able to see throttling.

 

[Xebrafish]

Download intels power gadget and keep it in the foreground as you do stuff.

https://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/intel-power-gadget-20

Getting that heat sink mount sorted should help a bit although generally the first thing you'll see is lower fan speeds.

However if you see power and utilization spike with temps that isn't because the heat sink isn't working or whatever its just a Macbook Pro being a Macbook Pro leveraging all the processing power the machine has and getting hot because of it. Poor heat transfer through the heat sink would be high temps with low to medium power usage and CPU utilization.

With Intels Power Gadget you'll be able to quickly see if the CPU is overheating due to a hardware defect or just because its has a load and using a lot of power. From there you can glance at activity monitor.

View attachment 832013

Your CPU has a TDP of 25-30 watts and since that translate directly into heat 90c isn't uncommon. Not uncommon for many laptops actually. However if you aren't doing anything there shouldn't be a background task hammering the CPU like that.

So this is what it looks like on Power Gadget.

I'm just looking at a PDF on Adobe Reader and there is an open Firefox session. Room temperature is 21°C and the machine isn't placed on something that can act as a thermal insulator.

CPU seems to be indicating some drastic power consumption spikes for not doing much. Activity is around 20% according to the readouts.

Also a T of 80-85°C with this light usage, I can't imagine what would happen if I were to open Premiere...

 

[Placinta]

@Xebrafish Have you figured out what your issue was?

I'm seeing something similar with my MacBook Pro 15" Late 2013 running 10.14.6 (18G87).

I noticed the issue happening right after i upgraded from High Sierra to Mojave.

Specifically the total system power consumption is high even when the machine is completely idle.

But it's strange because if I login / logout a couple of times, i can get *lucky* and the power consumption returns to normal.

I'm using iStat Menus to check.

When everything is fine, and the CPU is idle, the CPU freq is 890Mhz and the total power consumption is ~10W, and current is ~3A, idle Temp is 40-50 degree Celsius.

When I get unlucky (after a reboot or a re-login), CPU frequency is at 890MH, total power consumption is around 30W, idle temp is at ~70 degree Celsius.

Neither activity monitor nor htop point to any process doing anything.
So my guess it's some faulty firmware / kernel extension that came with Mojave.

Temperature-wise, everything worked properly on Yosemite, El Capitan, Sierra, and High Sierra. Haven't tried Catalina yet.

I might get another hdd to check how it behaves with High Sierra / Catalina.

Resetting SMC / PRAM multiple times did not help. Haven't been to an Apple repair shop, but I don't have high hopes that they will figure it out.

 

[Xebrafish]

@Xebrafish Have you figured out what your issue was?

I'm seeing something similar with my MacBook Pro 15" Late 2013 running 10.14.6 (18G87).

I noticed the issue happening right after i upgraded from High Sierra to Mojave.

Specifically the total system power consumption is high even when the machine is completely idle.

But it's strange because if I login / logout a couple of times, i can get *lucky* and the power consumption returns to normal.

I'm using iStat Menus to check.

When everything is fine, and the CPU is idle, the CPU freq is 890Mhz and the total power consumption is ~10W, and current is ~3A, idle Temp is 40-50 degree Celsius.

When I get unlucky (after a reboot or a re-login), CPU frequency is at 890MH, total power consumption is around 30W, idle temp is at ~70 degree Celsius.

Neither activity monitor nor htop point to any process doing anything.
So my guess it's some faulty firmware / kernel extension that came with Mojave.

Temperature-wise, everything worked properly on Yosemite, El Capitan, Sierra, and High Sierra. Haven't tried Catalina yet.

I might get another hdd to check how it behaves with High Sierra / Catalina.

Resetting SMC / PRAM multiple times did not help. Haven't been to an Apple repair shop, but I don't have high hopes that they will figure it out.

Nope, running Catalina at the moment on that same machine. Still seeing random 100°C temperature spikes on the CPU die. I've been out of the country for a while so haven't been able to look into it...

IF I'd run into any more information I'll get back to you.

 

[Joshoon]

I have a Macbook Pro early 2013 and I'm having the same issue.
I wouldn't even call it an issue much longer though, I almost start to think it's normal behaviour for this machine.
It has been doing it for years now and haven't found any solution.

Watching a Twitch stream right now and having a few tabs open in Safari and I'm around 80°C to 90°C.
it easily spikes to 100°C.
Also recently cleaned the inside from dust, no change in temperature.

 

[zilch]

Just started having this issue too on a Macbook Pro 15" late 2013 (11,3). For years it idled between 30-40C. Last week it started idling at 60. Have done everything I can think of, SMC/PRAM reset multiple times. Safe mode. Replaced thermal paste (and made sure none of the old was left). Cleaned fans, both are functional. Looking at any recent installs.

Logging in fresh, cpu usage minimal and it's still idling at 60C and the top near the display is very hot. Turning up the fan blows out hot air, so it doesn't seem like something with the heatpipe.

 

[Queen6]

My revived 2011 15" (SW issues) is still 100% stock, idles at 35C with an ambient of 25C. If the temperatures are escalating you need to look at what SW is running as it's unlikely the hardware unless the fans or heatsinks are clogged up.

FWIW the 2011 15" now runs cooler than it ever did originally; today it can hit full CPU frequency with marginal throttling, likely due to firmware updates and OS optimisations. CPU can pull a healthy 55W and sustain 45W at 3.1GHz at 92C, it used to throttle way down to the base CPU frequency of 2.4GHz or less and run at 103C...

Q-6

 

[zilch]

It's 60C after a clean boot with nothing running at all except the temp monitor. Both fans work fine and are clean.
I've read in a few places about liquid inside of the heatsink/arms that, if it leaks out, leads to this. I'm not sure how true this is though, or if it applies to this laptop, and I didn't see anything that suggests it on the heatsink

SOLVED: How to check heatsink is working ok - MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Mid 2014

First I would install a good fan & temp monitoring app. I like this one: Temperature Gauge Pro. It will give you the details on what is happening with your sensors and the fan it self. The heat sink (the CPU's heat management) its self is mechanical, so your issues are limited to the three... -...

www.ifixit.com

 

[Queen6]

It's 60C after a clean boot with nothing running at all except the temp monitor. Both fans work fine and are clean.
I've read in a few places about liquid inside of the heatsink/arms that, if it leaks out, leads to this. I'm not sure how true this is though, or if it applies to this laptop, and I didn't see anything that suggests it on the heatsink

SOLVED: How to check heatsink is working ok - MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Mid 2014

First I would install a good fan & temp monitoring app. I like this one: Temperature Gauge Pro. It will give you the details on what is happening with your sensors and the fan it self. The heat sink (the CPU's heat management) its self is mechanical, so your issues are limited to the three... -...

www.ifixit.com

Any OS updates recently? Apple can and does tend to change things that are not always obvious to the user. My older Mac's run on OS X 10.12/10.13 so rarely if ever change.

Q-6

 

[zilch]

No, it started happening when it was running. I did swap the drive for a larger one in November, and i still have that. Going to pop that in when I have some time and see if that changes anything. Should tell me if it's a hardware or software issue

 

[lagisibuk]

No, it started happening when it was running. I did swap the drive for a larger one in November, and i still have that. Going to pop that in when I have some time and see if that changes anything. Should tell me if it's a hardware or software issue

try this one, its solve my rmbp 2015 early from heating issue

https://apple.stackexchange.com/que...s-to-its-knees-with-soagent-and-callservicesd

messages brings macos to its knees with soagent and callservicesd tutel.me | tutel.me

[SOLVED] Messages brings macOS to its knees with soagent and callservicesd | When I launch Messages on macOS and attempt to do anything at all with it (or even, it seems, if I just wait a while until a message is received) the two processes soagent and callservicesd start maxing out CPU and...

tutel.me

 

[zilch]

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried everything in there, but no change :-/

 

[cjgade]

Hi there

I've got an A1502 MacBook Pro 13" late 2013 (MBP 11,1; ME867LL/A) which I got secondhand. It's got the 2.8GHz i7 4558U, 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD.

Thing is; it runs hot. All the time. Idle temps fluctuate between 65°C and 99°C most of the times.

I changed out the thermal paste twice: tried MX4 and IC Diamond.
I removed the black adhesive on the CPU under which there was still some old thermal paste left behind.
I cleaned the inside of the machine and the logicboard with a soft toothbrush and isopropyl alcohol when needed. There is no dust or corrosion anywhere, thing looks MINT inside and outside.
Running Mojave 10.14.3 and firmware 149.0.0.0.0.

Nothing particularly alarming regarding OS activity (no spotlight indexing, no updating services, no nothing); an open tab in Firefox and that's it.

Is it just the i7 and poor cooling solution provided by Apple? The CPU throttles itself to death basically.

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: The machine received a new topcase and display by Apple itself.
EDIT: SMC and PRAM have been reset.

Just wanted to add that I have the exact same problem (for about 5 years). I have installed Macs Fan Control to manually get the fans to actually cool the computer down. To me it feels like something Apple has added to make you buy a new computer. Mine is fully serviced by professionals and it still runs hot without the extra manual fan control.
I did not buy the Pro version of the software. I just turn full blast on and off manually, had no luck with the automatic part. It might be that some sensors are broken or something, but it does measure the correct temperatures. It still crashes some times even on full blast, but less if I have the power connected (I have a completely new battery as well).