Which runs cooler: MB or MBP?

[bobinnv]

Leaving aside other issues - size, graphics processors, etc, which machine runs the coolest - lowest temperature, least amount of fan activity?

I currently use a 12" Powerbook, and the biggest drawback has always been heat: it gets hot, which can get uncomfortable on your lap, and when it gets hot enough, the fan comes on, which is very loud, and makes watching videos something of a pain (my Mini remains quiet when viewing, for instance, a YouTube video; my Powerbook doesn't).

Has anyone got enough experience with both a Macbook and a MacbookPro to comment?

 

[840quadra]

The only way for someone to know this, would be for them to have both systems, and be able to take outside temperatures from the bottom of the laptop.

My MacBook can get warm, but not uncomfortable. One issue I can see with the MacBook Pro, and Powerbook, would be the the fact that the metal case would transfer more heat to a human body, than the Plastic iBook, MacBook would.

 

[MacManTexas56]

i've got a MBP and my gf has a MB. we both have Core 2 duo chips as well. her's gets very very warm when just doing basic itunes and internet. My MBP on the otherhand barely gets warm at all. I definitely notice that the new MBP gets rid of heat quickly and doesn't heat up the laptop like the core duo models did.

 

[phungy]

Wouldn't the MBP run cooler since it has two fans?

 

[Mac'Mo]

my MB gets pretty hot, and i assume the aluminum chassis of the MBP dissipates heat better

 

[840quadra]

Wouldn't the MBP run cooler since it has two fans?

It all depends on the size of the fans, and the locations. The MacBook's logic board is more concentrated and consolidated to the back left corner of the system, with the processor and heatsink mostly residing on top ( I have disassembled a MacBook).

The MacBook Pro has a longer and wider logic board that expands the entire rear section of the laptop with the heat-sinks residing mostly on the bottom (from what I can gather from pictures).

i've got a MBP and my gf has a MB. we both have Core 2 duo chips as well. her's gets very very warm when just doing basic itunes and internet. My MBP on the otherhand barely gets warm at all. I definitely notice that the new MBP gets rid of heat quickly and doesn't heat up the laptop like the core duo models did.

Feeling between the two systems is irrelevant IMHO. Where you wearing shorts one day, and jeans the next day when comparing them? Where they both doing the same processor intensive task, for the same amount of time when you felt the heat ?

I have no doubts that you are correct that the MPB would feel cooler based upon the layout of the logic board, and the fact that it has two fans. However the only way to really tell, would be to take temperature readings from multiple locations across the back of the laptop, using the same thermometer.

my MB gets pretty hot, and i assume the aluminum chassis of the MBP dissipates heat better

Aluminum dissipates and transfers heat much better than plastic. When I say transfer, I mean that it will cary the heat over to whatever is contacting it quite efficiently. If this happens to be raw skin, or your pants, it may not feel really good on the skin .

 

[2fives]

All I can tell ya is my experience with the 15" MBP. It does get hot sitting on your lap after awhile. Doing normal computing the CPU sits around 55c an at full load it hits 70c, but that not often, just when I was doing some stress tests. But like I say at normal computing you gotta put it down for a few minutes every 45 min or so.

But look at it like this after an hour or so of computing you'll probably have to go take a leak or want to grab a Pepsi, so is it really a problem??

 

[Gosh]

Fan Control

Recent Macworld comparison said MacBook (C2D) "run significantly cooler" than MBP C2D - internal and esp external temps.

I have MB and considered it was still getting hot on the lap making the fans rev up which I don't like.

I now use this little utility http://www.lobotomo.com/products/FanControl/ and it's not a problem! I set it to run (the single) fan at (at a barely audible) 2700rpm and that keeps on top of the temperature build up.

If wanting to use a MBP on the lap then try this but consider something like: http://www.lapinator.com/

 

[e12a]

Recent Macworld comparison said MacBook (C2D) "run significantly cooler" than MBP C2D - internal and esp external temps.

You have to take into consideration that the MBP is made out of Aluminum, a good heat conductor, and the faster C2D.

 

[Aniej]

It all depends on the size of the fans, and the locations. The MacBook's logic board is more concentrated and consolidated to the back left corner of the system, with the processor and heatsink mostly residing on top ( I have disassembled a MacBook).

This was a really great post. I have a question though. Are there different size fans that can be put into a MBP(obviously a custom aftermarket job, not an apple.com selection)?

 

[MacManTexas56]

It all depends on the size of the fans, and the locations. The MacBook's logic board is more concentrated and consolidated to the back left corner of the system, with the processor and heatsink mostly residing on top ( I have disassembled a MacBook).

The MacBook Pro has a longer and wider logic board that expands the entire rear section of the laptop with the heat-sinks residing mostly on the bottom (from what I can gather from pictures).



Feeling between the two systems is irrelevant IMHO. Where you wearing shorts one day, and jeans the next day when comparing them? Where they both doing the same processor intensive task, for the same amount of time when you felt the heat ?

I have no doubts that you are correct that the MPB would feel cooler based upon the layout of the logic board, and the fact that it has two fans. However the only way to really tell, would be to take temperature readings from multiple locations across the back of the laptop, using the same thermometer.



Aluminum dissipates and transfers heat much better than plastic. When I say transfer, I mean that it will cary the heat over to whatever is contacting it quite efficiently. If this happens to be raw skin, or your pants, it may not feel really good on the skin .

not irrelevant whatsoever. my gf has the MB at her place...i brought my MBP over....we were both surfing the internet and using adium...nothing intensive at all. we were both wearing jeans. i'm not an idiot man. when one machine feels hotter than the other one how is that irrelevant? you are getting too technical now.

 

[scott523]

IMO, I had trouble keeping my MB cool with Firefox on with 7 tabs until I installed Fan Control 1.1. By adding my settings (1600RPM, 52C to 74C), I could now achieve a stable warm feel to my lap at 48C.

 

[Gosh]

IMO, I had trouble keeping my MB cool with Firefox on with 7 tabs until I installed Fan Control 1.1. By adding my settings (1600RPM, 52C to 74C), I could now achieve a stable warm feel to my lap at 48C.

They're the standard settings right!

Cool that lap man - 2700rpm keeps it cooler!

 

[DeSnousa]

I really have no idea, but I know messing around with the power settings will allow it to draw less heat

 

[Gosh]

I really have no idea, but I know messing around with the power settings will allow it to draw less heat

Setting the fan to run a bit faster just keeps the heat from building up and transmitting thro the case and reduces the need for the fan to rev up to 6000 rpm to cool things down again.

It's a compromise but Mac's are vain things with fans that can run very quietly just ticking over - but the downside is that means often the heat builds up too much too fast and then they go like a mad vacuum to get hold of the temperature and bring it back down.

Personal choice but I don't mind a modest barely audible hum at 2700rpm!

 

[Star Destroyer]

I have my macbook CD, it runs super cool. I have Firefox (with 7 tabs ) open, Adium, and 2 excel spreadsheets, and my core duo temp is reading 45C and its steady all morning, i have been running it for about 2 hours now.. maybe a bit more, and the heat is not even noticeable.

 

[annexw]

I've been testing a MBP and a MB and it seems the Macbook is much cooler. They both run a bit warm, but the MB seems to either throw less heat or disappaiting it better.

And I'm usually only running Firefox and possibly the DVD player.

 

[michaelsaxon]

I went from a Core Duo Macbook to a Core Duo 15" Macbook Pro and the Pro is definitely hotter. The top left gets quite hot.

 

[bobinnv]

It's interesting that of the 3 people who actually have used both the MB and MBP, 2 say the MB runs coolest and 1 says the MPB runs coolest. Along with the evidence I've seen in other threads and other forums, I am thinking that maybe the variability between different machines is greater than the variability between the MB and MBP - that is, some Macbooks run hot, some don't, and some Pros run hot and some don't. So it is hard to come up with a definitive answer as to which line of notebooks runs cooler than the other.

As someone pointed out, Macworld claimed that the Macbooks ran at a lower temperature than the Pros, but maybe this doesn't necessarily translate into feeling cooler on your lap. That is really what I am after - I want a machine that feels cool and is as quiet as possible.