Live data from Hacker News

New Macbook overheats in Hangouts and Skype, microphone input garbled

discussions.apple.com

51–60 of 114 posts

Re: New Macbook overheats in Hangouts and Skype, microphone input garbled

#51

I'll preface this statement by saying that I LOVE my Macbook Pro. (Retina, 15-inch, mid 2014) However, I do find it disheartening that it overheats so frequently/quickly. It generally overheats if I have more than 8 or 9 chrome tabs or I have a server running (ember-cli causes it to instantly overheat). The worst and hottest it's ever been was when I tried to play Starcraft on it the first day I got it. Haven't tried…

Define overheat...the MBP just gets hot "overheat" or greyscreen of death "overheat"?

Re: New Macbook overheats in Hangouts and Skype, microphone input garbled

#53
post #15
post #6

This is a severe problem for me with my 15" MBP. Long meetings (heck, even short) with colleagues make it extremely hot to the touch (keyboard and frame) and destroy the battery. Same with streaming netflix or youtube videos. Microphone seems fine but not great quality. It wasn't my decision to purchase this computer, it was my company's, but I'm very disappointed in its performance at simple two way audio video comm…

I'm relatively new to Macs, but it seems like it's partially a cultural thing. When I first got a macbook for work, I found my fingertips got really uncomfortable from how hot the keyboard and mousepad got, and assumed there was a problem to be solved, but several Mac-centric colleagues said they just got used to it. I wound up downloading some random app that lets you control when the fans turn on - and voila, a coo…

For those interested, it's likely smcFanControl - https://github.com/hholtmann/smcFanControl

Re: New Macbook overheats in Hangouts and Skype, microphone input garbled

#54
post #15
post #6

This is a severe problem for me with my 15" MBP. Long meetings (heck, even short) with colleagues make it extremely hot to the touch (keyboard and frame) and destroy the battery. Same with streaming netflix or youtube videos. Microphone seems fine but not great quality. It wasn't my decision to purchase this computer, it was my company's, but I'm very disappointed in its performance at simple two way audio video comm…

I'm relatively new to Macs, but it seems like it's partially a cultural thing. When I first got a macbook for work, I found my fingertips got really uncomfortable from how hot the keyboard and mousepad got, and assumed there was a problem to be solved, but several Mac-centric colleagues said they just got used to it. I wound up downloading some random app that lets you control when the fans turn on - and voila, a coo…

If you turn off turbo boost, the fan pretty much never turns on, a lot less heat and you get a couple more hours of battery life. Here is a switcher app to turn it on and off:

http://www.rugarciap.com/turbo-boost-switcher-for-os-x/

Re: New Macbook overheats in Hangouts and Skype, microphone input garbled

#55
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm relatively new to Macs, but it seems like it's partially a cultural thing. When I first got a macbook for work, I found my fingertips got really uncomfortable from how hot the keyboard and mousepad got, and assumed there was a problem to be solved, but several Mac-centric colleagues said they just got used to it. I wound up downloading some random app that lets you control when the fans turn on - and voila, a coo…

I've gotten first degree burns from an old MBP that overheated. It's like they didn't test it..

They do test it, it's just that Apple values form over function. Because of this, they run their gear with a much slimmer thermal margin.

Re: New Macbook overheats in Hangouts and Skype, microphone input garbled

#57
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm relatively new to Macs, but it seems like it's partially a cultural thing. When I first got a macbook for work, I found my fingertips got really uncomfortable from how hot the keyboard and mousepad got, and assumed there was a problem to be solved, but several Mac-centric colleagues said they just got used to it. I wound up downloading some random app that lets you control when the fans turn on - and voila, a coo…

I've gotten first degree burns from an old MBP that overheated. It's like they didn't test it..

This has been an issue ever since they went unibody. A single, solid block of aluminum in direct contact with heat generating components. It's hard to believe they didn't intend the unibodies to act as heatsinks. Hasn't hurt their popularity at all, though.

Re: New Macbook overheats in Hangouts and Skype, microphone input garbled

#59
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm relatively new to Macs, but it seems like it's partially a cultural thing. When I first got a macbook for work, I found my fingertips got really uncomfortable from how hot the keyboard and mousepad got, and assumed there was a problem to be solved, but several Mac-centric colleagues said they just got used to it. I wound up downloading some random app that lets you control when the fans turn on - and voila, a coo…

For those interested, it's likely smcFanControl - https://github.com/hholtmann/smcFanControl

Doesn't turn the fan off but I found Temperature Gauge App to be very helpful in terms of monitoring what is going on with the fan and temperature.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/temperature-gauge/id46783052...

Looks like they have another app which does have fan control:

http://www.tunabellysoftware.com/temperature_gauge/

Re: New Macbook overheats in Hangouts and Skype, microphone input garbled

#60
post #14
post #6

This is a severe problem for me with my 15" MBP. Long meetings (heck, even short) with colleagues make it extremely hot to the touch (keyboard and frame) and destroy the battery. Same with streaming netflix or youtube videos. Microphone seems fine but not great quality. It wasn't my decision to purchase this computer, it was my company's, but I'm very disappointed in its performance at simple two way audio video comm…

I had the original rMBP, now the 2014 one, and don't see the same problem. A lot of it is in the persistent services that are running on the machine; I'd take a good look at Activity Monitor's "energy" pane. One thing I noticed: if you're using Chrome and have persistent pages open (cough, GMail, cough), this is probably a big part of your general heat issues. It made me go back to Firefox for a while, but Firefox's…

Open a video hangout in Safari. My early 2013 rMBP would go to 200 degrees per iStat and stay there for the duration of the call. Skype would keep it around 160.
Post reply on HN