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Why I Drilled Holes in My MacBook Pro and Put It in the Oven

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Re: Why I Drilled Holes in My MacBook Pro and Put It in the Oven

#61

Post by hmottestad »

gnarbarian wrote: post #9
hmottestad wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple moved from PowerPC to Intel because the new generation of PowerPC chips wouldn't run cool enough to put in a laptop. Intel had long been pushing for cooler chips and longer battery life. Beginning with its Centrino line and the Pentium M processor. Apple hopped in right after the Core chips landed (dual core), and these chips were amazing for Apple. They could continue with the macbook pro design with a new and…

So why didn't apple adapt their cases to fit the new thermal profile by placing a couple ghastly holes where they were needed?

They did. The retina macbook pro has vents on the sides.

Re: Why I Drilled Holes in My MacBook Pro and Put It in the Oven

#62

Post by jfroma »

I think the picture in the header says it all, on one side I can see very dirty fans and on the other side the improved design.

The first thing I would have tried is to replace the fans. I had to do this with other laptops I have had in the past (HP mostly) but never with the two models of MBP (and I run pretty hard too), so I guess it has to do with the model as he mentioned.

While I sympathise with the idea of improving the design of a product massively consumed, I first try to think that the engineers did a well design and try to look for the malfunctioning component to replace.

Re: Why I Drilled Holes in My MacBook Pro and Put It in the Oven

#64

Post by berkut »

chroma wrote: post #7
techrat wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd think after 10 years having model after model of aluminium built laptops, Apple would have found a way to solve the heat issues they always have... but nope, they still think it's a good idea to put the heat exhaust vent right up against the bottom lip of the screen where it is still blocked when the machine is in use.

Where else can one put air vents on a laptop? The sides are taken up by expansion ports and speakers. The front is blocked by the battery. The bottom is often obstructed by blankets, clothing, etc. The top is for the keyboard, trackpad, and palm rest. Putting vents at the hinge actually makes the most sense. It guarantees ventilation ports won't be fully obstructed. The vents face away from the user, reducing fan noi…

The problem is that as you push the screen back from vertical, the area for air to escape gets reduced.

Re: Why I Drilled Holes in My MacBook Pro and Put It in the Oven

#65

Post by sjwright »

pedalpete wrote: post #47
ars wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, pretty normal. For temperatures near 100C the conversion is easy. Ovens report temperatures in F, computers in C, shrug. In general you use F for human temperatures (air temperature, fever, and cooking), and C for everything else. F has a better range for air and body temperature anyway. Maybe Europeans will switch to F, and Americans will switch to Km :) (In case you wonder why F is better: The coldest temperat…

I've always hoped we'd move to a 0-100 scale where the scale is the temperatures people can relate to. 0 is cold, 100 is hot. How hot is 100? Same as 100 farenheit. We know that's hot. How cold is cold? Same as 0 celsius, we know that's cold. Of course, for science and cooking we need more dynamic range, which F and C work well for, but just for our daily experience, we need something new.

> I've always hoped we'd move to a 0-100 scale where the scale is the temperatures people can relate to.

That's exactly what Celsius is, except it pegs 0 and 100 at non-arbitrary temperatures that are both scientifically precise and exceptionally relevant to everyday use.

Re: Why I Drilled Holes in My MacBook Pro and Put It in the Oven

#66

Post by kybernetyk »

proveanegative wrote: post #41

I have question related to this issue. Which MacBook model, new, refurbished or used, should I buy if I want it to last as long as possible and be useful for doing OS X-specific programming tasks?

Any that fits in your budget.

I've been running on MBPs since 2008 and never had one give up. (My oldest one still is running as a test device).

Re: Why I Drilled Holes in My MacBook Pro and Put It in the Oven

#67

Post by berkut »

I've got an early 2011 MBP which has exactly the same issue - I'm on the third logic board (GPU and a chipset both went on separate occasions within 3-year warranty) and second battery (battery wasn't due to heat though, just capacity), I use it heavily for programming (compiling) and rendering, so CPUs are often maxed out.

I try and make sure it's ventilated properly (when I use it on my lap I often hold it in the air when the CPUs are busy and the temp is rising), but I'm not convinced the design is good for cooling in general.

Re: Why I Drilled Holes in My MacBook Pro and Put It in the Oven

#68

Post by gnarbarian »

veb wrote: post #59
gnarbarian wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're literally speed holes.

They're really not. "Speed holes" by definition make something go faster. In this case, it was done to help the temperature. Not to overclock.

Without them it doesn't run at all, so I still think they qualify.

Re: Why I Drilled Holes in My MacBook Pro and Put It in the Oven

#69

Post by ekianjo »

Kurtz79 wrote: post #36
mike-cardwell wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My Thinkpad has air vents on the left hand side, and also on the back. Except, the ones on the back aren't blocked like they are on Macbooks, because the Thinkpads design is based on what is sensible rather than on what will make the thinnest possible computer.

I don't know what model you have, but my old T61p with dedicated graphics had the same heating issues as my newer Macbook Pro.

My x220 has air vents at the back, on the left side and several at the bottom of its base. Even when it heats up the temperature stays very much controlled.

Re: Why I Drilled Holes in My MacBook Pro and Put It in the Oven

#70

Post by ekianjo »

chroma wrote: post #26
gnarbarian wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My Latitude E5430 has them on the left side near the back, and two places on the bottom (the rear left side and the front middle).

That laptop is twice as thick as a rMBP and puts out less than half as much heat. Even if Apple put vents in those places, it wouldn't cool adequately; the vent area would be half that of the Dell. To get the same temperatures, airflow would have to be 4x faster than in the Dell. And as I said before, vents on the bottom increase the risk of overheating when used on a bed or carpet. Critics hold Apple to a higher sta…

> In general, Apple makes quality hardware. If it were otherwise, they wouldn't be able to charge so much.

Oh, so you have never heard of the power of Marketing and branding ?

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