Macbook Pro owners- how are exterior temps?

[sindows]

I know that they can get pretty hot under load but how is the exterior casing itself? I know unibody models dissipate heat well even if iStat says the processor is running at 60c. They remain cool to touch. I was wondering if this was the case with the older generation design.


I ask as I own a Powerbook which shares a similar design but the case gets way too hot for comfort. You literally cannot touch the backside for more than a few seconds without pulling your finger away.

 

[Kmax82]

I have a SantaRosa MBP and it's the same. This isn't the Unibody.. it's just the general Aluminum one, and it gets crazy hot whenever I'm doing heavy work, like Photoshop, etc...

 

[Illusio]

Yeah, I wouldn't want to keep it on your lap while doing intense work, Unless you don't want to have kids ever...

 

[theblackbox]

well, even though it snowed yestereday, the external temp today is about 50, so it's melting.

i have one of the first MBP, the 2.0 that i got when i first came out, and it's never been warm or hot, it seems to do really well, and 3 years later it still works as good as it first did. the only place that gets hot is right above the keyboard where the vent is and at the very back, but since i don't sit on the top or the back, or hold it on it's back, i use it in my lap all the time. even under gaming in windows and fcp it never gets hot on my lap.

 

[Kadarin]

Mid-'07 generation MBP here. Most of the time it's fine, but if I have it under load it gets warm enough that I don't want the thing resting on bare skin.

 

[xanis]

Originally posted by: Kadarin
Mid-'07 generation MBP here. Most of the time it's fine, but if I have it under load it gets warm enough that I don't want the thing resting on bare skin.

This. I also have a mid-'07 MBP and usually it's fine, but under load (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, etc.) it gets VERY hot.

When on a desk, I've found that taping a stack of about 5 pennies together and placing it under each rear side of the laptop helps a lot.

 

[Tyranicus]

Originally posted by: sindows
I know that they can get pretty hot under load but how is the exterior casing itself? I know unibody models dissipate heat well even if iStat says the processor is running at 60c. They remain cool to touch. I was wondering if this was the case with the older generation design.

I just recently got a new unibody base model MBP to replace my failing Core Duo MBP. While I would have to say it dissipates heat better than the old design, it still gets rather warm. I definitely would not call it "cool to the touch" when it's running under load. The old design, however, would get scary hot to the touch, so much so that it would almost feel like it was burning my skin if I had it in my lap and was wearing shorts.