# MacBook average CPU temperature, and related question



## captain.joco (Feb 19, 2009)

I apologists straight away if this have been covered recently, but i need to ask

I have MacBook with Intel Core Due Processor, 2 GB ram.
What is the average temperature CPU temperature for standard usage ( I know that standard usage is very arbitrary, and by this I assume safari, iTunes and let say Pages to be the only major apps running ).

I use iStat pro widget and according to it my CPU temperature is 55*C. Is this too high? Lately the fan has been turning on more recently almost without any apps running so I think that there might be some hardware problem. I ran HardwareTest it found nothing.

The macbook is 2 yrs old. Do i need to get it cleaned or is there something else I should be worrying about?

Any toughts?
Thanks in advance.


----------



## ElDiabloConCaca (Feb 19, 2009)

Under high load, my MacBook Core2Duo's processor (2.0GHz, 2.0GB RAM) goes as high as 85 degrees Celsius (converting videos, rendering stuff, anything that pushes the processor to 100%).

I don't think 55 degrees Celsius is too hot for standard use.


----------



## captain.joco (Feb 19, 2009)

What about 60-63*C ? Thanks for the replay


----------



## ElDiabloConCaca (Feb 19, 2009)

63 degrees Celsius is only 145 degrees Farenheit, so still ok by my book.

If you see 80 degrees Celsius or more while you're using the laptop in a light fashion (email, web surfing without Flash video, etc.) then I'd start getting concerned.

Anything less than that should be ok.


----------



## captain.joco (Feb 19, 2009)

Thank you.


----------



## Canticleer (Nov 11, 2009)

My MacBook Pro when sitting idle is around 50 - 55° C. As soon as I open Mail temperature rises to 80 - 85° C. Of course by then the fans have kicked in but as long as Mail is open, temp. stays around 80 - 85°. When I close down Mail temp. drops to 55 - 60° C in a few seconds.

I just installed iStat and it seems that it is the CPU that generates the high temp.

This behavior started a week ago or so. I have been using the MacBook Pro for almost three years.

Yesterday I Asked a Tech on MaxOSX.com as soon as I get an answer, I'll let you know.

Greets,


----------



## ora (Nov 11, 2009)

Canticleer said:


> Yesterday I Asked a Tech on MaxOSX.com as soon as I get an answer, I'll let you know.
> 
> Greets,



Hehe, the same techs also post in the forum! 

Just basic stuff though, make sure you run your laptop on a hard surface and nothing is blocking the airvents. I also used to use a cooler quite often, they are cheap and somewhat effective.

Also use activity monitor to see if any processes are making the machine work like mad - i often find when the fans kick in it is some flash site in safari/ff playing up.


----------



## ElDiabloConCaca (Nov 11, 2009)

If Mail.app appears as the CPU-sucking culprit, then the question to be asked next is: have you any Mail add-ons, plug-ins or "enhancers" installed?


----------



## Canticleer (Nov 11, 2009)

Thanks for the replies.
@ ora; my laptop is on the same hard surface as it has (mostly) been since the last 3 years and nothing is blocking the airvents. The temperature rise only happens since a week or so and when running Mail. FOr example now Safari and Aperture are running and the temp. is 49° C.
When Mail is open Activity Monitor shows that Mail is using more than 100% of the CPU, sometimes over 110%. How this is possible I don't know.

@ ElDiaboloConCaca; no, I don't have any Mail add-ons, plug-ins or enhancers. The only thing I have installed on the PowerBook Pro the last week is the BitTorrent client Transmisson which has, as far as I know, nothing to do with Mail. And I haven't been running Transmission since the day I installed it.

Ivan


----------



## ElDiabloConCaca (Nov 11, 2009)

Canticleer said:


> When Mail is open Activity Monitor shows that Mail is using more than 100% of the CPU, sometimes over 110%. How this is possible I don't know.


You have a computer with a dual-core processor, so you basically have two CPUs.  Each CPU can handle 100% load, for a maximum theoretical usage of 200%.

110% just means that you're using all of one processor and some of the other (or, 60% of one and 50% of the other... or, 90% of one and 20% of the other... or, etc.)

Check to ensure that all of your mail account settings are correct, and possibly rebuild Mail's mailbox index (I think the procedure for this has been posted on this site somewhere).


----------



## ora (Nov 11, 2009)

110 is high for just mail 

Right now i am idling in safari, skype, mail, ical, Word2008, preview, iTunes Textedit and OmniOutliner and am running at about 10%  total cpu load - my machine is new yes but not _that_ much faster.

try EDCC's idea - which is as easy as Mailbox>Rebuild.


----------



## Canticleer (Nov 11, 2009)

Thanks for the CPU-explanation Diablo.

I checked my mail account settings and all seems to be ok. Rebuild Mailbox in the Mailbox menu is greyed out. So that way I can't rebuild it. Is there another way?


----------



## Canticleer (Nov 11, 2009)

@ ora; even now, when I'm idling in Mail, it takes up 99,7% of CPU.


----------



## Canticleer (Nov 11, 2009)

The complete Mail data in Activity Monitor are (here on my mac in Dutch, so forgive me the inadequate translations)

Mail	99,8 % CPU	12 Thr.	427,14 MB real memory	1,35 GB virtual memory Intel


----------



## ElDiabloConCaca (Nov 11, 2009)

Canticleer said:


> Rebuild Mailbox in the Mailbox menu is greyed out. So that way I can't rebuild it. Is there another way?



I believe you must have a mailbox highlighted in the left-hand sidebar (for example, the "Inbox") before the "Rebuild" option will appear.


----------



## Canticleer (Nov 11, 2009)

I have rebuilt every single folder that I could rebuild. Some acted strange, some of the read messages that were in the folder returned marked unread after the rebuild, in other folders deleted messages reappeared after the rebuild or messages still in the folder were downloaded a second time.

But as I said, I have rebuilt every folder I could. Then I quit Mail, let the temperature drop to 55°C and reopened Mail. Immediately temp rose to 75° and the Activity Monitor showed that Mail used around 100% CPU, 10 threads, 70 MB memory and 1 GB of virtual memory. By then temp; had risen to 80° C.

So no real change in fact.


----------



## ElDiabloConCaca (Nov 11, 2009)

At this point I would be compelled to say that you should delete Mail's preference file.

Unfortunately, I believe that this will remove your accounts from Mail as well, causing you to have to re-enter all the server settings and what-not.  I could be mistaken on this.

If you're the type that can remember those settings off the top of your head, this may not be an issue.  If not, this may cause a little work to be done.

I'll wait on recommending that just yet until someone here can confirm whether or not it takes your account settings with it.


----------



## Canticleer (Nov 11, 2009)

Thanks Diablo, I'll give it a try tomorrow and keep you informed. In this part world it's way after midnight and I think it's better to go to bed now. Tomorrow is another long day.

Cheers


----------



## Canticleer (Nov 13, 2009)

I moved (did not delete) the Mail preference file (~/Library/preferences/com.apple.mail.plist) to another location (desktop) and restarted Mail. All the mails in my inbox were gone. The mails in my smart folders and local folders are still present. But, what's more important, the problems still presists. Mail hogs the CPU and makes the temp. rise to 85°. So I quit Mail again, deleted the new preference file and put the old back in place. After opening Mail again, all my mails were back.


----------



## Canticleer (Nov 14, 2009)

Problem solved. Someone named Steko on the Apple Discussions Forum gave me the advice to open iSync, open Preferences and click on Reset Sync History. To my relieve this completely did the trick. After that Mail uses around 30% of CPU when downloading new messages and 0,0% when sitting idle. This had no effect on the temperature whatsoever.

I'm glad this one's solved. Thanks for your time and effort guys. I appreciate it.


----------



## KeithRBrock77 (Dec 17, 2009)

I would say you are in the proper range. Please also take into account the ambient temperature in the environment the MacBook is located in (it's winter in some places and people have heat on in the house) and also take into consideration that Mac's are designed to run "hotter" than other systems out there - that's the trade off of having "silent computing" - the laptop itself is the heatsink.


----------



## mickmick (Mar 19, 2010)

just found this topic since I have a similiar problem. last 2-3 weeks my macbook core 2 duo bought in 2007 shut down all of a sudden about 3-4 times. Its no problem to start it again.
So, started looking around for answer and finally downloaded temperature monitor aswell as smcFanControl programs to check the temperature. 
My MacBooks cpu seems to stay around 77-80 Celsius, even when I am not doing anything heavy.  Right now I don´t have any heavy programs running and according to activity monitor no program is taking more than perhaps 10-15% cpu load. 

scmFanControl dont seem to have affected anything since the temperature was the same yesterday before I found smc...

I think this is to hot, is it?   what is it that causes this?  it doesnt feel good that it has just went black like that those 3-4 times and I hope to find what it is before it starts happening more frequently so any advices what to do?


----------

