MacBooks packin' heat due to covered up vent?

Anyone who's given a PowerBook, MacBook, or MacBook Pro a good look probably knows how the ventilation system works: two inlets near the front of the computer draw the air in, a big vent grid underneath the screen hinge lets it all out. Ideally. Except Gert Stahl apparently discovered a thin layer of plastic film in his MacBook that prevented airflow, and was causing his machine to overheat; removal promptly caused his fans to shut off and the machine's heat to return to a level more manageable. What's more, apparently there was never any mention made in the manual about the removal of any such film, leading one to believe that this might be unintentional (read: manufacturing error). So, if you've got a MacBook and it's a little toasty, check that gap out for the thin plastic strip -- if you've got the film (or if you don't) then you let us know!

Update: Well, it looks like the court of public opinion has ruled on this one... doesn't appear to be the real deal. If you've got a blocked vent, well, you obviously didn't speak up. So for now we're gonna close this case and move on with our damn selves.

[billflu @ May 25th 2006 12:50PM]

Haha, that would be hilarious if that was the main cause of all this over-heating.

[z @ May 25th 2006 12:51PM]

Would that mean the isolating foam excess problem isn't one anymore?

[P! @ May 25th 2006 12:53PM]

mention in the manual?! Isnt the idea to remove all the plastic off of the computer before you start using it... arent Mac users supposed to be smarter people? I removed all the plastic crap from my macbook... never once heard the fan for more then a couple of seconds.

[Nathan @ May 25th 2006 12:56PM]

Even in a thread like this PC enthusiests manage to insult Macs and Mac users. WOW!

[Lou @ May 25th 2006 12:57PM]

Just checked. No film on my vent. But I have a weird defect on the upper left part of the screen casing. Taking it back to the Apple Store today.

[Tush @ May 25th 2006 12:57PM]

"arent Mac users supposed to be smarter people?"

I hate it when people say things like that.

I do agree though that removing the plastic from all parts of your computer is a good idea. That plastic is probably there to prevent anything from getting into the inlets...

[Dustin @ May 25th 2006 12:58PM]

I have a white Macbook, purchased the Tuesday they came out, and there was no plastic strip present on my vent, unfortunately :< Would've been nice to get it to run a little cooler, it's definitely toastier than my iBook G3 was.

[Jason @ May 25th 2006 1:00PM]

No film on my black macbook.

[jesus @ May 25th 2006 1:01PM]

#5 LOL

[Joe @ May 25th 2006 1:04PM]

#1 - macbook pros are overheating, not macbooks

#2 - by insulating foam, i assume you mean thermal paste. that was macbook pro, not macbook. (although it could be an issue on both)

#4 - my ibook, and macbook pro came ready to use inside of a foam slip case with no plastic of any sort. are the macbooks different?

[Nick @ May 25th 2006 1:04PM]

No plastic on my vent, and my MacBook actually seems to run cooler than my old 12" PowerBook. Time will tell if that's really the case.

A correction as well - on the MacBook, there are no vents towards the front. Air is drawn in via the keyboard.

[WOW @ May 25th 2006 1:07PM]

funny how these macbooks get all the attention and also have the dumbest problems

I dont get it, are you helping apple or brining them down?

[diulei @ May 25th 2006 1:07PM]

I wouldn't say Mac users are smarter, a lot of them are more more pompout and have a "holier than thou" attitude though.

BTW I have a Mac.

[Dustin @ May 25th 2006 1:08PM]

My Macbook also came inside a foam slip ready to use, with another sheet of foam between the display and keyboard. No plastic sheets to peel off like some laptops. I agree that it's a good idea to remove shipping material from your computer before firing it up, but that vent is in a barely visible place and not an obvious place to check for plastic film. From all of the other comments it sounds like this was an isolated manufacturing defect.

[Brad Relligner @ May 25th 2006 1:09PM]

ordered last friday
received this wednesday

no film.

[Henry @ May 25th 2006 1:10PM]

No plastic on my white 1.8 Macbook...

[Dolomite @ May 25th 2006 1:11PM]

What a great trick to play on somebody!

[Jose @ May 25th 2006 1:15PM]

So does that mean the people that fixed the thermal paste on the processor and got it to run 15-20 degrees cooler will get it down even lower? Or is that a different laptop?

[John from Buffalo @ May 25th 2006 1:17PM]

I've actually had TWO black MacBooks. Neither of which has the problem.

http://www.johnwaller.org/macbook/

[Kevin @ May 25th 2006 1:18PM]

#5
Yes, too many PC switchers, running Windows, *shudder* and whining about intergrated graphics. As if they could game on their $1000 Dell... please

[John from Buffalo @ May 25th 2006 1:21PM]

#21 in response to #5. I think that its a valid complaint. Running Windows is one thing, however, while the 950 is another. The ingrated graphics on a 1500$ machine FROM APPLE is just fscking cheap on their part. The whole "synergy" excuse is a load of bullshit. Why can't they put in some sort of AGP mid-grade card?! The Powerbook 12" had a GForce 5200 for a LONG time, and its WAY better than this ingtegrated shared mem. bullshit. I've had problems already, and slugs on some applications with respect to my OSX use. Even the iBooks had better technology.

[J.R. @ May 25th 2006 1:22PM]

#4: You might want to learn the difference between 'then' and 'than' and their proper uses before you start talking about how smart Mac users are.

[rex @ May 25th 2006 1:23PM]

It must be all that built up ego in those apples that are making it hot. bwahahaha

[Paul @ May 25th 2006 1:23PM]

I have a $1250 dell and i can game on it... (ok, so it was origenally $2000 but dell has those $750 off a $1499 or more laptop coupons)

[ahkmel @ May 25th 2006 1:24PM]

The comments section of every place that has posted this story (Engadget, Digg, etc.) is filled people saying, "Mine did not have this!" I haven't read a single person confirming that their laptop had this piece of plastic too. I call B.S.

[Matt @ May 25th 2006 1:27PM]

no plastic on my vent.

[jimmy @ May 25th 2006 1:32PM]

no film over my white macbook's vent

[pableu @ May 25th 2006 1:34PM]

#26 (ahkmel):
Yeah, but I guess only the engadget comments are filled with apple-users bragging about how great and smart they are ;)

[Mischa Lockton @ May 25th 2006 1:38PM]

Hey people- the time of your post determines the order, therefore if you want to comment to other post #'s, keep in mind that THOSE #'S CHANGE. Lol.

Maybe Apple can do a recall and "remove the hymen" for people.

[essjay @ May 25th 2006 1:39PM]

Theres no plasticc over the vent on my shiny white Macbook 2GHz and in the week or so I've had it its been running a hullofalot cooler than my Vaio PCG GRT815m, but that did have a desktop P4 in it...

[j3oomerang @ May 25th 2006 1:41PM]

i just dont understand why this is on engadget. This is something i would expect to find in an apple forum. I dont see how this is engadget news. pretty ridiculous, if you ask me. Im sure if 1 sony had this problem it wouldnt be engadget news. I mean no one has commented that they had the same problem. it seems as though one guy reported it and now its on engadget. doesnt make sense

[O'Boogie @ May 25th 2006 1:42PM]

I wouldn't say Mac users are smarter. Geekier, yes. Smarter, no.

[Lucy @ May 25th 2006 1:43PM]

no film on my macbook

[SR @ May 25th 2006 1:49PM]

Mac users are idiots as exemplified by #7 (Tush). If they didn't want anything to go inside or outside there why would they put inlets there? BTW, it was explained to your dumb ass that it is part of the ventilation system.

Also what sort of morons are lied to about G5 supercomputer speeds for years and then are told that when their beloved Macs now use the Intel processors everyone else has been using for decades that the new Macs are 5 times faster than the "supercomputers" they used to sell. Something doesn't add up stupid.

There was a time when a Mac was a premium solution to a problem, but not anymore they just add to problems these days what with overheating and peeling finishes and such poor support that only a zealot would love.

[Petey Boi @ May 25th 2006 1:50PM]

ahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahaaahahahahhahahahahahahaahahahahaha
that was hilarious!

[n3il89 @ May 25th 2006 1:53PM]

None on my MacBook Pro

[WildHairZero @ May 25th 2006 1:53PM]

I bought my 2 GHz white MacBook this past Sunday at the Apple store and I had no plastic on my vent.

Tonight I'll be taking mine apart to remove the original thermal grease and put in Arctic Silver 5. I so hope it brings the idle temperature down.

Anyone else done that on the standard 13" MacBook?

[Tim @ May 25th 2006 1:54PM]

I know a guy that leaves the plastic films on all of his electronics until they fall off, claiming that they're protecting the product and making sure it looks nice... when all of his electronics look like $#!t because they've got nasty flaps hanging off of them that are caked with dust and residue.

[speedaemon @ May 25th 2006 1:55PM]

you're just mad cause you got pwned.

[nto @ May 25th 2006 1:55PM]

GooSe proves one thing: you're never too old to be filled with teen angst.

[Zealot @ May 25th 2006 1:56PM]

"arent Mac users supposed to be smarter people?"

No, they just think they are.

[will chen @ May 25th 2006 1:59PM]

"I won't even bother to dissect what is wrong with his comparison."

Let me help you:

Uh... garageband?

Ya, exactly. Nothing is wrong with the comparison.

[Adam @ May 25th 2006 2:00PM]

Nothing on my black MacBook (returned because of a defect) or on my new white MacBook, both 2.0 GHz Core Duo.

[hobbes @ May 25th 2006 2:01PM]

i get the feeling half the people who comment here have decals on the back of their cars of Calvin urinating on a Chevy logo.

[Sam @ May 25th 2006 2:01PM]

#31 is understandably pissed - Apple killed his parents and left him to die underneath a dirty highway overpass. Bill Gates saw him on his way to the bank and took him under his wing, teaching him all about how powerful windows is compared to BSD based operating systems like OS X. Unix variants that are so weak that they can only run most of the Internet.

Your hardware comparison is weak. You're not comparing apples to apples (no pun intended). First of all, go build a dell business class machine (they're more expensive because they use higher quality controlled parts - which is what apple does). Then actually use the same processors.

I know it's a bit difficult for playa haters out there to realize - but a PPC chip doesn't compare to an AMD chip - they're actually made by two different companies.

When I spec'd my macbook pro against a dell precision and a lattitude and both times the dell was more expensive.

I have a friend who keeps claiming that he spec'd out his dell the same as a MBP pro, and just looks at me confused when I tell him he has an integrated graphics card, half the hard drive space, slower memory, and crappier components. Some people, like you, just don't get it.

I was a mac hater for a long time. But after a while I got sick of reinstalling windows on my and my friends computers every six months. Windows is crap - there's no way around it. If vista can best OS X I'll go back to vista. I'll use the best operating system on the market, I don't care who makes it.

Remember nice cars are "eye candy" but they also perform well.

[Kevin @ May 25th 2006 2:08PM]

GooSe #31
Maybe you are ignoring the FX4500 that is in that machine. Which runs well over 2K. So yes giving Apple an extra +$2,000 for a high end rendering card, priceless. So not comparable. Adding the 7800GT would have been more realistic, seemingly because all you care about is gaming. So please check your facts before you post your Windows loving propaganda.

It has been proven that it does not cost more to buy a Mac. So if that is your only point as to why Macs suck. Please kill yourself.

[Cloud @ May 25th 2006 2:10PM]

I don't think Mac or Pc people are smarter then another but if I had to make one argument on this, it would be that Macs are made simple where as PC's are complicated buggers. If you spend everyday doing things the complicated way then wouldn't that theoretically make you that much smarter?

[Kevin @ May 25th 2006 2:13PM]

Will Chen, please check my post. There are many thing wrong with his comparisons.

To add something else, anyone can build a cheap PC and install Windows. You get an experience on a Mac. One that can't be compared to Cathode Lights and Windows Installation parties, you know why? Because the Mac experience is light years ahead of it.

[DAN @ May 25th 2006 2:16PM]

WOW said, "I dont get it, are you helping apple or brining them down?"

I think the answer is neither. That is the point of objective journalism.

[Kevin @ May 25th 2006 2:17PM]

Cloud:

You are mistaken. Mac OS X is simple, however considering it has Unix underneath it, it can be way more powerful than a Windows machine.

Windows is simple as well. It is just open to every piece of garbage as well as the good stuff. Which makes it suck. I don't have to worry about viruses(yes there are a few, but I haven't gotten them, maybe because I am smarter in my computing habits?). No spyware or Windows breaking because of new hardware I added.

I was a Windows person for a long time. I built the PC's that GooSe is comparing Mac's to. However they don't compare to the computing experience I get on my Mac.