When Apple released the SMC Firmware update for Intel Macs this past Tuesday, they were rather cryptic about just what it was supposed to do. One conspiracy theory proposed that it was intended to cripple clock speeds, but Information Week is reporting something quite different (and less insidious): It seems that MacBook Pro (MBP) heating issues have been resolved. According to the article, MBP users are finding that their fans are running more effectively, resulting in post-update temperatures as low as 8 degrees cooler. What all this means is no more burnt thighs during lengthy World of Warcraft sessions.So, TUAWers, what has your experience been? Has this firmware update put your MBP into the deep freeze?
[Via MacNN]













Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
5-19-2006 @ 11:10AM
Mike said...
Auctally, I have been sitting on the update just in case. And it did not describe fully enough the update :P
Reply
5-19-2006 @ 11:10AM
Thomas said...
And for those people who reapplied their thermal paste - have they borked it in combination with the new firmware or is it even cooler now?
Reply
5-19-2006 @ 11:12AM
Gaurav Saraf said...
It didnt fix anything. Making the fan run all the time isnt exactly a fix.
Reply
5-19-2006 @ 11:30AM
Joshua Ochs said...
My fan is running much less, and the case is cool or only slightly lukewarm to the touch after hours of running.
I won't use CoreDuoTemp until they load the kext on the fly; I'm not installing that in /System, especially without any warning!
Reply
5-19-2006 @ 11:30AM
Bridget Samuels said...
Nope! Hasn't changed the behavior of mine a bit (no increased fan, no cooler temp). Still running about 70-73 celsius at 50% CPU usage.
Reply
5-19-2006 @ 11:35AM
Andy said...
Mine's running a lot cooler. Prior to this update you could fry an egg on the strip above the function keys. What's odd is that I haven't heard the fans kick in at all (other than during the update itself).
Reply
5-19-2006 @ 11:36AM
I.A. said...
I've noticed that my wireless has been snappier since installing the SMC Firmware update.
Reply
5-19-2006 @ 11:38AM
ODOG said...
Since I've updated the firmware update I've noticed ZERO temp change. The program I run, Temp monitor still shows temp upwards of 109F on minimal program use and nothing intensive. I'm a new mac user so I really don't know where the temp should be anyway but its still frickin TOO HOT.
Reply
5-19-2006 @ 11:39AM
schmidp said...
nothing different
Reply
5-19-2006 @ 11:39AM
Florian Gnägi said...
How on earch can a firmware update remove to much thermal paste from your heat pipe?
Reply
5-19-2006 @ 11:40AM
Phil said...
mine has cooled down by about 5°C and my maximum speaker volume has increased!
Reply
5-19-2006 @ 11:40AM
TurtleJP said...
Actually so far so good. Everything was running well before but do seem to feel a bit of cool air flowing out the back over my knees.
A-OK!
Reply
5-19-2006 @ 11:43AM
Kernel Dan said...
My MBP is actually running a lot cooler i have to say, but one thing I noted..
I've never heard the fans go as fast or as loud as they did when I installed the update.. Is that bad?
I personally wouldn't mind if the fans did that every once in a while (or during CPU intensive tasks) to give it a quick cooling, but thats just me.
Reply
5-19-2006 @ 11:44AM
kduerr said...
Nothing has changed for me. Still don't hear the fans and if anything it's running hotter at near idle CPU.
Reply
5-19-2006 @ 11:44AM
Kyle Derouen said...
This update really helped me. I was runningat 65C but now I'm down to about 50-55C. I'm really impressed overall.
Reply
5-19-2006 @ 11:47AM
Joe said...
Thats easy
The firmware update uses imaginary windscreen wipers to wipe of excess thermal paste :-)
Reply
5-19-2006 @ 11:52AM
ChillyWilly said...
Mine was pretty much fine before, but this new SMC firmware update seems to have made some minor improvements. It doesn't seem quite as hot.
In general, every laptop I've used in the last 7 years has run hot. I've used hotter (ThinkPads), so the heat issues with the MacBook Pro are not as bad.
Reply
5-19-2006 @ 12:02PM
Barry said...
In Boot Camp > Windows XP: Prior to the firmware update, DVD Shrink could extract the contents of any DVD in less than 20 minutes. Now it's taking over an hour. It's pretty depressing for a brand new, $2000 laptop which has 1.5 gigs of RAM to be slower than my crappy, two year old, $1200 one which has 512. Argh.
Reply
5-19-2006 @ 12:06PM
Jason said...
My 1.83GHz MBP temps were high - even external temps were around 120° F or higher. The firmware update didn't make a major difference, so I brought my MBP into an Apple store and asked them to check out the thermal paste issue. Of course, there was too much, and after it was re-done, my MBP ran at least 15° to 25° cooler than before.
I also noticed that the wireless connection stopped dropping out after the heat issue was fixed. Seems the excess thermal paste was doing more than just making the case hot - it may have also created heat-related side effects on the airport extreme card inside.
Reply
5-19-2006 @ 12:12PM
pnarse said...
Mine probably has far too much thermal paste on it as it does get very hot...
Thing is, I've not had any actual problems so far so I'm reluctant to get it sorted incase it makes the fans spin more...
As it is they only run if I work it hard, and that's the way I'd like to keep it. The heat doesn't bother me it's usually sitting on a desk or table of some sorts anyway :)
Reply