Filed under: Software Update, Macbook Pro
Apple has just updated the firmware for the 17 inch MacBook Pros. This firmware update 'adjusts fan behavior' in Apple's hot new portable (that's a pun, folks. Thank you, thank you).Use Spotlight as a reference tool. Type any word in the Spotlight box and one of the top entries will be a definition. Click on it, and it will bring up the dictionary application to check the word in either the dictionary, thesaurus, Apple database, or Wikipedia.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Justin Cash said 9:11PM on 6-27-2006
Not to ask for trouble..and not to say that my MBP/15 inch is burning a hole in my table.. but will the 15 inch get a similar update?
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jose Ruiz Isenberg said 9:26PM on 6-27-2006
it did already, if you have not done the SMC update yet for it go to www.apple.com/support click the downloads link and look for it....
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meatmcguffin said 9:41PM on 6-27-2006
Even after googling i still have no idea what SMC stands for; can anyone enlighten me?
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Buthidae said 9:41PM on 6-27-2006
Couldn't you just play the "Moof!" sound effect on the Macbooks all of the time? Then you wouldn't notice it! :-p
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SwissFreek said 10:01PM on 6-27-2006
I have the SMC update, and it wasn't until *after* I got it that I finally understood what the "mooing" problem was. Because that's when my 15" MBP started to do it. I will also note that that's when summer started to kick in and it finally got warmer up here in the frigid Northeast, so it could just be that my MBP's environment got hotter, or that as I broke it in I started running it harder, etc, etc, etc...
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Colin P said 10:12PM on 6-27-2006
I have found that my 12" Pbook definitely runs hotter in the summer. I think it has to do with the humidity during summer as well, but I tend to get higher temps more often than I did being in a heated house in winter. Fan runs more often, etc.
Nowadays I have a fan cool me and my Pbook at the same time. Does wonders ;)
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TheVexedSoul said 10:47PM on 6-27-2006
Congrats to you, Scott, for not including the phrase "Pun not intended" in your post.
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Mark D. said 11:55PM on 6-27-2006
Not to sound out of place, but when they released the SMC update for the 15" mine actually stopped mooing, still had the whine and heat (well dropped a few c when not usign the Mirror trick) but the cow went home as far as I can tell. Maybe it affectscertain releases differently? I have a Week 13 2Ghz.
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Thayne Miller said 1:19AM on 6-28-2006
When are people going to realize that HEAT isn't going to be fixed by a firmware update or any other kind of change? You have a dual core chip. It's hot. That's all there is to it. Check the intel spec sheet on the core duo if you don't believe me, or yourself. It's rated up to 125 degrees C (that's well over the boiling point of water). Stop complaining about the heat. I have a macbook; yes, it's hot. I just got a neoprene case for when it's on my lap. Problem solved.
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Mark D. said 2:38AM on 6-28-2006
Reply to #8 (Miller):
You make a fair point, but I would actually argue that the case is equally the instigator of the heat, considering that it's both thin/compact and made out of the popular heat-transfering aluminum it does more than it's fair share in drawing heat out of the system.
I personally find this a good thing, though on the flip side the fans do seem weak, I'd rather them quiet instead of the compairative wind tunnel my old Compaq 905 was (though the way the ram heated up, geez, sometimes makes the MBP seem much cooler.)
Of course a consistent bump in fan speed would lower idle/low use temps, actually, but the response from users would no doubt be even worse, it was already negative the moment somebody mentioned the SMC update for the 15" might have increased fan usage. Also, I wouldn't necessarily read the max temp of a cpu to be an indicator of the running temp (I've had AMDs run pretty hot in laptops with much lower max levels), you'd be better to point at write-ups showing the Thinkpads with core duo chips run equally hot under similar load, thus showing it's chip-wide and not Apple specific. I believe one such write-up was done compairing the Thinkpad, a MBP and the MBP with reapplied thermal paste, the reapplied paste winning, but with more fan usage, interestingly.
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Kai Steinbach said 3:55AM on 6-28-2006
Hey meatmcguffin, SMC stands for System Management Control.
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Thorn said 6:24AM on 6-28-2006
@Thayne,
Here's what happens when a MBP's fans run all the time:
"My MacBook Pro was cool; actually, it was cold to the touch. I compiled a fresh install of Subversion, which is known to strain the system, and left the laptop on my lap while wearing shorts. I felt only the barest amount of warmth from the laptop. The keyboard area was actually cool to the touch. It was the most amazing thing."
http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2006/05/23/thermal-paste-question.html?page=3
Tell us again why you think fans have nothing to do with how hot the casing gets?
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Craig said 12:36PM on 6-28-2006
I just fell of my chair laughing at the 'pun'!
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