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Ask HN: How is my MacBook temp getting misread?

5 points GWBullshit | 1 comments | 15 Jul 25 02:01 UTC | HN request time: 0.251s | source

Ever since the last MacOS update, my MacBook has been overheating very easily, very often. When this happened in the past, I would simply put it in the freezer for a few minutes and then pull it out and get back to work. Now something strange is happening: The MacBook itself will be ice-cold, but unlike before when it would just resume working wonderfully, now it "sort of" works, but not really. For example synching stops and says "It needs to wait until the temperature drops". I installed an app to see what's going on and it's reading the CPU at 190º+ F and the GPU at 200º+. Why? How could anything inside be that hot when the frame itself is ice cold?
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apothegm ◴[15 Jul 25 03:25 UTC] No.44567592[source]▶
The metal frame of a MacBook is part of the cooling apparatus. If something in the heat conduction chain got messed up (see the earlier comment about freezers and thermal paste), the chips are unable to shed their heat into the frame the way they’re meant to. Keeping the frame cooler than usual, while the chip quickly overheats.
replies(1): >>44579657 #
GWBullshit ◴[16 Jul 25 07:34 UTC] No.44579657[source]▶
If the frame is ice cold, wouldn't the heat from the processor dissipate faster into any adjacent thing that is much colder?
replies(1): >>44581451 #
1. apothegm ◴[16 Jul 25 12:23 UTC] No.44581451[source]▶
Air is a very poor heat conductor, and among the best insulators. The thermal paste conducts the heat much more quickly. If it’s not touching maximum surface area on the things you want to conduct heat between, and the heat has to dissipate solely through the air that’s touching the processor, that’s much less effective at cooling.