I recently purchased a Thunderbolt Display to use with my Late 2011 MacBook Pro 13-inch. I was quite happy with the overall performance until I noticed that the only fan in the laptop started running at overly high speeds (over 6000 rpm) to cool off temperatures surpassing 90C (194F) on the temperature diode/CPU die. This happens every time I watch a video and gets worse if I do so on full-screen mode. Most other tasks produce around 70C (158F) and 4000 rpm.
This of course not only produces annoying noise but reduces the lifespan of any affected internal components. This positively does not happen when the TD is unplugged. I have a couple of questions I was hoping people out there could help me with:
(1) Will any similar (27 inch, 2560×1440) monitor produce the same behavior or is this a thunderbolt interface issue? Can my MBP drive a monitor with these specs without overheating?
(2) How damaging can high temperatures be? Am I slowly killing my computer with the TD?
(3) Am I asking my hawrdware for too much or is Apple basically marketing a 'computer overheater'?
Thank you!
Best Answer
i don't know why, but when i stopped using the mag safe from the thunderbolt display to power my MBP, and just used my normal power adapter, I quit having the overheating problem. I've taken my display to apple several times and they can't figure out why it keeps overheating and turning off.