MacBook – What are normal – or at least not harmful – temperatures for various components of the MacBook Pro

hardwaremacbook protemperature

I have a mid-2012 MacBook Pro with hard drive upgraded to 500GB SSD Samsung EVO and upgraded memory to 16GB. Lately (I think) the temp sensors have been reporting larger numbers (in degrees Fahrenheit).

Here is a copy of the diagnostics copied/pasted from the app Macs Fan Control. These numbers are in celsius instead of fahrenheight. Right now at the fan level its at, I can hear a little bit, but as of late it's been very noticeable.

I am wondering:

  1. What is a general range of average/not harmful to the computer temperatures my Macbook Pro should be running at? And,

  2. How does one remedy excessive heat? (I'm wondering whether there is a way to tell if it comes from a specific program(s) or whether it is wise to invest in one of those laptop cooling fans that you place your laptop on cop of for cooling purposes.

Macs Fan Control 1.4.8.1
MacBookPro9,2
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3210M CPU @ 2.50GHz [105]
GPU: Intel HD Graphics 4000
macOS 10.12.5

Fans:
Exhaust-min{2000}curr{5089}max{6200}mode{0}

TempSensors:

TA0P (Ambient) – 49.375, 49.375

TB0T (Battery Max) – 34.7969, 34.7969

TB1T (Battery Sensor 1) – 34.7969, 34.7969

TB2T (Battery Sensor 2) – 33.3984, 33.3984

TC0E () – 82.1016, 82.1016

TC0F () – 83.5586, 83.5586

TC0J () – 1.45703, 1.45703

TC0P (CPU Proximity) – 69, 69

TC1C (CPU Core 1) – 81, 81

TC2C (CPU Core 2) – 81, 81

TCGC (GPU PECI) – 81, 81

TCSA () – 80, 80

TCTD () – -1, 255.973

TCXC (CPU PECI) – 81.25, 81.25

TG1D () – 83.5586, 83.5586

TM0P (Memory Proximity) – 47.125, 47.125

TM0S (Memory Slot) – 58.8672, 58.8672

TPCD (Platform Controller Hub Die) – 75, 75

Th1H (Heatsink Proximity) – 57.375, 57.375

Ts0P (Palm Rest) – 32.875, 32.875

Ts0S () – 48.7656, 48.7656

Disk drives:
Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500GB – 38

Best Answer

Those temps seem fine to me.

MBP models usually range from about 40ºC (104ºF) to 100ºC (212ºF) depending on whether the CPU is idle or under load. CPU temps (just like ambient temperatures) typically have a bearing on GPU temps too, especially within the extremely confined spaces of a MacBook.

If you'd like, you can refer to the Intel Mac Temperature Database to see the various temperature ranges reported by users. You can also filter the list by model etc.