Laptops and smartphones: How to Keep it Cool?

Batteries age faster when they are hot for a long period of time and overheating can destroy other hardware, causing the system to freeze or worse.

Check the temperature
While it’s perfectly normal for computers and smartphones to heat up thanks to battery heating, there’s, of course, a limit to the amount of heat these devices can put on before they start overheating.

The general guideline for laptops is to keep it running below 122° (50°C), with more room for maneuvering for newer processors. If your laptop thinks it’s too hot and has started showing performance issues, use a free temperature monitoring tool to see if your laptop is in danger of overheating. You’ll know if your laptop is overheating if you see the telltale signs.

Some smartphones offer built-in temperature sensors that can tell you if your phone or battery is getting too hot and many smartphones will turn off automatically if your phone gets too hot.

Apple recommends an ideal temperature zone of 62 to 72°F (16 to 22°C) for iPhones to work well and describes ambient temperatures above 95°F (35°C) as harmful temperatures that could permanently ruin battery capacity.

MacBooks work best if the temperature stays between 50° and 95°F (10° to 35°C).

To store your iPhone or MacBook, you can keep it in temperatures between -4° and 113°F (-20° to 45°C).

Keep your laptop or smartphone out of direct sunlight and hot cars
Be careful where you leave your gadgets. Anyone who’s been in a closed car on a hot day can tell you it’s very hot, and our skin isn’t the only thing that hates the heat.

If you leave your phone or computer in direct sunlight or cook in a hot car, touching it can burn your hand. It gets worse if you’re playing music, taking a call or charging, as the drums are already sweating.

Turn off the device in those high-heat areas and try to use them only in the coldest tone. One option is to cover it with a shirt or sit with it under a tree. If you’re in the car, try pointing the air conditioning vent in its general direction.

Wait to use your hot laptop or smartphone
When you move from a hot zone to a warmer one, wait until your laptop or smartphone will cool down a little before turning it on again. Ideally, wait for the device to resume its normal range of thermal operation.

Turn off apps with more battery life
Turn off apps and features with more battery. Not only features like GPS and 4G/5G or the increased screen brightness tax the battery life of your laptop or smartphone, but also make the battery warmer.

Similarly, use the device in its battery saving setting (for example, “energy saving”) to automatically use less battery and reduce battery heat.

Some devices have what is called an airplane mode that can stop streaming instantly on all radios, which means it will turn off Wi-Fi, GPS and cellular connection. While this mode prevents phone calls and Internet access, battery usage drops sharply and gives the device time to cool down.

Use a cooling bracket
A portable cooling stand is a perfect investment. These stands not only extract heat from your laptop, but also place your laptop ergonomically.

Put your laptop on a cooling stand if it’s getting too hot. It’s not really a big deal if you’re already using your laptop on a desktop because the cooling bracket will barely change the way it’s positioned.

Turn off your laptop or smartphone when you’re not using it
When it’s too hot, perhaps the best thing you can do is turn off your device, closing the power for when you really need to use it.

Some devices turn off automatically when they get too hot, so turning off all the power of each component is one of the fastest ways to cool your phone or laptop.

After 15 minutes of being in a cooler space, you can turn it back on and use it normally if it fits mostly and is within the recommended thermal operating limits. Photo:Pixabay