Comment by jorgeleo
4 hours ago
i decided to do an experiment and try to run an LLM in my old 2013 MBP. i7, 16 gb mem, 1 tb hd.
Installed Linux mint Xfce Edition for lightness, installed ollama, start to test different models. Gemma4 e4b runs perfectly fine, exposed it to the network, connected to it with my current notebook and use vs code codex to start to run inference.
For about 30 minutes of bliss, this setup work at a reasonable speed... then the MBP shut it self down. It was so hot that it trigger the safety mechanism, the fans sounded like the laptop was about to take off.
I though on leaving it on inside the fridge, but then the WIFI wouldn't reach.
On the other hand, my wife saw all this and offer to buy me an M5... the experiment didn't work as intended, but it did work.
On a laptop that old it might be worth opening it up to blow all the dust out with a compressor or air duster. I’ve often found that to work wonders on old MacBook Pros.
The other issue is that unless the battery has been replaced relatively recently its charging efficiency may not be that great and the high load being placed on it might be causing it to get hotter than it would have done when new.
> On the other hand, my wife saw all this and offer to buy me an M5...
Hold my beer. I'm going to run Qwen on this 3rd-generation iPod... somewhere my partner can see
Could be in need of a thermal paste refresh etc.?