My old laptop died, and I’m considering a Macbook Pro. I would appreciate comments from anyone using a Macbook Pro with Skype. I read some comments on the Skype forum about over-heating problems when using Skype with the 2011 Macbook Pros.
Thank for any comments you provide.
I have a Macbook 2.1 OS X 10.5.8.It is a couple of years old and works well with Skype.
I have a Macbook 2.1 OS X 10.5.8.It is a couple of years old and works well with Skype.
Thanks so much, Steve. Do you use a air-cooling pad under it? I never used one with my old laptop, but I use one with my netbook and am wondering if it would be a good idea to use one with the new laptop I buy.
Hi Marj,
The issue that you’re referring to was in fact a firmware glitch, so with the newest iteration of OS X (10.6.7) it now appears to have been fixed. You should have no problems running Skype now.
Do note, however, that if you ever experience troubles with your computer, Apple has excellent customer service and you can just bring it to any Apple store or AAR (Apple Authorized Retailer) and they will take good care of you.
Using MacBooks Pro (2011) for VIDEO CALLS via Skype may indeed cause problems.
See http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=803113
My old MacBook has the same problem while doing VIDEO calls.
I use now my iPod touch for Skype video calls…
It looks like there is an issue here. I do not use an air-cooling pad but I have not had a heating problem. Where I have had a problem is with the latest version of Skype which seems less stable than the previous version. And when I try to record and video conference the video freezes.
I wonder if I should go back to the old version of Skype or whether this is a Mac problem.
I must say I that I have not found the service at AAR’s to be all that great.
hape: Thanks so much for the link. That is the link I read, and I’m glad to hear from a LingQ Mac user who has experienced these problems. I don’t know if I would use the Skype video on a Mac because I find that I concentrate more on what others are saying if I just use audio. I now have Skype on my netbook (worth every penny I paid for it a few years ago) so I could probably use it if I want to do video.
alex: Thanks for your help and the favorable comments about Apple. I was hoping Apple had a fix for this. I worked with Macs in computer labs in my pre-retirement life and always liked them and the Apple support. I just never felt I could justify the cost of buying one. However, I now spend more time on the computer at home, and I think the extra cost will be worth it. My husband wants one for the graphics capabilities so we may have to work out a schedule for using it!!
Thanks, Steve for your comments about the cooling pad and the latest version of Skype. I think I read on either a review or a forum (which I can’t find now) that someone else mentioned this about the latest Mac version of Skype.
There has been a lot of resistance to the newest version of Skype. I must say that while I did prefer the compactness of the previous version, I much prefer the single-window interface of the current version. While the interface change was significant, I believe that it is overall an improvement.
However, with all major updates to any software platform there are always bugs to be fixed and tweaks to be made. The good news is that any of these issues will all be software related, nothing to do with the physical machine itself, which means that when the issue are resolved they can be solved by simply downlading and installing the newer versions.
I use Skype on my Macbook Pro and it works just fine. Both the old version and new version. I kind of preferr the old version so far but that is probably since I was used to it. I’m sure I’ll start to like the newer version better. I have never had overheating problems using skype.
I’ve never had issues with skype and my macbook, neither with the laptop heating too much.
I also prefer to run the older version of skype, the newer one looks a lot like the windows version and that is far worse than the old mac skype version. You can download the old version here: http://mac.oldapps.com/skype.php
Thanks Berta, do you have any suggestions about recording video discussions. When i attempt it my screen freezes.
Have you tried this one? http://www.imcapture.com/IMCapture-for-Skype/
You can try it out before buying it and see if this one freezes the screen too.
The only tips I can think of are these two: try to record it just after rebooting and to close everything on your mac but Skype. And use the skype version from november 2010 (you don’t need to erase the skype version 5.0: just rename the one you want to use to skype.app and try both and see which one works better).
Thank you to everyone for your advice and suggestions. I am now a MacBook Pro owner who is hoping to get back to language learning on LingQ later today. Skype for Mac downloaded with no problems, but I am still getting used to the Mac version format since it doesn’t look the same as the PC version. I successfully completed a Skype conversation yesterday.