4 ms·

The new MacBook Air runs so hot that it affects performance

29 points by doppp 4y ago

imbnwa 4y ago
No, the MBA is not built for multi-tasking with your pro workflow.
- mcraiha 4y ago
  But it still could have a much better performance. Specially because in eurozone the cheapest model starts from 1499 euros, and in that price range adding few extra heat pads shouldn't be an issue.
  - sdflhasjd 4y ago
    It also feels similar exactly what we left intel for: releasing what seems to be the same thing, but just clocked higher and hotter (I know it's not that simple). I wonder what could have been leveraged from the M1 if it were overclocked.
    - dijit 4y ago
      The same “issue” was present on the M1 air. LTT did a video on it. Same as this article. He didn’t recommend the mod. https://youtu.be/ghDvyItIHTY https://youtu.be/ghDvyItIHTY
  - gloryjulio 4y ago
    Heat pad will destroy the battery, you would not want to do that. Apple wants you to pay for the fan design, that's the gist
Toutouxc 4y ago
So, I guess that every single computer with any CPU that slows down from its max clock frequency under 100 % load "runs so hot it affects performance"? So, like 90 % of laptops out there? (wild guess)
- kadoban 4y ago
  Yeah the headline is bad. The article itself is better. The real complaint appears to be that there are cheap and easy solutions to get much better performance. It's almost certain that Apple is well aware of this, and are just using thermals to differentiate between products. If they fixed the thermals here, there'd be no reason to buy the next machine(s) up.
  - Toutouxc 4y ago
    The "cheap and easy" solutions literally make the product illegal to be sold. There's only so much heat you can dissipate through the chassis without causing burns to the user, and both the M1 and M2 Airs seem to be bound by that (and rightly so).
dijit 4y ago
Non-story. You trade performance for a fan less design and portability, and even then the burst performance (which is what people consuming content like websites) is great for quite a long burst. I’m usually a defender of Apple to be perfectly honest, but the trade off here definitely feels a lot more fair to to user. They could downclock the CPU, fix the sustained load performance by having it less than the current burst and never thermal throttle. But that’s a worse experience for no actual user benefit. And adding thermal pads turns the thig into a very uncomfortable device that potentially causes infertility.
- walrus01 4y ago
  all of the above is correct, and you also trade performance for not being excessively hot and roasting the battery. there's a reason apple did not thermally bridge the cpu to the chassis as in the not-recommended mod mentioned in the article, because it would make the battery less safe and greatly decrease its lifespan.
  - bjoli 4y ago
    I don't think that is the main problem. The main problem is that it is illegal for laptops and similar devices to become over 45-ish degrees C at point of contact (lap). I can't remember if it was in the USA, Canada, or EU.
    - dijit 4y ago
      I think the major safety standard is set by the IEC (which is International); the exact safety standard is here behind a paywall: https://webstore.iec.ch/publication/494 https://webstore.iec.ch/publication/494 It's heavily referenced (with embedded snippets) in this report: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/295857251_Ouch_Hot_Laptop https://www.researchgate.net/publication/295857251_Ouch_Hot_... tl;dr: 40-50c for a device with metallic chassis. 60-70c for device with plastic chassis (I can't be sure what the precise recommendation is as I see 40c referenced but 50c also referenced in other parts, depending on contact period etc;)

29 points by doppp 4y ago

imbnwa 4y ago

No, the MBA is not built for multi-tasking with your pro workflow.

mcraiha 4y ago
But it still could have a much better performance. Specially because in eurozone the cheapest model starts from 1499 euros, and in that price range adding few extra heat pads shouldn't be an issue.
- sdflhasjd 4y ago
  It also feels similar exactly what we left intel for: releasing what seems to be the same thing, but just clocked higher and hotter (I know it's not that simple). I wonder what could have been leveraged from the M1 if it were overclocked.
  - dijit 4y ago
    The same “issue” was present on the M1 air. LTT did a video on it. Same as this article. He didn’t recommend the mod. https://youtu.be/ghDvyItIHTY https://youtu.be/ghDvyItIHTY
- gloryjulio 4y ago
  Heat pad will destroy the battery, you would not want to do that. Apple wants you to pay for the fan design, that's the gist

Toutouxc 4y ago

So, I guess that every single computer with any CPU that slows down from its max clock frequency under 100 % load "runs so hot it affects performance"? So, like 90 % of laptops out there? (wild guess)

kadoban 4y ago
Yeah the headline is bad. The article itself is better. The real complaint appears to be that there are cheap and easy solutions to get much better performance. It's almost certain that Apple is well aware of this, and are just using thermals to differentiate between products. If they fixed the thermals here, there'd be no reason to buy the next machine(s) up.
- Toutouxc 4y ago
  The "cheap and easy" solutions literally make the product illegal to be sold. There's only so much heat you can dissipate through the chassis without causing burns to the user, and both the M1 and M2 Airs seem to be bound by that (and rightly so).

dijit 4y ago

Non-story. You trade performance for a fan less design and portability, and even then the burst performance (which is what people consuming content like websites) is great for quite a long burst. I’m usually a defender of Apple to be perfectly honest, but the trade off here definitely feels a lot more fair to to user. They could downclock the CPU, fix the sustained load performance by having it less than the current burst and never thermal throttle. But that’s a worse experience for no actual user benefit. And adding thermal pads turns the thig into a very uncomfortable device that potentially causes infertility.

walrus01 4y ago
all of the above is correct, and you also trade performance for not being excessively hot and roasting the battery. there's a reason apple did not thermally bridge the cpu to the chassis as in the not-recommended mod mentioned in the article, because it would make the battery less safe and greatly decrease its lifespan.
- bjoli 4y ago
  I don't think that is the main problem. The main problem is that it is illegal for laptops and similar devices to become over 45-ish degrees C at point of contact (lap). I can't remember if it was in the USA, Canada, or EU.
  - dijit 4y ago
    I think the major safety standard is set by the IEC (which is International); the exact safety standard is here behind a paywall: https://webstore.iec.ch/publication/494 https://webstore.iec.ch/publication/494 It's heavily referenced (with embedded snippets) in this report: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/295857251_Ouch_Hot_Laptop https://www.researchgate.net/publication/295857251_Ouch_Hot_... tl;dr: 40-50c for a device with metallic chassis. 60-70c for device with plastic chassis (I can't be sure what the precise recommendation is as I see 40c referenced but 50c also referenced in other parts, depending on contact period etc;)