14" MacBookPro can't handle M5 / Mx Max? Throttling due to Heating

[pers0n]

I came across this article:

M5 Max with inconsistent performance and throttling issues - Apple MacBook Pro 14 Review

Notebookcheck Review of the Apple MacBook Pro 14 M5 Max with 128 GB RAM, 8 TB SSD, Nano texture Mini-LED panel, Wi-Fi 7 and PCIe 5.0.

www.notebookcheck.net

So I decided to do some research and came across more:

14-inch versus 16-inch MacBook Pros: Throttling?

How do the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros with the *same* M3 Max 16-core CPU chip (the highest spec-ed M3 Max) and the same amount of memory, say 64GB, compare in terms of performance? I am afraid of buying the 14-inch model and then discover that, under heavy load, it throttles the CPU...

forums.macrumors.com

Glad I waited a few more days as I'm doing research. Look like if you want the MAX you need to get the 16" otherwise you aren't able to use the entire power of the MAX.

 

[ManuCH]

So you looked at 2-3 year old videos to draw your conclusion on the M5 Max? The article is about the M5 Max, yes, but I'd dare to say that 10% throttling isn't the end of the world on such a beast.

If the 16 inch isn't too big for you, by all means get it. But I'd have a hard time transporting something like that around. Of course if you only use it at home, no problem at all.

 

[vatter69]

Seems logical that a smaller enclosure will struggle to get rid of more heat compared to a bigger chassis.

 

[FlyingTexan]

I think the MAX was given as a 14" option for the memory bandwidth. I need to do some digging and see if there's any type of thermal upgrades that can be done like a repaste.

 

[Frieg]

The fear for noise was why I decided to go for the M4 pro in the 16 inch chassis. That was after my own research the best compromise between sustained performance and fan noise under full load for the M4 generation. I‘ve posted in another thread that i suspected that the m5 will saturate the thermal design of the current chassis even faster and the reviews now confirm my suspicion. If you need the power of the max get it in a desktop chassis or at least the 16 inch but for laptops the pros are the best chips imho.

 

[conmee]

Unlikely a repaste improves the thermal profile @FlyingTexan. As I replied to your other post, for your use case, net-net: Get the 16-inch M5 Max. I stayed with the 16-inch M5 Pro as I feel that's the "sweet spot" for MacBooks in terms of performance/size/weight/thermal headroom. Sure, a Max will work just fine in a 16-inch chassis, but I think the Max is probably more at home in the Studio. So even if the M5 Max shows a little throttling or doesn't always reach peak compute, it's still going to on average perform better than an M5 Pro due to double the memory bandwidth and double the memory size which are super important for the LLMs you want to experiment with.

 

[RashyIsBack2]

Max + 14“ was never a great choice, especially since the M3 Max gen. Chips become more and more power-hungry, without any updated to the cooling system. The upcoming ‚thin redesign‘ won‘t make things better I fear, 2nm alone doesn‘t solve all problems.

Even under 100% GPU load, my 24C M1 Max 16“ never go above 3500rpm and even that can get annoying after a while. And that‘s with just 30-40W power draw. Now imagine 60-70W! My only hope is a good performing low power mode (MaxTech testet that on the M3 Max). A shame that it also disables ProMotion.

Will probably go for the M5 Pro in the 16“ when I update. Chip is still much faster than mine, just the reduced media engine and 307 vs 410 GB/s bandwidth give me some concern. It sucks that Apple once again limits the binned 32C M5 Max to only 36GB.

 

[keksikuningas]

I think the MAX was given as a 14" option for the memory bandwidth. I need to do some digging and see if there's any type of thermal upgrades that can be done like a repaste.

doesn't it use liquid metal for cooling ?