14" MBP M1/M2/M3 Max: heat & fan noise with basic / productivity use only

[Mity]

Ignore for a moment that for productivity use, a MBA is good enough. But we likely use our machines for multiple things, not just basic browsing or coding or video editing.

What is the fan noise like on the 14 inch Max models (M1 or M2 or M3) when doing basic things like web browsing, streaming, video calls and productivity work?

What happens if you put the laptop in low power mode like this person says on Reddit: reddit.com/r/macbookpro/comments/qknuu5/m1_max_14in_real_world_autonomy_and_fan_noise/

This person seems to contradict the above by stating that low power mode in M1 Macs didn't do much but a lot for M3 Macs:
forums.macrumors.com/threads/m3-max-low-power-mode-is-insane.2412621/

I have watched videos on YouTube but people do heat and fan noise tests while running benchmarks and that is not what I'm asking above.

 

[ascender]

I've had a 14" M1 Max and M2 Max. For those sort of things and even when running VMs, I've never heard the fans go on.

Compared to non-Max 14" machines, the only difference I found was that the base of the laptop would get warmer under light loads. Not unpleasantly so, but it was noticeable.

 

[newton4000]

If you are running it hard for editing etc. over an extended time.
But not for the tasks you mentioned.

 

[al3zza03]

I have the base 14" Max only because I occasionally like to play X-Plane 12. Fan goes up to 5k+ RPM. Other than that, I have Parallels always running (default to Windows version of Word and Excel apps) and the fan has not yet kicked on (or noticed) in those workflows outside of the flight sim. My excel workbooks use power query with multiple tabs for calculation with hundreds of rows.

 

[richard371]

I have the base 14" Max only because I occasionally like to play X-Plane 12. Fan goes up to 5k+ RPM. Other than that, I have Parallels always running (default to Windows version of Word and Excel apps) and the fan has not yet kicked on (or noticed) in those workflows outside of the flight sim. My excel workbooks use power query with multiple tabs for calculation with hundreds of rows.

I have the 14 m3max and play X-plane 12 Often. I set it to high performance mode when playing it to get the extra FPS but it can crank up the fans. Most stuff I do they hardly come on.