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Seems like a few years late.

Some people could still have scars from the 'pleat gate' scandal from, what 8 years ago? I remember those MacBooks. They got SOOOOOOO HOT!!! I remember the wife with red burns across her thighs. (She was holding it wrong?) But there are lots of other notebooks that also run hot, but most of them don't use metal shells that need a teflon coating. I remember seeing a Logitech 'fan base' for MacBooks on the clearance rack a few years ago. I remember those things well. 'Get a really skinny aluminum frying pan notebook, and have to put a half to three-quarter inch 'fan base' on it. Yep... But dang, those things really did get incredibly hot. I remember the app that allowed users to override the BIOS, and floor the fan speeds. It did help. With both cooling, and noise...
 
"A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Apple for its defective 'deployable feet', as users complain the feet do not fully deploy due to dust being trapped in the hinge mechanism"
 
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Apple is researching the use of "deployable feet" on the MacBook Pro to aid cooling, according to a newly-published patent application.

Apple_new-macbookpro-wallpaper-screen_11102020.jpg


The patent application, first spotted by Patently Apple, is titled "Deployable Feet for Display Articulation and Thermals Performance" and outlines how a MacBook Pro could feature feet that move to raise up the rear of the device. Apple's deployable feet are able to extend by at least 3.8 millimeters, thereby significantly increasing airflow underneath the machine.

The filing explains how, in one embodiment, the MacBook Pro's display hinge could be connected to the deployable feet, so that the feet deploy relative to the mechanical movement of the lid.

macbook-pro-deployable-feet-patent-mechanical.jpg


In other embodiments, the feet could be deployed via a gear train, pneumatics, electro-mechanics, or simply flipped out manually by a user. The filing also suggests that the entire base of a MacBook Pro could expand, rather than individual feet.

macbook-pro-deployable-feet-patent-raised-base.jpg


The patent application explains that deployable feet can be an "efficient means of cooling the device" without taking up internal space with large components such as fans, ensuring that the MacBook remains "thin and lightweight while simultaneously including numerous features delivering high performance."



In an embodiment where the deployable section is larger, the patent states that "the deployable feature can at least partially define a vent when deployed," potentially adding a dedicated vent as well as increasing natural airflow underneath the device.

macbook-pro-deployable-feet-patent-wedge.jpg


In addition, Apple explains how the deployable feet tie into the Mac's software. When in a deployed position, the Mac's processor may be permitted to get hotter to deliver better performance, due to the increased airflow. In Macs that do feature a fan as well as deployable feet, the fan's speed would be "at least partially" determined based on the extent of the deployment.



The filing also addresses the potential waste of space within a MacBook that deployable feet could cause. It proposes that when in the deployed position, the internal space used to store the feet may be repurposed to be "usable by an antenna or a speaker."

macbook-pro-deployable-feet-patent-empty-space.jpg


The design has the added advantage of giving the display hinge more clearance to rotate, as well as improving the angle of the device for typing and raising the height of the display for greater comfort.

While Apple's patent applications cannot be taken as sure evidence of what the company is intending to add to its devices, there may be good reason to suggest that a feature such as deployable feet could be implemented on MacBooks at some point in the future.

Apple is demonstrably interested in passive cooling. The company has explored passively-cooled laptops starting with the 12-inch MacBook in 2015, and most recently with the latest MacBook Air, which features no fan or vents on its base for cooling. Moreover, as the internal components of MacBooks are becoming more compact with the advent of Apple silicon, alongside improved battery life, it is perhaps more likely that deployable feet could be justified within a future Mac laptop.

Apple is believed to be working on high-performance custom silicon processors for future MacBook Pro models. Unlike the M1 chip, which generally runs very cool and powers Apple's entry-level Macs, the next-generation Apple silicon expected to come to the MacBook Pro is likely to have much more demanding thermal requirements.

Deployable feet could be one way in which Apple is able to improve the thermals of its passively cooled MacBooks, as well as enable even higher-performance on its Pro machines with active cooling, at some time in the future.

Article Link: Apple Researching 'Deployable Feet' to Enhance MacBook Pro Cooling
I've always...especially at home...used laptops in my LAP! Of course confront the heat dissipation issue from all corners but, if this is necessary, what about fan noise???
OR: Have detachable feet, sold separately, and charge.....!!!!! (some percentage of MacPro wheels price).
 
I have a late 2013 MacBook Pro that can't even handle running Amazon because of the CPU Cooler. It will turn on after a couple of minutes of looking at Amazon.com. When it kicks on, it literally sounds like an airplane.
I have the same model and rarely hear my fans after a good cleaning and new thermal paste
 
I have a late 2013 MacBook Pro that can't even handle running Amazon because of the CPU Cooler. It will turn on after a couple of minutes of looking at Amazon.com. When it kicks on, it literally sounds like an airplane.
my late 2016 MBP is like that, yet my work Lenovo T13 just gets on with it.

I recently downloaded a tab counter for chrome for windows and saw I had ~220 tabs open (we use Gsuite at work). I then downloaded Tab Count for safari and saw I had ~1400 tabs opened. trimmed that back to ~300 tabs and the MacBook is running well again :)

most of the tabs are for looking for stuff on amazon.
 
When the feet deploy or retract, a MacBook should make the sound of a Transformer switching between vehicle & robot mode,
 
I've always...especially at home...used laptops in my LAP! Of course confront the heat dissipation issue from all corners but, if this is necessary, what about fan noise???
OR: Have detachable feet, sold separately, and charge.....!!!!! (some percentage of MacPro wheels price).
"You're holding it wrong." :eek:

That's actually the official line. Apple, being too thin-obsessed to use adequate air cooling, uses the bottom case as a heat sink. You're not supposed to use it on your lap, you're supposed to use it on a desk so that the LRF can elevate it enough to get airflow underneath it.

No, nobody actually does that at home. But ideally you should use something like Macs Fan Control (https://crystalidea.com/macs-fan-control) or smcFanControl (https://www.eidac.de/) to kick up the fan speed if you want your computer to last longer, because Apple is not just obsessed with thin, they're also obsessed with quiet. (Offer void on M1 MacBook Air, without a fan it's just going to cook itself.)
 
It seems it achieves a similar goal as the system ASUS uses in their ZenBook line (it’s called Ergolift I believe), but in a more complex way and, as much as I hate to say it, more prone to failing.
To me the main benefit isn’t the additional cooling but rather having the keyboard slightly tilted for typing.
 
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