Can some folks please run 2020 MacBook Air i3 vs i5 tests (with and without turbo mode)?

[hipnetic]

I need to get a new MacBook Air for my wife and am leaning towards the i5 model, but a little worried about all of the complaining about heat and fan noise. What I'd like to see a test where you take an iPhone 1080p video, import it into iMovie, export it to an MP4 file, and indicate the amount of time it's taking to do that (e.g., running in real-time, such that a 10 min video takes 10 mins to export, or faster/slower and, if so, how much), as well as whether the heat cranks up and the fans kick on and get loud while doing this. Ideally, I'd like to see the same test done with the following:

1a) i3 model
1b) i3 model w/turbo disabled (requires special app)
2a) i5 model
2b) i5 model w/turbo disabled (requires special app)

Doing the above to run geekbench tests, would be great, too, though I'm most interested in real-world tests.

Does anyone else think there would be value in this? Can anyone here who has one of these models volunteer to run a couple of tests? And if someone else can think of other tests that would be valuable to others, feel free to chime in.

 

[snow755]

there are a tone of youtub videos too check out on i3 vs i5 test

 

[hipnetic]

there are a tone of youtub videos too check out on i3 vs i5 test

I'm not aware of anyone doing the type of comparisons I'm describing (i.e., disabling the turbo mode via software and measuring results).

 

[robots3humans0]

I just ran Geekbench 5 on my i5/8/256 with and without turbo. No turbo is... bad.

Turbo: single: 1133, multi 2700
Disabled: single 400, multi 1744

In actual usage, I don't notice too much of a difference. I don't too many heavy usage tasks, though.

 

[unoporfavor]

I just ran Geekbench 5 on my i5/8/256 with and without turbo. No turbo is... bad.

Turbo: single: 1133, multi 2700
Disabled: single 400, multi 1744

In actual usage, I don't notice too much of a difference. I don't too many heavy usage task, though.

thank you for performing the tests!
Is your macbook air 2020 model?

 

[robots3humans0]

thank you for performing the tests!
Is your macbook air 2020 model?

Yes.

 

[unoporfavor]

Thanks for that! Interesting the scores are quite a lot lower than some of the reviewers have been getting. They seem to suggest ~1300 on single, and 3500 on multi.
Maybe you were running other stuff at the same time!
How have you found the i5 - battery life and fan noise are the most important requirements for me
cheers

 

[robots3humans0]

Thanks for that! Interesting the scores are quite a lot lower than some of the reviewers have been getting. They seem to suggest ~1300 on single, and 3500 on multi.
Maybe you were running other stuff at the same time!
How have you found the i5 - battery life and fan noise are the most important requirements for me
cheers

Just ran a few more tests from dead idle. Nothing running. CPU at lowest usage, temps as low as they normally idle. Got the same results. I think the 3200 multi scores are for 16GB RAM units. At least it seems that way from a cursory search of the Geekbench browser for i5 models. 8GB units seem to be right around where my scores are falling.

No complaints about battery life though I haven't had much time to test that really. I tested locally playing H264 high bitrate 1080p movies and some smaller 1-2 hour, medium bitrate H265 TV episodes at about 1/2-2/3 brightness and found a 10%/hour battery drain.. good for ~10hrs playback. Im happy with that as I won't do much more than that on battery.

The only time I hear the fan is when I'm doing something to invoke them at high RPMs. Really the only time they EVER come on are for benchmarks, system updates/initial system setup, or transferring large files over USB C to ethernet adapter. Under normal use for me - safari, word/pages, music, mail, PDFs, my temps are 45-50C and my fan is completely off.

 

[unoporfavor]

Just ran a few more tests from dead idle. Nothing running. CPU at lowest usage, temps as low as they normally idle. Got the same results. I think the 3200 multi scores are for 16GB RAM units. At least it seems that way from a cursory search of the Geekbench browser for i5 models. 8GB units seem to be right around where my scores are falling.

No complaints about battery life though I haven't had much time to test that really. I tested locally playing H264 high bitrate 1080p movies and some smaller 1-2 hour, medium bitrate H265 TV episodes at about 1/2-2/3 brightness and found a 10%/hour battery drain.. good for ~10hrs playback. Im happy with that as I won't do much more than that on battery.

The only time I hear the fan is when I'm doing something to invoke them at high RPMs. Really the only time they EVER come on are for benchmarks, system updates/initial system setup, or transferring large files over USB C to ethernet adapter. Under normal use for me - safari, word/pages, music, mail, PDFs, my temps are 45-50C and my fan is completely off.

Thanks for your feedback! Really great and a lot more valuable to hear from someone who actually owns one - not these reviewers that have them for a quick review and an isolated benchmark test!

The youTube reviews by Max Tech and others seem to suggest a but more in the geekbench and I think they are the 8GB models BUT they may have done their indexing and be absolutely fresh installs too.

Great to hear about the fan! (or lack of..). Given your use, is there any reason you went for the i5 over the i3? I've ordered the base model with i3 and now am fretting it may not much of an improvement over the MacBook 12 i just sold...
Thanks again for your actual experience - so much more valuable than the emotive channel creators!

 

[robots3humans0]

Thanks for your feedback! Really great and a lot more valuable to hear from someone who actually owns one - not these reviewers that have them for a quick review and an isolated benchmark test!

The youTube reviews by Max Tech and others seem to suggest a but more in the geekbench and I think they are the 8GB models BUT they may have done their indexing and be absolutely fresh installs too.

Great to hear about the fan! (or lack of..). Given your use, is there any reason you went for the i5 over the i3? I've ordered the base model with i3 and now am fretting it may not much of an improvement over the MacBook 12 i just sold...
Thanks again for your actual experience - so much more valuable than the emotive channel creators!

I went with the i5 as it’s a relatively cheap upgrade ($150 CAD for me) for double the cores. Figured it was a low cost option to keep this machine snappy for a longer period of time. I don’t do professional tasks by any means but definitely appreciate a lag free user experience.

 

[hipnetic]

I just ran Geekbench 5 on my i5/8/256 with and without turbo. No turbo is... bad.

Turbo: single: 1133, multi 2700
Disabled: single 400, multi 1744

In actual usage, I don't notice too much of a difference. I don't too many heavy usage tasks, though.

Thanks for running those tests. I don't know much about how Geekbench works...do the tests run long enough that they would cause the fans to kick on?

Also, per my original post, is there any chance you can try to do some with/without Turbo mode real-world tests, like taking a couple of short 1080p/30fps videos on the iPhone, importing them into iMovie, merging them together, and exporting the final movie? I'm not sure if the "multiple clips merged together" aspect is particularly important.

For comparison's sake, I'll try to do a similar test with my 2019 MBP 16 and my wife's 2018 (?) MBA.

Also, what software are you using to disable Turbo mode?

And if anyone wants to jump in and tell me/us that there are other tests (e.g., using software to modify the fan) that would be useful/better, feel free to chime in.

 

[robots3humans0]

Thanks for running those tests. I don't know much about how Geekbench works...do the tests run long enough that they would cause the fans to kick on?

Also, per my original post, is there any chance you can try to do some with/without Turbo mode real-world tests, like taking a couple of short 1080p/30fps videos on the iPhone, importing them into iMovie, merging them together, and exporting the final movie? I'm not sure if the "multiple clips merged together" aspect is particularly important.

For comparison's sake, I'll try to do a similar test with my 2019 MBP 16 and my wife's 2018 (?) MBA.

Also, what software are you using to disable Turbo mode?

And if anyone wants to jump in and tell me/us that there are other tests (e.g., using software to modify the fan) that would be useful/better, feel free to chime in.

Geekbench does cause the fans to spin up, but only to about 4000 RPM, not the max 8000. It doesn't get the CPU up to 100C long enough to warrant that, it seems.

I use Turbo Boost Switcher Pro to enable/disable turbo. It can automate enabling/disabling based on apps running, or charging state.

I imported a 2 minutes 1080p/60fps video into iMovie. Merged a copy of it to itself for a total of 4 minutes.

Turbo: 2m30s export. CPU 80-100C, fans at 3700-4000RPM.
No Turbo: 2m30s export. CPU 80-100C, fans at 3700-4000RPM

Intel Power Gadget shows the GPU kicking in quite a bit (unsurprising) so I imagine that's why the exports are the same as they're GPU bound.

 

[KPOM]

Thanks for that! Interesting the scores are quite a lot lower than some of the reviewers have been getting. They seem to suggest ~1300 on single, and 3500 on multi.
Maybe you were running other stuff at the same time!
How have you found the i5 - battery life and fan noise are the most important requirements for me
cheers

Those seem really high. The i7 gets around 1200/3200. The i5 gets around 1100/2800 from what I have seen.

 

[hipnetic]

I imported a 2 minutes 1080p/60fps video into iMovie. Merged a copy of it to itself for a total of 4 minutes.

Turbo: 2m30s export. CPU 80-100C, fans at 3700-4000RPM.
No Turbo: 2m30s export. CPU 80-100C, fans at 3700-4000RPM

Intel Power Gadget shows the GPU kicking in quite a bit (unsurprising) so I imagine that's why the exports are the same as they're GPU bound.

Thanks so much, this is really useful info! What do the fans running at 3700-4000RPM translate to in terms of noticeable noise? Is that inaudible, audible but very quiet, really loud, or somewhere else in that spectrum? And was it like that for much/all of the 2.5 mins that the export took?

Performance-wise, 2.5 mins to export a 4 min 1080p video seems plenty good enough for what my wife should need.

One other question...Were you exporting it as 60fps or downconverting it to something else (just in case that makes a difference)?

If anyone else here owns an i3 model, it would be greatly appreciated if you could run some tests similar to what robots3humans0 has done, I'm sure it could be very beneficial for a lot of folks here.

 

[robots3humans0]

Thanks so much, this is really useful info! What do the fans running at 3700-4000RPM translate to in terms of noticeable noise? Is that inaudible, audible but very quiet, really loud, or somewhere else in that spectrum? And was it like that for much/all of the 2.5 mins that the export took?

Performance-wise, 2.5 mins to export a 4 min 1080p video seems plenty good enough for what my wife should need.

One other question...Were you exporting it as 60fps or downconverting it to something else (just in case that makes a difference)?

If anyone else here owns an i3 model, it would be greatly appreciated if you could run some tests similar to what robots3humans0 has done, I'm sure it could be very beneficial for a lot of folks here.

I couldn’t hear the fans. Mind you, I’m doing this is my living room. Can’t really hear them at all until they get to 6000RPM.

The exported video was also 60fps. Didn’t do any conversions or anything (because I don’t know how haha).

 

[hipnetic]

I couldn’t hear the fans. Mind you, I’m doing this is my living room. Can’t really hear them at all until they get to 6000RPM.

Thanks again! What are you using to measure temperature and fan speed? I downloaded/installed the iStat Menus demo a while ago but the trial has run out. I don't mind spending the $15 (family license) on it, but wanted to double-check if there were other options out there that are better and/or free.

 

[esphil]

Those seem really high. The i7 gets around 1200/3200. The i5 gets around 1100/2800 from what I have seen.

It varies, some i5's are doing 3000+ multi, and i7 are doing 3300+.

macbook air 2020 - Geekbench 5 CPU Search - Geekbench

 

[robots3humans0]

Thanks again! What are you using to measure temperature and fan speed? I downloaded/installed the iStat Menus demo a while ago but the trial has run out. I don't mind spending the $15 (family license) on it, but wanted to double-check if there were other options out there that are better and/or free.

Turbo boost switcher shows fan speed and temperature as well as allowing you to change turbo.

Macs fan control shows fan speed and more in depth temps.

As of now, istat menus doesn’t show all the temperatures. They’re working on an update to hook into the new sensors. Hasn’t been released yet.

 

[RegularGuy09]

Someone should do a battery rundown between the i3 and i5 model.

 

[bill-p]

Thanks so much, this is really useful info! What do the fans running at 3700-4000RPM translate to in terms of noticeable noise? Is that inaudible, audible but very quiet, really loud, or somewhere else in that spectrum? And was it like that for much/all of the 2.5 mins that the export took?

I don't have the 2020 MacBook Air anymore, but back when I had it, anything above 2500RPM is clearly audible to me in my office. Ambient noise in my office is pretty low, as you can guess.

It gets pretty much like my dyson at level 2-3 at around 4000RPM, i.e.: should be comparable fan noise to an actual large fan. And anything above that sounded like a jet engine.

But I was pushing the Air pretty badly. From what iStat is telling me, it's constantly under heavy load and the fan almost never got to below 2000RPM at all.

I ultimately realized the Air just wasn't for me and I got a 16" MacBook Pro instead. Oh, and that was the i5.

 

[hipnetic]

Turbo boost switcher shows fan speed and temperature as well as allowing you to change turbo.

Macs fan control shows fan speed and more in depth temps.

As of now, istat menus doesn’t show all the temperatures. They’re working on an update to hook into the new sensors. Hasn’t been released yet.

So is Turbo Boost Switcher the only one of those three that allows you to disable the Turbo mode? And are you using the free version or the Pro version ($10)? Is the Pro version worth it? For that matter, do you think this app is worthwhile in general for a 2020 MacBook Air owner?

 

[robots3humans0]

So is Turbo Boost Switcher the only one of those three that allows you to disable the Turbo mode? And are you using the free version or the Pro version ($10)? Is the Pro version worth it? For that matter, do you think this app is worthwhile in general for a 2020 MacBook Air owner?

Yeah that’s only one that does it.

I’m using the pro version because it allows automatic switching. Not really sure if I’ll use it a lot but felt like supporting the developer.

It ought become something I use for traveling trying to limit power as much as possible. We’ll see.

 

[unoporfavor]

Someone should do a battery rundown between the i3 and i5 model.

THIS !!

 

[RiaKoobcam]

Someone should do a battery rundown between the i3 and i5 model.

Yeah I'd really value this. I just shipped my i5 back and my i3 is coming next week - I would have hung onto the i5 to do the test, but that'd put me outside of the return window.

Still, I think it'd be very valuable data for people considering the 2020 MBA and what specs they should go with - battery life was the biggest reason I decided to ship back the i5 and try the i3. Fingers crossed! 🤞

 

[unoporfavor]

Yeah I'd really value this. I just shipped my i5 back and my i3 is coming next week - I would have hung onto the i5 to do the test, but that'd put me outside of the return window.

Still, I think it'd be very valuable data for people considering the 2020 MBA and what specs they should go with - battery life was the biggest reason I decided to ship back the i5 and try the i3. Fingers crossed! 🤞

my base model MBA 2020 i3 arrived yesterday. Started setting up today and so far very impressed with performance