Choosing a processor for 2020 MBA

[AudemarsPiguet]

I am going to buy one of the new MacBook Airs and I need some help deciding the spec - in particular the processor.

Apologies if any of these are stupid questions, I’m not a computer expert.

I want the fastest machine possible, however my main priority is minimising fan noise and heat, and I would be willing to lose CPU power if it meant reducing fan noise. My question is would choosing a better processor impact fan noise negatively? I’m guessing the base dual-core processor uses less power and so produces less heat, or is this not the case?

Basically, which of the three processors is best for reducing heat and fan noise, or does it make no difference?

Secondary question, I can’t seem to find any of the processors on the internet to compare power consumption or benchmarks - can anyone direct me to a page listing these or are these processors custom ones produced only for the new MacBook Air?

Many thanks for any replies.

 

[AustinIllini]

First, probably want to get the better CPU if you want something fast (I think the fan noise will be okay for the first few years, anyway)

Second, do you actually own an Audemars Piguet? (post picture in real watch thread please)

 

[AudemarsPiguet]

Thank you for the post. I don’t need the speed, I could get by with the base processor as I’m currently using a regular MacBook from I think 2016 which I’m sure has a lower processor than even the base one on the new MBA. I’m more just wondering if upgrading it would have any negative effect on heat as if not I’d upgrade, as more speed is always nice.

Just a Tudor (Black Bay) and a Rolex (Explorer) right now, AP is my grail, and was just the first thing that came to mind when I had to choose a name. Sorry to disappoint!

 

[AustinIllini]

cool! I have a Tag and an Omega!

 

[AudemarsPiguet]

Very nice watches!

 

[hftvhftv]

Here's links to the processors:
i3-1000NG4
i5-1030NG7
i7-1060NG7
So far they are custom for Apple, with a unique 10W TDP, but really if you take out the "N" they are identical but specifically tuned for the MacBook Air.

I'd suggest the i7 model if your goal is to have minimum heat and noise possible. Chances are that all three chips are physically identical with cache, and/or cores disabled to make the i5 and i3 models from cut down i7s. This means that the i7 model is the best silicon you can buy allowing for it to work less saving some power therefore reducing noise and heat output.

 

[AudemarsPiguet]

Many thanks for the info, hftvhftv. Looks like I will be going for the i7 then!

Just one more question, again sorry if it’s a silly one, does upgrading the storage make any difference to speed? I only need the minimum (I’m using about 70GB on my main iMac and even less on my MacBook!) but have seen a couple of people recommending upgrading storage.

I’m currently planning on speccing it as i7 / 16GB / 256GB.

Thank you again.

 

[hftvhftv]

Many thanks for the info, hftvhftv. Looks like I will be going for the i7 then!

Just one more question, again sorry if it’s a silly one, does upgrading the storage make any difference to speed? I only need the minimum (I’m using about 70GB on my main iMac and even less on my MacBook!) but have seen a couple of people recommending upgrading storage.

I’m currently planning on speccing it as i7 / 16GB / 256GB.

Thank you again.

I can’t say that more storage will be faster than the base model, but I can say that 512GB+ definitely wont be slower than 256GB. I’d save your cash if you don’t need more than 256GB.

 

[joptimus]

I would definitely not get the i7 yet.
Reason: Thermal throttling. It may be that the upgraded CPU performance evaporate during longer loads - especially if Apple again was too cheap to include a heat pipe.

Wait for reviews and proper benchmarks, for example from Notebookcheck.com. Their reviews are detailed and thorough.
I would never buy the cat in the bag when spending more than 200 bucks.

 

[hftvhftv]

I would definitely not get the i7 yet.
Reason: Thermal throttling. It may be that the upgraded CPU performance evaporate during longer loads - especially if Apple again was too cheap to include a heat pipe.

Wait for reviews and proper benchmarks, for example from Notebookcheck.com. Their reviews are detailed and thorough.
I would never buy the cat in the bag when spending more than 200 bucks.

The i7 won't run hotter than the i5, they have the same TDP and core/thread counts. It's better silicon that gets better performance in the same thermal envelope, I still say that the i7 will run cooler than the i5 counterpart.

 

[JTToft]

Many thanks for the info, hftvhftv. Looks like I will be going for the i7 then!

Just one more question, again sorry if it’s a silly one, does upgrading the storage make any difference to speed? I only need the minimum (I’m using about 70GB on my main iMac and even less on my MacBook!) but have seen a couple of people recommending upgrading storage.

I’m currently planning on speccing it as i7 / 16GB / 256GB.

Thank you again.

- Yes, a larger SSD also means a faster SSD. But that doesn’t mean the difference will be appreciable to you. It will mostly be seen when transferring large files.

 

[joptimus]

The i7 won't run hotter than the i5, they have the same TDP and core/thread counts. It's better silicon that gets better performance in the same thermal envelope, I still say that the i7 will run cooler than the i5 counterpart.

Is that based on some tests or just an assumption? Also there will be normal variation for i5 and i7 CPUs respectively.
Often in the past I've seen benchmark of Apple laptops that show the larger CPU is not always a good choice. The i7 has 10% more turbo frequency, but since the chassis is small and there may not be a heat pipe again, I doubt the i7 would boost higher in real use cases that last longer than 30 seconds.

Why do you recommend a product configuration if there are no reviews and benchmarks? Nobody knows yet how it's going to behave in real life aside from Geekbench etc.

 

[ctyrider]

Of course get an i7, if you are going to keep this laptop for a couple of years. It's not like you are going to be able to upgrade CPU in 12 months time. Extra upgrade cost ends up being a few bucks a month over 3 years.

 

[Brammy]

If money is tight, instead of getting a faster processor, I'd get the most storage you can buy. I got the 512gb 15" 2016 and I wish I had the 1tb. Of course, nature abhors a vacuum so I'd probably be wishing I had 2 tb.

All that said, I think the $1299 out of the box version is very good.

 

[Kraizelburg]

New MBA thermal throttles, they definitely failed not placing a heatpipe inside. If I were you I will wait for the new MBP refresh, unless you really need a laptop right now. Also i5 vs i7 is marginal.

 

[ctyrider]

New MBA thermal throttles, they definitely failed not placing a heatpipe inside

wut??

 

[Kraizelburg]

wut??

Just look at early reviews about the new MBA they kept the design with better chip and better keyboard but they missed upgrading the cooling system so no heatpipe I'm afraid like in 2018 and 2019 model.

If you plan to do just office work and browsing the web then it's totally fine but anything intense will make the chip throttle. It's a shame they upgraded the processor but we can't take full advantage of it because thermals.

I was going to get one but after seeing this I will hold up until the new MBP is released.

I advice you to check another post in this same forum talking about this.

 

[ctyrider]

Just look at early reviews about the new MBA they kept the design with better chip and better keyboard but they missed upgrading the cooling system so no heatpipe I'm afraid like in 2018 and 2019 model.

I am well aware of an Air thermal constraints. But your assertion that Apple "failed" by not including dedicated CPU heatpipes in an Air is completely off mark (and hence my response). It's just an example of a flippant and amateurish forum quarterbacking that we see here all the time.

Every change to thermal design comes with a litany of benefits and tradeoffs, and has a massive downstream impact on the case design, spacing, battery size, SMC/management and more, which Apple engineers carefully consider. Unless you have a PhD in mechanical and electrical engineering - you're hardly in a position to declare Apple's Air design a "failure".

What it sounds to me is - you want Apple to turn Air in a MacBook Pro, and you are angry that didn't do that. Simple solution here - wait a few weeks/months, I am sure an update to MBP is right around the corner.

Me personally - I am quite happy with a balance of performance and mobility that my 2019 Air gives me, and looking forward to 2020 upgrade.

 

[Kraizelburg]

I am well aware of an Air thermal constraints. But your assertion that Apple "failed" by not including dedicated CPU heatpipes in an Air is completely off mark (and hence my response). It's just an example of a flippant and amateurish forum quarterbacking that we see here all the time.

Every change to thermal design comes with a litany of benefits and tradeoffs, and has a massive downstream impact on the case design, spacing, battery size, SMC/management and more, which Apple engineers carefully consider. Unless you have a PhD in mechanical and electrical engineering - you're hardly in a position to declare Apple's Air design a "failure".

What it sounds to me is - you want Apple to turn Air in a MacBook Pro, and you are angry that didn't do that. Simple solution here - wait a few weeks/months, I am sure an update to MBP is right around the corner.

Me personally - I am quite happy with a balance of performance and mobility that my 2019 Air gives me, and looking forward to 2020 upgrade.

Lol ok I am happy for you too.

 

[AudemarsPiguet]

Appreciate all the responses and debate. Thanks for the posts. Gives me a bit to digest.

 

[mtneer]

- Yes, a larger SSD also means a faster SSD. But that doesn’t mean the difference will be appreciable to you. It will mostly be seen when transferring large files.

Not discounting what you've said. But do you have somewhere where I could learn the physics (or the mechanics) behind that phenomenon? Thank you.

 

[JTToft]

Not discounting what you've said. But do you have somewhere where I could learn the physics (or the mechanics) behind that phenomenon? Thank you.

- In a nutshell:
A larger SSD has more and/or more dense units of storage. Reading from and writing to them in parallel becomes faster, the more of them there are. It's similar to RAM, where having two modules of 4 GB is faster than having one module of 8 GB since you can write across two modules simultaneously rather than only one.

Here's a bit about it:

Why are smaller capacity SSDs slower?

I was reading this Tom's Hardware article on testing SSDs and came across the following claim: With SSDs, performance varies by capacity point. Smaller drives tend to be slower than larger ones,...

superuser.com

 

[Altherekho]

As long i see the 2015 model had the heatpipe , this not. I saw video of an Air cooled down by water and results are clear . Is there a way or doesn exist a solution to fit inside the missing heatpipe? I suppose Air is tunneling and goes sucked out through the fan .. but its missing the pipe , is there a way to connect the heatsink to the bottom of the case in order to dissipate?
If you see the results are almost there with a 13 pro so maybe i understand why this is like this..but its a sin.
What you think ?

 

[hftvhftv]

I am well aware of an Air thermal constraints. But your assertion that Apple "failed" by not including dedicated CPU heatpipes in an Air is completely off mark (and hence my response). It's just an example of a flippant and amateurish forum quarterbacking that we see here all the time.

Every change to thermal design comes with a litany of benefits and tradeoffs, and has a massive downstream impact on the case design, spacing, battery size, SMC/management and more, which Apple engineers carefully consider. Unless you have a PhD in mechanical and electrical engineering - you're hardly in a position to declare Apple's Air design a "failure".

What it sounds to me is - you want Apple to turn Air in a MacBook Pro, and you are angry that didn't do that. Simple solution here - wait a few weeks/months, I am sure an update to MBP is right around the corner.

Me personally - I am quite happy with a balance of performance and mobility that my 2019 Air gives me, and looking forward to 2020 upgrade.

No one if very few are in the position to call the design a failure, but many of us can say that it should be a better thermal solution, regardless of whether or not the 15W MacBook Pro exists.

 

[jgorman]

If you are interested in the i5, one consideration is how hot Apple lets the CPU run when under sustained load. In the 2017 MacBook Air, the CPU temperature stabilizes after awhile at 89-91 degrees C. In the 2018 MacBook Air, CPU temperature stabilizes after awhile at 97 degrees C. In the 2020 MacBook Air with the i5 processor, the CPU temperature stays at about 100 degrees C, the Tjmax of the CPU.

I would not anticipate the i7 to run cooler, unless Apple set two different thermal limits for the i5 and the i7.