most of these processes run during the first hours/days of operation and will not bother (you or the cpu) afterwards. Had the same issue when i installed MacOS Catalina to my 2009 MBP.
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Does the 2020 MBA's fan run a lot? How hot is the laptop?
- Thread starter Saturn007
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most of these processes run during the first hours/days of operation and will not bother (you or the cpu) afterwards. Had the same issue when i installed MacOS Catalina to my 2009 MBP.
Whoops I think I posted in the wrong thread but I'll add it here since it has more to do with fans than 4K screens.
So I definitely rode the Air hard today (IMO). 36 people on a Zoom class and the same people including myself all modifying content in Mural, which is a browser based collaborative whiteboard (I was using Safari). The little fan was singing when we started using Mural and ran the entire time, but was mostly silent during the Zoom portion. Using Mural while not on zoom the machine was quiet but had about half the people using it. There was some stuttering while in Mural but this was my first time using it, so I think it had to do with how many people were using it. It crashed on some peoples machines which leads me to believe some of it could have been the tool itself. The OS was responsive the entire time. The Air was connected to a 4K screen the entire time using both monitors (Zoom on the Air monitor/Mural on the 4K). In my book I think it did well. I think this would have spun up my MBP's fans.
So I definitely rode the Air hard today (IMO). 36 people on a Zoom class and the same people including myself all modifying content in Mural, which is a browser based collaborative whiteboard (I was using Safari). The little fan was singing when we started using Mural and ran the entire time, but was mostly silent during the Zoom portion. Using Mural while not on zoom the machine was quiet but had about half the people using it. There was some stuttering while in Mural but this was my first time using it, so I think it had to do with how many people were using it. It crashed on some peoples machines which leads me to believe some of it could have been the tool itself. The OS was responsive the entire time. The Air was connected to a 4K screen the entire time using both monitors (Zoom on the Air monitor/Mural on the 4K). In my book I think it did well. I think this would have spun up my MBP's fans.
Happy to. I’m a couple of days in...still processing photos. About 5000 to go on faces, but only when connected to power and I’m not using the app!
I found my way here because my 2020 MBA i5 is blasting off for no apparent reason. First I thought it was because I was playing full-screen video (vlc) on an external monitor, but the video is stopped now and the average CPU utilization is below 50%, and the fans are still running on medium-to-high. It sounds a touch more metallic than I remember the fan in my 2018 MBA i5 being, and across the room the sound of it is driving my roommate crazy, so this is not great.
How long have you had it, and have you left it open and plugged in a couple days yet?
This is my 4th day and I have been noticing fan noises on my brand new Intel Core i3 Macbook Air. I upgraded from a 2013 Macbook Air that did not have a constant fan running. Aggh, I disabled the Turbo Boost using Turbo Boost Switcher and I still hear the noises. Thinking if I should return...Tried switching to Safari. Should not the machine be completely silent? This is basically my web browsing and YouTube machine, nothing heavy 
I had some significant issues with my i5 model day one (yesterday). Fans were at 8000rpm and 100 C temps when the CPU was at 20% utilization. I played around with the Turbo Boost app. Turning it off calmed the machine down but performance was terrible without it on.
Late last night I decided to upgrade to 10.15.5 beta and so far things are way way better with the fan. It hasn’t gone over 4500 rpm and tends to hover under 3000 rpm. Hopefully they ironed out the performance issues while WFH. I can understand they might have not had as much time in the labs before releasing these to the public. Plus, Intel generically sucks. ARM can‘t come soon enough.
Late last night I decided to upgrade to 10.15.5 beta and so far things are way way better with the fan. It hasn’t gone over 4500 rpm and tends to hover under 3000 rpm. Hopefully they ironed out the performance issues while WFH. I can understand they might have not had as much time in the labs before releasing these to the public. Plus, Intel generically sucks. ARM can‘t come soon enough.
Base i3 highest temp I’ve seen is around 90C, when running Netflix and a Skype call. Fan is at max RPM during this time but it’s not super annoying to me. AirPods Pro cancels out hearing the fan as well lol.
I can’t imagine having the i5 in this thing though.
I can’t imagine having the i5 in this thing though.
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The heatsink mod makes this a better performing machine than the current base MBP.
Less than 1 hour from start to finish and about $30-40 dollars worth of parts from amazon.
I hardly get max fans or 100C even with power hungry apps.
Check that thread out.
For both the i3 and i5 MBA users what kind of temperatures are you getting with watching 4K videos on youtube and 4K movies e.g. on netflix?? The fan noise with zoom as mentioned previously is a bit disappointing as well, is overheating with zoom pretty common or are most people not having this issue with the MBA i3 or i5?? Thanks in advance
You need a MBP.
Until Google provides 4K in h.264/265 or Apple supports hardware decode for VP9 codec, you’ll have disappointing results on an MBA due to the software decode for VP9 codec served by a YouTube in Chrome.
I don’t know what Netflix does. Vimeo is fine though I’ve only tried 4K for testing. MBA screen is less than 4K so I’ve not seen any point going higher than 2K in the infrequent times I’ve watch videos on my MBA.
Post heat sink mod AND still using chrome - I don't run into issues with fan or high temps. There are lots of testing and screenshots in the Heatsink Thread.
While I do agree the codec wars between Apple and Google have an impact, I don't think that's the root cause of the max fans and 100C die temps. A proper heatsink wouldve done this machine fine. The performance gains arent going to be crazy, but the thermal and sustained loads while significantly be better.
I have a 2 day old MBA 2020 i5 and the fan is driving me mad on every MS Teams call. Thinking about sending it back unless there is a fix / workaround? So far only when using MS Teams video calls.
I'm gonna try this tomorrow. I'll let ya know how it goes. In general, I haven't too many fan issues because I don't push the MBA very hard.
Update - I am not a heavy user - just email plus web calls now working at home. The MBA is unusable on Teams, Skype and Zoom so it's going back. Spoke to Apple and they said I have a faulty one and they could have a look, but better to just return it. Everything else on it is perfect for what I want but can't put up with fan noise on calls as I can't hear anyone speak.
I don't use Teams or Skype on my MBA - but your experience with Zoom is definitely not what I've seen. Mine remains silent on 5-6 participant Zoom calls, even sitting outside in GA summer weather.
They may be correct you got a bad unit. Your choice is understandable though. Good luck with your next computer.
Had a horrible return experience with John Lewis and Apple. Apple are saying it is as expected and not a fault. I was able to have a Teams call and show them that the sound of the fan is so loud that you can barely hear people. I was going to exchange for the new MBP but they said that would do the same and if I bought it then they would not allow me to return it if it did the same thing.
That sounds like BS especially if you are within the 14 days, regardless of the reason you give they should accept it
To be clear I had just bought the MBP as a replacement from them and in the end they refunded both as they said I couldn't return the MBP if it had fan issues. I was there over two hours while they spoke to Apple.
I have had my i5/8/256 for six days now and have yet to hear the fan run even once. I use it in my lap and it is barely what I’d call warm.
I will qualify that by saying I am a real light user. S
I will qualify that by saying I am a real light user. S
I have a brand new MBA 2020 i5 16GB. The basic issue is that MS Teams triggers the Turbo Boost. The MBA 2020 just hasn't got the proper CPU cooling to back up the Turbo Boost. Maybe your Mac also suffers poor CPU cooling. I fixed the issue by shutting down the Turbo Boost of the CPU, using the 3rd party Turbo Boost Switch app. With the TB off the temperature lowers from 100 to 80C, so the fan doesn't go crazy. With the TB off, MS Teams still works fine.
