Is the M5 18-Core CPU 20 GPU In the 14" Macbook Pro M5 M5 Pro Chip Still Going to Throttle with Non-Sythentic Benchmarks Apps like Blender?

[Alvin777]

Hi, correct things if wrong: influencers like Max Tech and notebookcheck.net seem to show that there is significant thermal throttling under sustained loads that last minutes or longer decreasing all the cores' clocks between 700+Mhz to 1.7Ghz with the M5 Pro 18/20 version in the 14" Macbook Pro M5 (more so with the M5 Max in the 14") which doesn't happen in the 16" Macbook Pro M5 (US$300 more though); only the M5 Max seems to throttle even in the 16"- the throttling happens in synthetic benchmarks like Cinebench.

But will the M5 Pro 18 core and M5 Max not throttle if real world apps like Blender and Final Cut Pro are used for sustained loads lasting minutes or longer? If it doesn't, it's still safe to go with an 18 core or Max in the M5 laptops then?

On top of that both 14" and 16" models are power capped by Apple it seems that even if you use a charger higher than 140w, at high power mode unde sustained loads, even if plugged, the battery would still drain and not fully charge when you need it to use everything its got without throttling hopefully with real world apps (not synthetic benchmarks)- are these all hopefully fixable via code, via firmware and/or via macOS?


Thank you.

 

[Mike Boreham]

The impression I have is that throttling to some degree is part of all modern MacBooks by design, and is not the work of the devil it was regarded as many years ago. Modern chips are capable of safe sustained operation at 100C and will protect themselves if necessary under sustained load by reducing clock speeds.

 

[Alvin777]

The impression I have is that throttling to some degree is part of all modern MacBooks by design, and is not the work of the devil it was regarded as many years ago. Modern chips are capable of safe sustained operation at 100C and will protect themselves if necessary under sustained load by reducing clock speeds.

Hi true, safety vs. CPU or GPU death is priority but then we're all not getting our money's and can throttle as much as 2.16Ghz or 47%, though?

 

[Mike Boreham]

Hi true, safety vs. CPU or GPU death is priority but then we're all not getting our money's and can throttle as much as 2.16Ghz or 47%, though?

Only if you regard throttling as evil. What's the alternative? either massive cooling system to control the corners of the envelope or limit the non peak performance so that same (but lower) performance is maintained at all loads. Design is all about compromises and balance.

 

[cateye]

It's a laptop. Of course it throttles. Because it's a compressed space.

If you need a machine that provides un-compromised performance, you need a desktop that has the physical space to move enough air to indefinitely manage temperatures in at-load situations. In the case of a Mac, this means a Studio. I can peg every core in my M4 Max Studio for as long as I like with zero impact on performance. Meanwhile, I can get my M1 Pro MBP to throttle after only a few minutes. Physics! It's real.

This is why some gaming laptops on the PC side come with giant 200+ watt power bricks and far more aggressive (and loud) cooling systems than any Mac. They are built around the idea of maintaining performance at the expense of user experience. A MacBook Pro addresses that balance differently. Not judging one better than the other, because that answer will depend on the user's needs and goals.

Could or should Apple provide a power brick, charging mechanism, and cooling systems sufficient to run the laptop at load indefinitely? That's certainly something reasonable to debate. But part of that debate would be asking: Is unlimited sustained performance a reasonable goal for Apple to address given the target or intended audience for a MacBook Pro?