1) Coffee Lake laptop core temps are hot across the board compared to 7th gen HQ 45 watt CPUs. I don't think Intel gave manufacturers everything they needed early enough to mitigate this. The expected logic of "it's still 45 watts, so it shouldn't run hotter" hasn't quite worked out. I have simply never seen so many laptops hit the 90s C under heavy benchmarking in my 20 yeas of reviewing laptops.
2) Previous posters who mentioned that some of us reviewers (including me
) have given a variety of very thin and light Coffee Lake laptops a hard time for CPU core temps are right. Hello, XPS 15 and those ever-toasty VRMs.
3) I personally own the 2.6GHz Core i7 2018 15" model, and CPU core temps are typically 45-50C unplugged with light to moderate load. During the workday, I use it plugged in to a 4K LG monitor (with the Mac's panel active as a second display at default scaled resolution) and use the hell out of it with Photoshop, Final Cut, Dreamweaver, Office, and a variety of other programs running throughout the day. That 4K monitor forces the AMD GPU to remain active and is a great way to increase heat levels. The Mac typically runs at 62-65C with light use. It will hit 70s to 80's with heavier use. Final Cut exports will bring the core temps to the upper 80s and sometimes low 90s. That's in line with the direct Windows competition in terms of temps (substitute Premiere Pro under Windows). Dell XPS 15, 15" Razer Blade and even the larger Alienware 15 R4... you get the idea. I've always run my Mac 12 hours per day... we'll see how this one holds up.
4) The AMD GPU is nothing to write home about in terms of performance (though Apple apps optimize extremely well for it and really use it well). I can see why they went with that GPU though- it uses less watts and generates much less heat than the equivalent NVIDIA GPU. That's how Apple gets thinner than the competition while not getting hotter.
5) I use Macs Fan Control to start raising fan RPMs earlier than Apple does (based on CPU core temps). Apple prefers quiet, but I prefer a machine that isn't baking itself- I want it to last a good long time. I did the same for my 2015 15" MacBook Pro. Noise on the 2018 model isn't much worse for this. I highly recommended for those who push their 15" MBPs hard.
6) Any video about Macs will get views- one doesn't have to bash or adore the Mac- Apple laptops get the views. Of course, clickbait titles are effective, at least in the short term. Immediate gratification and dollars, but in the long term you'll lose some of your more clever and discerning viewers... depends on who your target audience is as to whether that matters.
7) The recovery port makes no sense due to the T2 chip. I'll take that added security over letting others recover my data. Time Machine is the brain dead easiest backup solution on the market. I love knowing if someone steals my tantalizingly expensive Mac, they won't be able to get at my data.
8) I am not an Apple apologist, and dongle life, the obsession with thinness and a keen lack of transparency about the Butterfly Keyboard 3rd gen tweaks are not cool at all. I stopped using a Mac for 2 years because I wasn't pleased with what they offered in the 15" model in 2016 and 2017. But Apple did a fairly good job with thermals here (other than their obsession with quiet fan settings) given the chassis they've decided to use. Motherboards warping is not a thing. GPUs fry, VRMs commit suicide by heat, charging port chips melt (mostly only on older HP Spectre x360 models) but laptop motherboards don't often warp from heat to the point of failure.
- Lisa from MobileTechReview
