Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Kraizelburg

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 10, 2018
437
113
Spain
Hi all, I wonder how hot the new MBA M1 gets when connected to external monitor and how the performance is, animations, etc.

Thanks
 
I would imagine performance would be sublime. As long as you are not doing heavy gaming of course.
 
I would imagine performance would be sublime. As long as you are not doing heavy gaming of course.
Normally chips get hotter when u have and external keyboard connected that's why I asked, for instance latest 16" MBP gets very hot when connected to external monitor no matter what you do.
 
I was wondering about that too, specifically when connected to a 4K display running at odd scaled resolutions (aka not “looks like 1920x1080”). I am seriously considering ditching the 27” iMac and replacing it with the M1 Air. This thing is simply staggering.
 
That's great news then, I can't believe this littel machine performs better than 16" MBP graphics aside.
It is kinda nuts. And we're talking with the screen open, which would make the fans always turn on with the 16". Nope, this thing is quiet, zippy, and cool, even with the second monitor attached. And little things, like changing screen resolution, are like weirdly fast.
 
Has anyone connected the M1 MacBook Air to the 5K Ultrafine display? How does it perform? Are the animations smooth? Will it be as smooth as my current MBP 16 2.4GHz Core i9 32GB 5500M 8GB? I'm tired of my MBP's fans roaring as soon as I do anything like playing a video.
 
Has anyone connected the M1 MacBook Air to the 5K Ultrafine display? How does it perform? Are the animations smooth? Will it be as smooth as my current MBP 16 2.4GHz Core i9 32GB 5500M 8GB? I'm tired of my MBP's fans roaring as soon as I do anything like playing a video.
My MBA 16gb, 1tb with lid open... Animation is perfectly smooth. Multiple windows open... Verge website in safari, scrolls smooth. 5k video playing in a window. Numbers open. Couple finder windows. Maps. App Store. Preview with a large jpg. Exposé is smooth with all those windows open. GPU peaked at 40% briefly. Barely warm at all. Silent of course.
 
I'm curious if you can still use Sidecar on an iPad even when connected to a conventional external display on the new M1 laptops? If yes, does it work both as a wired and wireless connection?
 
My MBA 16gb, 1tb with lid open... Animation is perfectly smooth. Multiple windows open... Verge website in safari, scrolls smooth. 5k video playing in a window. Numbers open. Couple finder windows. Maps. App Store. Preview with a large jpg. Exposé is smooth with all those windows open. GPU peaked at 40% briefly. Barely warm at all. Silent of course.
Yeah best way I would describe the MBA's temps is they range from cold to room temperature lol. I've never felt it get warm.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Zazoh
My MBA 16gb, 1tb with lid open... Animation is perfectly smooth. Multiple windows open... Verge website in safari, scrolls smooth. 5k video playing in a window. Numbers open. Couple finder windows. Maps. App Store. Preview with a large jpg. Exposé is smooth with all those windows open. GPU peaked at 40% briefly. Barely warm at all. Silent of course.
Thanks for the reply. That is just mind-blowing!
 
Has anyone connected the M1 MacBook Air to the 5K Ultrafine display? How does it perform? Are the animations smooth? Will it be as smooth as my current MBP 16 2.4GHz Core i9 32GB 5500M 8GB? I'm tired of my MBP's fans roaring as soon as I do anything like playing a video.
Yes, I have the LG Ultrafine 5K (the 27MD5KL model from 2019). I can't compare it to the 16" MBP, but can say that I was running 4K videos on YouTube with no issues.
 
My MBA 16gb, 1tb with lid open... Animation is perfectly smooth. Multiple windows open... Verge website in safari, scrolls smooth. 5k video playing in a window. Numbers open. Couple finder windows. Maps. App Store. Preview with a large jpg. Exposé is smooth with all those windows open. GPU peaked at 40% briefly. Barely warm at all. Silent of course.
Same config. I use heavily with 30-40 tabs + windows with 10 programs running, no issues, no heat. One thing I noticed the external monitor flicker once a while. Hoping it gets fixed by the update...
 
Hooked up both to my tv via hdmi and played a 4k video.

2020 i3, 8GB- stuttered, 90 cpu usage, 95c temp

2020 M1, 8GB - smooth, 35 cpu usage, cool temp (Sensei can't read temps of M1 yet)
 
Hi all, I wonder how hot the new MBA M1 gets when connected to external monitor and how the performance is, animations, etc.

Thanks
I tested it a bit connected to a 5K display with the MBA in clamshell config: 3-4 4K youtube videos running in Safari, 2-3 Microsoft office apps (native beta), screen sharing in video call using the web version of Teams on Microsoft Edge (Rosetta 2).

All ran perfectly smooth.

In terms of heat the top was cool, but the buttom did get warm, but not much. Compared to the previous 2020 MBA and my wife's 2016 MBA (both became very hot, very quickly with just a few app open) the M1-MBA is a huge improvement.
 
I hooked up my Air to an external 2560x1440 display via a direct USB C to DisplayPort cable.

After a ~2 hour Discord video call the machine was not discernibly warmer than room temperature.
 
The only problem is that all Thunderbolt3 external monitors doesn't turn on the Macbook (m1) automatically when connected. When Mac is in sleep mode, everything works perfectly fine. You actually have to turn on the Mac every single time before you connect your monitor.
 
Limited to a single external display, that seriously sucks!
Wait, really? Even 1080? I was seriously considering one of these because I miss my old 12" MacBook. At home I have a 15" MacBook Pro connected to dual monitors so that probably would stay that way, but at work I would want to hook this up to my dual monitors there. I can't do that? Is that an M1 limitation or just the Air? Does the 13" MBP power two external monitors?
 
Wait, really? Even 1080? I was seriously considering one of these because I miss my old 12" MacBook. At home I have a 15" MacBook Pro connected to dual monitors so that probably would stay that way, but at work I would want to hook this up to my dual monitors there. I can't do that? Is that an M1 limitation or just the Air? Does the 13" MBP power two external monitors?
It is an M1 hardware limitation which for me is a dealbreaker. I will wait for the next gen.
 
Connecting to a 32" 6K Apple XDR display, playing a 4K video AND a 5K video on Youtube at the same time - nothing.. Not even warm to the touch. My 16" MacBook Pro was screaming trying to handle it. Absolutely incredible what they've done with this machine - and I am using the base air with 256GB and 8GB RAM..
 
Played about an hour of Bioshock yesterday. Pretty much locked 60 fps (apart from some small stutters which I presume is because of rosetta). My MacBook wasn't even lukewarm.
 
Hi all, I wonder how hot the new MBA M1 gets when connected to external monitor and how the performance is, animations, etc.

Thanks

This one is connected over usb-c to a 4K Ultrafine running at a scaled resolution and its incredibly cool. Even after setting it up, Photos & Spotlight doing their thing etc, nothing is making it hot.
 
This one is connected over usb-c to a 4K Ultrafine running at a scaled resolution and its incredibly cool. Even after setting it up, Photos & Spotlight doing their thing etc, nothing is making it hot.
Are animations smooth or choppy?
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.