M2 Air Disappointing Thermal Design

[MK500]

Yeah... If touching is all that's required to be the heatsink, then why not talk about the motherboard being a heatsink.

Based on what I'm seeing; I think the motherboard is indeed a pretty substantial part of the heatsink on the M2 Air.

Here you can see where the thermal compound attaches to the M2 SoC and spreads heat to the shield which acts as a heatsink.

photo from Max Tech (YouTube)

 

[darngooddesign]

Based on what I'm seeing; I think the motherboard is indeed a pretty substantial part of the heatsink on the M2 Air.

Here is another shot of the thermal compound where it attaches to the M2 SoC and spreads heat to the shield which acts as a heatsink.

View attachment 2031556
photo from Max Tech (YouTube)

The motherboard isn't really made from the best material for a heatsink; the point of a heatsink is to draw heat away from chips and components, but using the motherboard as a heatsink is the opposite of that strategy. The M1 isn't better or worse, its just a different design dictated by its limited internal space.

 

[Blue Sun]

This may be hard to believe, but the engineers at Apple know a lot more about the dynamics of heat than a YouTube channel.

A thermal pad would just transfer more heat to the bottom of the laptop causing discomfort and maybe even skin burns if somebody falls asleep while using the laptop. It would also spread the heat to the other components, making it degrade faster. At least M2 can throttle to regulate its own heat, other components can’t. If you have workloads that cause throttling, then get a Pro.

A 10 degree reduction from the thermal pad is hardly worth it.

This. Spot on.

Also, the MacBook Air isn’t the machine to buy for sustained, heavy load workflows. For those unaware (🙄), Apple also sells 13, 14 and 16” MacBook Pros that have fans and were designed for these use cases.

 

[canadianpj]

This. Spot on.

Also, the MacBook Air isn’t the machine to buy for sustained, heavy load workflows. For those unaware (🙄), Apple also sells 13, 14 and 16” MacBook Pros that have fans and were designed for these use cases.

True, but I would wager for 95% of buyers out there this would be a great laptop. Yes, not for users on these forums but most are not your average user.

 

[defferoo]

True, but I would wager for 95% of buyers out there this would be a great laptop. Yes, not for users on these forums but most are not your average user.

let's be real, most people on these forums are just using their computers to browse the web anyway 😂

jokes aside, this is absolutely correct.

 

[teknikal90]

A lot of people do hardcore work on MacBook Air but don’t want/require the CPU/GPU performance and weight of the 14”. My wife has hundreds of tabs open in multiple browsers, MS Office apps, and email all open on her 2013 Air, and gets a lot done. I prefer my 14” Max for my needs because I do more GPU intensive tasks and don’t move around as much.

Even with a nice OWC SSD upgrade 2 years ago, her 2013 Air is needing a replacement in the next year or so. That’s why I’m considering the M2 Air — and will still possibly buy a 512 one next year. Although I think I would also do the thermal pad mod.

If there is anything the M1 Air should have taught us; it is that you can have a lightweight fanless laptop while still having the power to meet the needs of most users.

Your wife will not need the thermal pad mod. Let's be real here.......

 

[Tdude96]

I think the 256GB SSD complaints and overheating issues feel a bit overblown.

Most likely, although the slow 256GB SSD does bother me quite a lot. Earlier this year I upgraded my iMac fusion drive to an external TB3 SSD with a rated speed of 2800+MB/s, but for the first couple days I was only getting ~1000MB/s out of it (I'm assuming backend processes were affecting it - indexing, FileVault and whatnot). The jump from the fusion drive to the SSD was huge, but it was another night & day difference between 1000MB/s and 2400+MB/s (I'm still not quite getting the rated speed, but close enough). It was very noticeable.

I'm concerned about the heat throttling, but at the same time, this is a "low-end" machine (for a Mac) and fanless. Some compromises are to be expected. I'm curious how much of a compromise there is with that in real life usage, though.

I have ran Houdini simulations, worked with 4k video in Final Cut, made songs in Logic with 20 tracks (I didn't go higher because I got bored testing it), played video games on it, animated and rendered in Blender, worked on Xcode projects on it and more and it handled all of it like a champ and barely, and I mean barely got warm, even when doing renders.

What game(s) were you playing, and for how long? Did you experience any FPS loss after awhile?

My biggest use case for the MBA that I'm worried about is taking it along with me on business travel, because I don't want to haul around a 2nd MBP, one for work and one for personal use. I like to wind down in the evening with a little gaming when I can. Obviously I could easily do that by carrying a 2nd MBP, but MBA would be far more convenient. If it doesn't make the gameplay experience frustrating by slowing to a crawl.

 

[canadianpj]

Most likely, although the slow 256GB SSD does bother me quite a lot. Earlier this year I upgraded my iMac fusion drive to an external TB3 SSD with a rated speed of 2800+MB/s, but for the first couple days I was only getting ~1000MB/s out of it (I'm assuming backend processes were affecting it - indexing, FileVault and whatnot). The jump from the fusion drive to the SSD was huge, but it was another night & day difference between 1000MB/s and 2400+MB/s (I'm still not quite getting the rated speed, but close enough). It was very noticeable.

I'm concerned about the heat throttling, but at the same time, this is a "low-end" machine (for a Mac) and fanless. Some compromises are to be expected. I'm curious how much of a compromise there is with that in real life usage, though.


What game(s) were you playing, and for how long? Did you experience any FPS loss after awhile?

My biggest use case for the MBA that I'm worried about is taking it along with me on business travel, because I don't want to haul around a 2nd MBP, one for work and one for personal use. I like to wind down in the evening with a little gaming when I can. Obviously I could easily do that by carrying a 2nd MBP, but MBA would be far more convenient. If it doesn't make the gameplay experience frustrating by slowing to a crawl.

I wouldn't call it a "low-end" machine, it's mid-range clearly by what it's capable of for 95% of anyone who will buy it. I don't understand why it's "low end"?

I have a 2TB/24GB/10 core GPU on the way, I have zero worries about heat. Granted the most intentive thing is going to be World of Warcraft (which is like 70% of my reason having a computer anymore alone)

 

[ndouglas]

Thank you for letting everyone know you don't own one.

I bought mine fully expecting to return it for a pro instead but this machine surprised the heck out of me. I have been hammering it hard since I got it on Friday and it is significantly more powerful than people peg it for.

I have ran Houdini simulations, worked with 4k video in Final Cut, made songs in Logic with 20 tracks (I didn't go higher because I got bored testing it), played video games on it, animated and rendered in Blender, worked on Xcode projects on it and more and it handled all of it like a champ and barely, and I mean barely got warm, even when doing renders.

These tech YouTubers are borderline click bait with their claims as of late.

If anyone is curious the specs on my machine are: M2 MacBook Air, 8 core CPU, 10 core GPU, 16 gigs ram, 1TB hard drive.

Again, I fully expected to return this for a MBP but am keeping it instead. It performs incredibly well.

Great info to read, I’m always happy to hear positive experiences with these machines. Impressive that you ran all that on it with good results! I’ll probably keep my 2019 Intel Macbook for a couple more years, as $2k is a lot of $$ for me, however I’m already looking forward to upgrading to an M1 or M2 laptop … maybe M3 or 4 by the time I switch. Really impressive to learn how much battery life and other capability the M chips have.

 

[Tdude96]

I wouldn't call it a "low-end" machine, it's mid-range clearly by what it's capable of for 95% of anyone who will buy it. I don't understand why it's "low end"?

I have a 2TB/24GB/10 core GPU on the way, I have zero worries about heat. Granted the most intentive thing is going to be World of Warcraft (which is like 70% of my reason having a computer anymore alone)

That's why I qualified the statement with For a Mac.

Sounds like a nice machine. The config I'm considering is 16/512, not sure about the GPU yet, though. Sadly, the games I play are Mac-compatible, but not yet optimized/built for M1 like WoW.

 

[canadianpj]

That's why I qualified the statement with For a Mac.

Sounds like a nice machine. The config I'm considering is 16/512, not sure about the GPU yet, though. Sadly, the games I play are Mac-compatible, but not yet optimized/built for M1 like WoW.

I'm hoping perhaps Metal 3 will bring more but I went console for my gaming (except for WoW) about 15 years ago now. Less hassle for me anyways.

 

[Tyler O'Bannon]

Almost anyone who is aware of this is most likely in need of at least the M2 with a fan. It stinks that you have to go for an old design right now, but, that will probdbly be replaced with a 15” with a fan fairly soon.

But again, people jumping in on this thread about the throttling issue are mostly from the smaller segment of people that the Pro models are for. The average consumer will not even know about this, notice it, or care. They will be able to use this machine successfully for years.

 

[exoticSpice]

This may be hard to believe, but the engineers at Apple know a lot more about the dynamics of heat than a YouTube channel.

No they don't they can't even design a keyboard properly. the 8th gen/9th i9's in macbooks heated up so badly compared to windows laptoops due to poor cooling.

 

[chrono1081]

Most likely, although the slow 256GB SSD does bother me quite a lot. Earlier this year I upgraded my iMac fusion drive to an external TB3 SSD with a rated speed of 2800+MB/s, but for the first couple days I was only getting ~1000MB/s out of it (I'm assuming backend processes were affecting it - indexing, FileVault and whatnot). The jump from the fusion drive to the SSD was huge, but it was another night & day difference between 1000MB/s and 2400+MB/s (I'm still not quite getting the rated speed, but close enough). It was very noticeable.

I'm concerned about the heat throttling, but at the same time, this is a "low-end" machine (for a Mac) and fanless. Some compromises are to be expected. I'm curious how much of a compromise there is with that in real life usage, though.


What game(s) were you playing, and for how long? Did you experience any FPS loss after awhile?

My biggest use case for the MBA that I'm worried about is taking it along with me on business travel, because I don't want to haul around a 2nd MBP, one for work and one for personal use. I like to wind down in the evening with a little gaming when I can. Obviously I could easily do that by carrying a 2nd MBP, but MBA would be far more convenient. If it doesn't make the gameplay experience frustrating by slowing to a crawl.

I was playing Final Fantasy 14 and getting 79-105 fps. I then capped it at 60fps since it helps with longer battery. Even before that though I could play for hours before hitting 50% battery.

 

[Tdude96]

I was playing Final Fantasy 14 and getting 79-105 fps. I then capped it at 60fps since it helps with longer battery. Even before that though I could play for hours before hitting 50% battery.

Thanks for the additional information! That's very helpful

 

[filterdecay]

As Max Tech show; even simple thermal pads to the lower case make a large difference in sustained performance:

dont do this. It will make the case get hot. If you need a computer that will crunch nunbers all day then buy the right computer.

 

[Marshmallow.]

Sounds like this one can get uncomfortably hot under heavy loads, which I never had issues with on my M1 Air. I think I'll upgrade to the 14" MBP. I don't feel like sterilizing myself.

 

[GuruZac]

I would love to have a thread on forcing certain mac users on M chips, to only use Intel laptops for a month, and hear the whinging then.
In my experience with both PC and Macs [of the current machines] is the Macs spank them into oblivion. I literally have nothing negative to say about the current Macs right now based upon this experience. The Mac studio ultra is magic - I hear no sound whilst on 100% CPU use.

Apple are not miracle workers, but they do a damm fine job. Just buy the right computer for your use.

Yeah I got to see a 14" MacBook Pro up close tonight for the first time and that display is beautiful. Notch doesn't bother me, and never has on the iPhone. My next computer I thought would be a larger MacBook Air if they ever launch it, but it will probably be a base 14" or 16" MBP just to get that ProMotion display.

 

[Asiatic Black Hebrew]

I don't understand why folks here are bashing people for picking one model over another, or bashing a particular model as being crappy. Much like when I advise members of my extended family: get what works best for you. Even if that means you are more productive on Windows OS, MacOS, etc. Go with what works for you.

With that said, what I find works best for me is the MBA.

The funny thing is, the people that are doing this, don't even own one. All we keep hearing is how certain posters have no interest in these terrible machines, yet they can't seem to quit searching for articles/videos related to it & spending hours on this forum daily.

 

[darngooddesign]

The funny thing is, the people that are doing this, don't even own one. All we keep hearing is how certain posters have no interest in these terrible machines, yet they can't seem to quit searching for articles/videos related to it & spending hours on this forum daily.

Some people don't want anyone to enjoy something they don't like.

 

[mr_jomo]

Like-for-like tasks with thermal comparison (until RAM becomes an issue):

EXSUM: the M2 Air is 10-15 degrees cooler than the M1 when both are doing exactly the same task.

Just an additional data point highlighting, that the M2 is a more efficient design than the M1, and remains fit for a fanless design.

 

[1@@@]

The apple commentariat and community:

"I need a machine that I can push to the absolute edge of its ram, ssd read/write speed and thermal capabilities for sustained high intensity workloads!

ALSO

I only want a base model fanless mac laptop!"

Honestly. Come on. Enough.

If you need more capability than the base m2 air, buy more. The base model is not there to meet everybody's highest end use case needs.

Can we please move on from these total non-event fake controversies?

 

[richinaus]

The apple commentariat and community:

"I need a machine that I can push to the absolute edge of its ram, ssd read/write speed and thermal capabilities for sustained high intensity workloads!

ALSO

I only want a base model fanless mac laptop!"

Honestly. Come on. Enough.

If you need more capability than the base m2 air, buy more. The base model is not there to meet everybody's highest end use case needs.

Can we please move on from these total non-event fake controversies?

the 14" doesn't even suit high intense workflows [it does perform, but the fans do blow hard], so how is a MBA supposed to ! Makes me laugh.

Buy desktops for performance and laptops for convenience. The one laptop for everything doesnt exist, and will have compromises.

 

[RobbieTT]

I am astonished people are drawing scorn on the M2 Air thermals/power throttling. Clearly these people have never used an Intel laptop where crippled-by-thermals is the default position. Almost all PC laptops do not even attempt to run at 'normal' levels from the moment you disconnect them from the wall. The M2 Air runs circles around them when actually used as a laptop rather than as a transportable desktop.

This is but 1 model from the MacBook range and I am truly amazed that anyone who posts on this forum can fail to understand its role, purpose and the design choices made. Those who want more sustained power will just pick a different model, without indulging in a pointless and mummifying stupidity in holding to a belief that a fanless laptop should not throttle.

🫣

 

[Jackpaultechnab]

Perfectly explain thanks!