MacBook Air Fan noise - which exact model?

[circatee]

Currently, I am researching a Mac Mini and a MacBook Air, trying to decide which I would like to purchase.
The device is not for anything major, mainly browsing the internet, emails and possibly using Parallels with a Windows VM (just in case).

But, during my research of the MacBook Air, I often see people complaining about 'excessive fan noise'. Alas, I am confused with which exact model of the MacBook Air, that this happens on.

Anyone?

Thanks

 

[johannnn]

I’ve only heard about it on the 2018 and 2020 model. But I’m no expert, please correct me if I’m wrong.

2018:

Why Apple didn't put a heatpipe on 2018 Macbook air?

Hi, I just cant understand what's the point of having a fan with no heatpipe connected to the heatsink. It seems the fan only moves hot air inside the case but not from the processor. In my honest opinion having a heatpipe would have helped a lot to the performance of this laptop.

forums.macrumors.com

2020:

2020 Air Heatsink Modification Thread

MBA 2020(2018 also possible) cooling modification thread. here is a detailed guide on the process provided by @fcracer "The issue" The 2020 MBA is almost a perfect laptop OOTB for my needs. Size, battery life, keyboard, weight, and what seemed to be the right amount of performance to carry...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[myrtlebee]

Currently, I am researching a Mac Mini and a MacBook Air, trying to decide which I would like to purchase.
The device is not for anything major, mainly browsing the internet, emails and possibly using Parallels with a Windows VM (just in case).

But, during my research of the MacBook Air, I often see people complaining about 'excessive fan noise'. Alas, I am confused with which exact model of the MacBook Air, that this happens on.

Anyone?

Thanks

The new M1 MacBook Air has no fan, so maybe that would be your best option.

 

[johannnn]

The new M1 MacBook Air has no fan, so maybe that would be your best option.

Having no fan isn’t necessarily better. You might use the M1 MBA to cook eggs since it has no fans.

In a week we will know.

 

[Maclver]

Having no fan isn’t necessarily better. You might use the M1 MBA to cook eggs since it has no fans.

In a week we will know.

When that was announced my first thought was “no fan? This can’t be good”. It’s one thing for the little MacBook to have no fan because it was using the intel mobile processor so power wasn’t its game. Hell my iPhone gets hot just browsing Facebook, I could only imagine the heat the m1 will put off. Hope I am wrong though.

 

[myrtlebee]

Having no fan isn’t necessarily better. You might use the M1 MBA to cook eggs since it has no fans.

In a week we will know.

Tomorrow I will know. I ordered one and it’s coming then. The OP was asking about which model would be best for lack of fan noise - and I suggested one without a fan only because it would be impossible for it to have fan noise. I had the early 2020 MBA and at times it sounded like a jet taking off. The OP does very basic tasks, so I doubt the M1 Air would get too hot for those. But, yes, we’ll know about heat tomorrow. I have high hopes, but we’ll see.

update: Well, maybe I won’t know tomorrow. Tracked my MBA and it’s saying check back later for delivery date after saying Monday for the past couple of days. It’s still in China.

 

[circatee]

Hang on, are they using liquid cooling in the new MBA?

 

[ascender]

Hang on, are they using liquid cooling in the new MBA?

Nope.

Its fan-less, that's pretty much all we know at the moment in terms of how its going to perform.

If you're wanting to run Windows apps in Parallels, you'll need to get an Intel MacBook Air as things stand.

In terms of fan noise, I've found its pretty much the same as the fan on any current Apple laptop - i.e. it will kick-in when you're hammering the processor. So in Parallels, if Windows is installing updates, it kicks in. If I'm encoding video, it kicks in. If I'm playing games, it kicks in.

In general use (productivity, watching videos, playing music, doing stuff in Windows) it never kicks in.

 

[Sword86]

Currently, I am researching a Mac Mini and a MacBook Air, trying to decide which I would like to purchase.
The device is not for anything major, mainly browsing the internet, emails and possibly using Parallels with a Windows VM (just in case).

But, during my research of the MacBook Air, I often see people complaining about 'excessive fan noise'. Alas, I am confused with which exact model of the MacBook Air, that this happens on.

Anyone?

Thanks

I installed Big Sur the other night and in the 4 months I have owned my 2020 MBA (i5/8/256) I heard the fan run for the VERY FIRST time. It sounded much like low-level volume static over the speakers.
I have never felt any heat that might suggest the fan ought to have run. During the time the fan did run I didn't notice any appreciable heat on the underside of the case.
My 2008 MB runs way hotter under any usage. (2.4/ 8/ 250Gb OWC SSD)
S

 

[deeddawg]

My 2020 i5 MBA stays silent and comfortable in my lap through a full evening of Safari / Mail / etc with a bit of Lightroom image culling / tagging / light editing.

So if that workload isn't taxing the Intel CPU enough to make the fan audible in a quiet room or make the thing uncomfortable to have on my lap, it's unlikely the more efficient M1 MBA would be warmer.

 

[circatee]

I guess it is only a matter of time before I notice or hear the fan noise.
A friend of mine let me borrow the model below...

MacBook Air 13" Early 2015
Memory: 8GB
Processor: 1.6GHz dual
GPU: Intel HD Graphics 6000 1536MB
Storage: 251GB flash storage
Optical Drive: None
OS: Big Sur

 

[deeddawg]

I guess it is only a matter of time before I notice or hear the fan noise.
A friend of mine let me borrow the model below...

MacBook Air 13" Early 2015
Memory: 8GB
Processor: 1.6GHz dual
GPU: Intel HD Graphics 6000 1536MB
Storage: 251GB flash storage
Optical Drive: None
OS: Big Sur

Well, you can assure yourself of zero fan noise if you purchase one of the new M1 series Macbook Airs.

They have no fan.

 

[circatee]

Well, you can assure yourself of zero fan noise if you purchase one of the new M1 series Macbook Airs.

They have no fan.

I do not believe I can use Parallels and a Windows 10 VM, on the new M1. Hence, why I will stick with an Intel for now...

 

[deeddawg]

I do not believe I can use Parallels and a Windows 10 VM, on the new M1. Hence, why I will stick with an Intel for now...

For now, yes. Will there be a solution to this in the future? Anyone's guess, but I'd say if there's enough market for it there will be.

 

[ght56]

For your usage, I am inclined to favor the powerful and the versatile Mac Mini, especially if you do not need the portability of the MBA. The Intel MBAs are not the best for VMs, IMHO--at least the 2020 i5/16GB variant is not with Fusion running a Win 10 x64 guest. It will suffice, but the CPU and the cooling pose limitations to some extent. Especially if you see yourself needing to virtualize a lot in the future, the Mac Mini has some major advantages. VMs are commonly CPU heavy, and you can get significantly more CPU performance on the Mini...like, lots more. The other nice thing about the Mini is that you can get it with the bare bones RAM and then upgrade that sucker to 32 GB for not much money at all.

 

[limesmoothie]

I’ve got an i5/16gb 2020 MBA and I have issues with the fan when doing fairly light multitasking- hear from others that the i3 isn’t as bad, so it may be that I have a duff unit/was unlucky. I don’t edit video etc, we’re just talking about videoconferencing/web/productivity work.

Think I’m going to be trading up to an M1 MBA pretty soon, as it is impacting on my work, fan kicks in every time I’m on a Zoom call.