I just got a new MacBook Air M1 2020, and I recently found out that it doesn't have fans, which is an annoying fact because I normally use it for applications that might require a lot of gpu and cpu, so it heats up so much that the application which was running suddenly crash or become slower. I'm not sure if I should get an external fan to cool it down, is it possible that it might help in any way possible or is it unnecessary to use one? I know that the MacBook Air has a thermal padding under the heatsink and I don't mind the sound the fans would make. I just want to know if it would actually work and make the MacBook slightly better to use at home.
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Macbook air heating up during use, is it efficient to use a cooling pad for it?
- Thread starter bignerd69
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The M1 Air only thermal throttles a bit, and it should never cause a program to crash, since thermal throttling is a normal and expected function of most modern chips.
I put a fan underneath mine to test and it didn't really improve much, likely because the bottom is insulated to prevent the user from burning their legs (I believe this is a regulatory requirement).
If you are doing lots of heavy work, buy a Pro, the air is literally not design for heavy workloads (why it has no fans, smaller battery, and is lighter).
My first comment would be that the M1 and M2 MBA are far more capable of sustained high loads and throttle less than most people think.....Yes it will slow down but shouldn't crash. I have run Very high load 2 hour tests without crashing.
The answer to your question may depend on exactly what you are doing. There is a useful gain on Cinebench R23 performance for using a cooler.
There has been some discussion and tests (around M2 but probably similar to M1) in these threads:
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...at.2356187/page-4?post=31931258#post-31931258
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...rs.2377984/page-2?post=31905608#post-31905608
The cooler I used was cheap so not a big loss to try out. It was also surprisingly quiet ....much quieter than the fans on an M1 MBP Max I had, though of course the Max was a much more powerful machine.
You say you just got a new M1 MBA. If it is within the return period you could return it to get a fan cooled MBP instead. If you are trading up I have known Apple extend the return period a bit.
If money and size are important the 13" M1 MBP which has a fan, could be exactly what you need. It is much maligned by people for no good reason.
The answer to your question may depend on exactly what you are doing. There is a useful gain on Cinebench R23 performance for using a cooler.
There has been some discussion and tests (around M2 but probably similar to M1) in these threads:
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...at.2356187/page-4?post=31931258#post-31931258
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...rs.2377984/page-2?post=31905608#post-31905608
The cooler I used was cheap so not a big loss to try out. It was also surprisingly quiet ....much quieter than the fans on an M1 MBP Max I had, though of course the Max was a much more powerful machine.
You say you just got a new M1 MBA. If it is within the return period you could return it to get a fan cooled MBP instead. If you are trading up I have known Apple extend the return period a bit.
If money and size are important the 13" M1 MBP which has a fan, could be exactly what you need. It is much maligned by people for no good reason.
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The app becoming 15-30 % slower is expected (the computer slows down a bit so that it can radiate the heat away at the same rate it’s produced), the app crashing definitely isn’t. I’d look for a different cause than thermal management. Which workloads crash for you? Which apps and after how long?
Those fanless MacBook Air is not designed for long term heavy workloads, even though people have been using it as such based on personal experience or just pure hype heard from someone else. I would pick MacBook Pro any day for this kind of job.
Anyway, a cooling pad is just a super sized thermal pad applied inside your MacBook Air. You need a fan to actively cool your MacBook Air externally, ideally with a cooling pad, to keep the computer temperature under control. Next, consider purchasing a MacBook Pro Later down the line. Having an internal fan can make such a huge difference.
Anyway, a cooling pad is just a super sized thermal pad applied inside your MacBook Air. You need a fan to actively cool your MacBook Air externally, ideally with a cooling pad, to keep the computer temperature under control. Next, consider purchasing a MacBook Pro Later down the line. Having an internal fan can make such a huge difference.