MacBook Air's cooling system is... terrible...

[geesus]

It might be worth mentioning how, or more specifically where, people are using their Air as I find mine only ever warms up when I use on my lap and my clothes block the fan output underneath. Used on a flat surface, and the same usage patterns will see the system remain cool. Either way, I've not even heard the fans yet on my i5 that I have owned for a few weeks now. I can live with that.

 

[esphil]

It might be worth mentioning how, or more specifically where, people are using their Air as I find mine only ever warms up when I use on my lap and my clothes block the fan output underneath. Used on a flat surface, and the same usage patterns will see the system remain cool. Either way, I've not even heard the fans yet on my i5 that I have owned for a few weeks now. I can live with that.

I think almost every mac laptop I've ever owned has warmed up if its been on my lap. Good to know the fans haven't come on, mine finally arrives tomorrow.

 

[edubfromktown]

Now i'm getting nostalgic! I remember my 12" ibook g4, my first Mac and loved that computer. Then my 15" titanium powerbook, that one was cool too. Ah, good times.

I started with the old Pismo laptop... running OS X 10.1

Had a Cube and 24" display for a while, G4 tower, mini's and a dizzying number of Mac laptops along the way.

 

[unoporfavor]

would like to know as well. anyone can attest to this?

We all would but alas there's no real-world testing out there for it. There's a guy on here whos sent back his i5 because it as too loud (fan noise) and ordered the i3. That's probably the closest you'll get to "hands-on" testing.
Check out you Tube channcel called "Juan&only" (nothing to do with me), he does a MacBook air 2020 test where he runs some standard apps and measures the cpu temperature. I chose the i3 based on the fact that lower temps should == reduced fan speed and noise. Let us know if find anything out anywhere! Lot of us will e interested.
Cheers ✌
[automerge]1587678693[/automerge]

I started with the old Pismo laptop... running OS X 10.1

Had a Cube and 24" display for a while, G4 tower, mini's and a dizzying number of Mac laptops along the way.

Does anyone remember the 'toilet seat' mac? You could install Yellow Dog Linux on it and get a a few more years use out of it

 

[RiaKoobcam]

We all would but alas there's no real-world testing out there for it. There's a guy on here whos sent back his i5 because it as too loud (fan noise) and ordered the i3. That's probably the closest you'll get to "hands-on" testing.

It's a-me, Mario. The i3 is supposed to arrive today (public holiday here so I probably won't get it til next week), but I'll keep it for a week, run it side by side with my 2019 MBA, and post a review on sound/thermals at the end of the week's testing. 👍

 

[esphil]

For those who have bad performance with Chrome I had an idea to try. By default it has hardware acceleration set to on, has anyone tried disabling this? If not maybe someone can give it a try and see if it has any effect. It may be trying to use the GPU too much thus increasing the heat with the integrated graphics.

 

[RiaKoobcam]

For those who have bad performance with Chrome I had an idea to try. By default it has hardware acceleration set to on, has anyone tried disabling this? If not maybe someone can give it a try and see if it has any effect. It may be trying to use the GPU too much thus increasing the heat with the integrated graphics.

That's a really good idea - I didn't think to try that on my 2020 i5. It'd be interesting seeing the difference. I think @throAU is the leading authority around here on the differences between hardware/software acceleration - do you think it'd have any impact?

 

[unoporfavor]

It's a-me, Mario. The i3 is supposed to arrive today (public holiday here so I probably won't get it til next week), but I'll keep it for a week, run it side by side with my 2019 MBA, and post a review on sound/thermals at the end of the week's testing. 👍

Really looking forward to your feedback mate!

 

[RiaKoobcam]

Really looking forward to your feedback mate!

No worries, I'll put it through the same stuff as I did the i5. For me the big one will be battery life.

As far as I can tell, the performance gains from the i3 in the 2020 MBA are marginal compared to the i5-8210Y, and the i3 chip has G4 Iris Plus Graphics instead of G7 - still better than UHD 617, but not 'wow, I can finally do [whatever thing] that I couldn't do with Intel UHD graphics!'

So my test question is:

'How does the thermal performance of the 2020 i3 MBA compare to the 2019 i5? How does the battery life stack up? If the the thermal performance is a bit worse, and if the battery life follows suit, are the real-world performance gains noticeable enough to make that trade off?'

To some extent, thermal performance can be improved at home, even if it's not the ideal solution. But you can't improve battery life without severely limiting what your computer is able to do. I haven't had to place any restrictions on boost or voltages on the 2019 to get 8-10 hours, so if I have to with the i3, I don't think it's worth it for me for a slightly better keyboard.

 

[unoporfavor]

No worries, I'll put it through the same stuff as I did the i5. For me the big one will be battery life.

As far as I can tell, the performance gains from the i3 in the 2020 MBA are marginal compared to the i5-8210Y, and the i3 chip has G4 Iris Plus Graphics instead of G7 - still better than UHD 617, but not 'wow, I can finally do [whatever thing] that I couldn't do with Intel UHD graphics!'

So my test question is:

'How does the thermal performance of the 2020 i3 MBA compare to the 2019 i5? How does the battery life stack up? If the the thermal performance is a bit worse, and if the battery life follows suit, are the real-world performance gains noticeable enough to make that trade off?'

To some extent, thermal performance can be improved at home, even if it's not the ideal solution. But you can't improve battery life without severely limiting what your computer is able to do. I haven't had to place any restrictions on boost or voltages on the 2019 to get 8-10 hours, so if I have to with the i3, I don't think it's worth it for me for a slightly better keyboard.

Fair enough on your testing scenario. I think a lot of people are keen on knowing the battery life and quietness between the i3 and the i5 MBA 2020, rather than testing between years and chip generations.
For me the keyboard is worth it alone regardless of the amount of performance improvements elsewhere, and it's just a matter of ensuring getting the quietest and longest battery life in this generation.
Cheers

 

[deeddawg]

Fair enough on your testing scenario. I think a lot of people are keen on knowing the battery life and quietness between the i3 and the i5 MBA 2020, rather than testing between years and chip generations.
For me the keyboard is worth it alone regardless of the amount of performance improvements elsewhere, and it's just a matter of ensuring getting the quietest and longest battery life in this generation.
Cheers

Buy a $34 USB-PD 38Wh powerbank and battery life is functionally irrelevant.

non scientifically, between i3 and i5 same gen, you’re going to be in the weeds differentiating by battery life. A few minutes to maybe an hour after six to eight hours?

Buy a USBPD powerbank and get the better cpu if that’s your differentiator.

 

[unoporfavor]

Buy a $34 USB-PD 38Wh powerbank and battery life is functionally irrelevant.

non scientifically, between i3 and i5 same gen, you’re going to be in the weeds differentiating by battery life. A few minutes to maybe an hour after six to eight hours?

Buy a USBPD powerbank and get the better cpu if that’s your differentiator.

Yeh not keen on carrying around a powerbank. But thanks for the suggestion. If anyone can ever go travelling again it is an option I guess! Although most planes have USB ports these days too.

Based on TDP (for what it's worth) the i3 should be 10% better in battery life - and that could be upwards of an hour. But you're right of course, need some like-for-like tests and that's difficult as a consumer.

My other (and perhaps more important) concern is fan noise - and since the i3 runs cooler - I went with that.
Thanks for suggestion again!
Cheers mate

 

[RiaKoobcam]

Yeah I'm not a powerbank guy. If one thing can manage a whole day and the other thing can't, I'll choose the whole day one - even if the keyboard sucks a bit more.

Just picked up the i3 from the pick up spot so should have some preliminary results after ANZAC day.

 

[deeddawg]

Yeh not keen on carrying around a powerbank. But thanks for the suggestion. If anyone can ever go travelling again it is an option I guess! Although most planes have USB ports these days too.

Based on TDP (for what it's worth) the i3 should be 10% better in battery life - and that could be upwards of an hour. But you're right of course, need some like-for-like tests and that's difficult as a consumer.

My other (and perhaps more important) concern is fan noise - and since the i3 runs cooler - I went with that.
Thanks for suggestion again!
Cheers mate

Different courses for different horses.

When I’m traveling for work, which hasn’t been for a while, ha ha, I already carry a small Qi power bank anyway as an overnight multi device charging hub from one outlet. So choosing one with USBPD makes no matter.

In my usage, battery life beyond four or five hours is immaterial. It could be seven it could be fourteen, just doesn’t matter in my usage. Other folks obviously have different parameters, so different details are important to them.

my only point is that today’s USBC charging laptops are an entirely different paradigm than prior generations that really needed 120 VAC of some sort.

 

[RiaKoobcam]

Different courses for different horses.

When I’m traveling for work, which hasn’t been for a while, ha ha, I already carry a small Qi power bank anyway as an overnight multi device charging hub from one outlet. So choosing one with USBPD makes no matter.

In my usage, battery life beyond four or five hours is immaterial. It could be seven it could be fourteen, just doesn’t matter in my usage. Other folks obviously have different parameters, so different details are important to them.

my only point is that today’s USBC charging laptops are an entirely different paradigm than prior generations that really needed 120 VAC of some sort.

Man I never thought the day would come where I'd actually miss work travel. I miss crappy hotels! I miss expensive airport food! I miss having the perfect carry on set up! 😢

 

[unoporfavor]

Different courses for different horses.

When I’m traveling for work, which hasn’t been for a while, ha ha, I already carry a small Qi power bank anyway as an overnight multi device charging hub from one outlet. So choosing one with USBPD makes no matter.

In my usage, battery life beyond four or five hours is immaterial. It could be seven it could be fourteen, just doesn’t matter in my usage. Other folks obviously have different parameters, so different details are important to them.

my only point is that today’s USBC charging laptops are an entirely different paradigm than prior generations that really needed 120 VAC of some sort.

Yeh absolutely people have different requirements. Battery life becomes important if travelling, but also not to be tied to a powerpoint at home.
Good point on the power parameters around USB-C. Other point is most people don't use 120 - VAC or otherwise ✌

 

[deeddawg]

Man I never thought the day would come where I'd actually miss work travel. I miss crappy hotels! I miss expensive airport food! I miss having the perfect carry on set up! 😢

Lol

expensive mediocre food making you wish for that little bar and grill
at home? Yup.

I’ve been blessed my travel is intermittent- so always ready but happily not always on the road. Work laptop isn’t Mac so *my* usage is merely bringing my personal laptop along for the ride. I don’t cross the streams. Work on work. Personal on personal. Different paradigm than most others.

 

[edubfromktown]

Man I never thought the day would come where I'd actually miss work travel. I miss crappy hotels! I miss expensive airport food! I miss having the perfect carry on set up! 😢

Haven't missed work travel for many years. The past 10-15 of them I traveled less for work but it had become drudgery.

Too many tech events in Lost Wages (vegas), car rental screw ups, hotel reservation SNAFU's, ...

 

[RiaKoobcam]

We all would but alas there's no real-world testing out there for it. There's a guy on here whos sent back his i5 because it as too loud (fan noise) and ordered the i3. That's probably the closest you'll get to "hands-on" testing.
Check out you Tube channcel called "Juan&only" (nothing to do with me), he does a MacBook air 2020 test where he runs some standard apps and measures the cpu temperature. I chose the i3 based on the fact that lower temps should == reduced fan speed and noise. Let us know if find anything out anywhere! Lot of us will e interested.
Cheers ✌

Hey @ipos and @unoporfavor , finally got round to finishing up my comparison of the 2019/2020 i5/2020 i3. The full thing is here. Peace! ✌

 

[ipos]

Hey @ipos and @unoporfavor , finally got round to finishing up my comparison of the 2019/2020 i5/2020 i3. The full thing is here. Peace! ✌

very detailed

 

[kreasonos]

It's a-me, Mario. The i3 is supposed to arrive today (public holiday here so I probably won't get it til next week), but I'll keep it for a week, run it side by side with my 2019 MBA, and post a review on sound/thermals at the end of the week's testing. 👍

Update?

 

[RiaKoobcam]

Update?

Here it is. The indexing/synching/bedding down got finished very quickly, so I've completed the tests I wanted to complete to compare the thermals/fan noise/battery of the i3/i5/2019 i5.

 

[kreasonos]

Here it is. The indexing/synching/bedding down got finished very quickly, so I've completed the tests I wanted to complete to compare the thermals/fan noise/battery of the i3/i5/2019 i5.

Thanks! I'm pretty much sold on the i3. My uses are very mild, almost everything I do is in a browser (I'm a teacher) also I don't feel I need 16gb of ram because the ram speed is so fast on the new models.

 

[RiaKoobcam]

Thanks! I'm pretty much sold on the i3. My uses are very mild, almost everything I do is in a browser (I'm a teacher) also I don't feel I need 16gb of ram because the ram speed is so fast on the new models.

My partner is a teacher and she's probably going to keep the i3 for running online classes, lesson planning, slide creation etc (I'd keep it, but I need Bootcamp performance, as in the review). She's very happy with it so far

 

[Gill Bates]

Would you be still be dissapointed and focused on this if the computer was in fact fan less?
I see it as an ALMOST fan less computer