MBA i3 users, what sort of temperatures does your machine run at with light use?

[Saturn007]

“Pointing this one out again - if you care about noise at all, the i3 is probably the way to go. You'll notice there the average decibel level for load is 31.6 for the i3 and 45.5 for the i5.

The decibel scale isn't linear, it's logarithmic. An increase of 13.9 dB(A) makes it about four-to-five times as loud in the real world under load.”

Good info! What are the figures for the 2019 MBA and, for comparison, a 2013-2017 MBA?

What did you mean by “for load”? Under regular load or heavy load?

For reference

“These numbers don’t mean much, however, if you don’t have a frame of reference for them. It can be helpful to use normal sounds you encounter every day as a rough scale for decibel levels:

• 10 dB: Normal breathing
• 20 dB: Whispering from five feet away
• 30 dB: Whispering nearby
• 40 dB: Quiet library sounds
• 50 dB: Refrigerator
• 60 dB: Electric toothbrush
• 70 dB: Washing machine
• 80 dB: Alarm clock
• 90 dB: Subway train
• 100 dB: Factory machinery
• 110 dB: Car horn
• 120 dB: Ambulance siren”

Noise levels of everyday sounds

The noise levels of everyday sounds can be surprising. Some sounds that are too loud might warrant a need for digital hearing aids. Learn more here.

www.audicus.com

Of course, even that isn't the whole story as people's hearing ability varies greatly, as does their sensitivity to noise — as does the noise in their work environment. Years ago, I returned a Mac SE because of its high pitched fan; kept my first external Mac hard drive in a closet.

From the descriptions here, the i5 runs hotter/warmer inside and to the touch — and is noticeably noisier in regular operation, enough so that some people are returning them.

 

[deeddawg]

From the descriptions here, the i5 runs hotter/warmer inside and to the touch — and is noticeably noisier in regular operation, enough so that some people are returning them.

Has this been your experience with your i5 MBA?

Main reason I ask is this stuff seems to be a bit of an echo chamber thing. A few folks have had issues for whatever reason - heavy cpu normal workload, problematic apps, hardware, whatever. Then others repeat this stuff as if it were fact applying to all systems -- when there's no evidence that it does.

My i5 MBA remains silent in regular operation - in a room where I can hear the HDD spinning in the attached Seagate 2TB pocket drive. No audible noise from the MBA, even with my ear up to the keyboard/screen junction to listen for it.

I haven't installed any monitor software - not real keen on adding kernel extensions if I don't need to - so I measure external case temps with an IR thermometer. Bottom case typically upper 80's to mid 90's F, topcase slightly higher in the F6 area, palm rests in the low 80F range.

Do I have some unicorn system? Who knows. There's a bunch of other folks posting similar experiences though. And if you go look at the reviews on Amazon and Bestbuy for the i5 models you see very few mentions of this supposed issue.

 

[luckystar101]

Hi all! I'm considering the MBA i5 2020 as upgrade from my macbook pro late 2016 but I'm worried about temperature and fan noise. I use light applications like office 365, slack, mamp to manage some wordpress sites, things3, spotify, pixelmator, ms teams.

I mostly use the mac attached to an external monitor with macbook closed (only external monitor active) and I have read that fans are loud when MBA is attach to an external monitor, anyone can confirm me this?

Thank you.

 

[RiaKoobcam]

“Pointing this one out again - if you care about noise at all, the i3 is probably the way to go. You'll notice there the average decibel level for load is 31.6 for the i3 and 45.5 for the i5.

The decibel scale isn't linear, it's logarithmic. An increase of 13.9 dB(A) makes it about four-to-five times as loud in the real world under load.”

Good info! What are the figures for the 2019 MBA and, for comparison, a 2013-2017 MBA?

What did you mean by “for load”? Under regular load or heavy load?

Good question - by 'load', I mean the load average that was measured by Notebookcheck in their review. They're the only ones who measure this stuff and keep a database over time, so it's scant data, but it's all we have. Below is the 2020 i3, the 2020 i5 and the 2019 i5.

By 'environment' they mean something audiologists refer to. 30db is at the threshold of human hearing - a very quiet, well accoustically sealed room will be perceived as about 30db(A) by a normal human ear.

Looking at the idle minimum scores, idle minimum is unchanged from 'environment' - because the 2018 MBA introduced a fan governor that allowed the fans to be at 0, instead of the 2010-2017's constant 1200rpm at idle.

I'm not sure exactly what tests they do to place a full load on to measure emissions, but reading between the lines (God I've spent too much time on this), whatever test they did seemed to have kicked the MBA 2020 i3's fans on at 3200rpm, which is the new minimum. Also barely audible, but you can see it kick the dB reading up a bit.

Looking at the 2019 column, it looks like it, under load, went between 3200 and 5000 rpm, giving them an average score of 34db(A).

Looking at the i5, it looks like the fans hit 8000rpm (max rpm) and didn't fluctuate during whatever test they did, giving the figure of 45.5 dB(A). Decibels and sound perception are tricky, as you notice below, but they tend to 'stack' rather than 'blend' depending on the frequency of the sound.

So let's say you're sitting at home and the ambient sounds around you are about 40dB(A). I've just gotten out my dB measurement tool and that's what my completely silent living room is sitting at.

Then you turn on a blender that's also 40dB(A). It doesn't just blend in (ha) to the accoustic environment, it stacks, because it's a different frequency. Same thing as computer fans, generally, as you've noted below.

So, for the average human ear, for most people, 31dB(A) would be very hard to notice in an average environment, but 45.5dB(A) would be quite noticeable for an average human with average hearing. Buuut...

Of course, even that isn't the whole story as people's hearing ability varies greatly, as does their sensitivity to noise — as does the noise in their work environment. Years ago, I returned a Mac SE because of its high pitched fan; kept my first external Mac hard drive in a closet.

From the descriptions here, the i5 runs hotter/warmer inside and to the touch — and is noticeably noisier in regular operation, enough so that some people are returning them.

As you say, it really depends on the individual. Everyone's hearing is different, that's why this stuff is notoriously hard to explain, and why decibel scales tend to have 'sounds like [this]' next to numbers, because the scale isn't like a volume slider.

For me, I returned the i5 not because 45dB(a) was unbearable - it's 8000rpm, and probably about as loud as every MBA I've ever owned when it's really being stressed. It's just it hit that figure far quicker, and far more often, than any other MBA I've ever owned.

As @IngerMan said, there have been software updates that may address this, which would be awesome. As @Loog points out, most people who've attempted the copper mod for their i5/i7 MBAs seem to be able to bring the fan under control by ensuring better thermal contact with the heat sink, meaning it comes on less, and for shorter periods of time.

For the two weeks I was trying it out, a few tabs of Chrome and Netflix would be enough to max out the fans on the i5, which is not something I've encountered on my i3 or 2019. But as @deeddawg says, I'm just one person. Sample size of one 2013 MBA (never noticed the fans on light usage), one 2015 MBA (same), one 2019 MBA (same), one 2020 MBA i5 (noticed them almost all the time), and two 2020 i3 MBAs (notice the fans slightly more because of the way the Ice Lake chip uses Turbo Boost, but they don't stay on for very long).

At the end of the day, as you say, people's hearing and sensitivity and environment is all individual. What might be annoying enough to return for me and some other people might be completely fine or inaudible to others. The best option is to buy something, try it out, and return it if it's not for you 👍

 

[deeddawg]

By 'environment' they mean something audiologists refer to. 30db is at the threshold of human hearing - a very quiet, well accoustically sealed room will be perceived as about 30db(A) by a normal human ear.

Looking at the idle minimum scores, idle minimum is unchanged from 'environment' - because the 2018 MBA introduced a fan governor that allowed the fans to be at 0, instead of the 2010-2017's constant 1200rpm at idle.



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To save me the time of digging around, can you tell me if the Environment noise floor includes the computer or is the measurement of the environment without the computer involved?

If without the computer, then it is interesting that the effective difference at Idle is zeros - since all three computers are effectively silent in that they add nothing to the ambient noise floor.

Load Average is also interesting in terms of what that means -- what activities they consider that to be -- and how it relates to folks individual normal "load". You mention that a bunch of Chrome tabs and watching Netflix (presumably within Chrome) generated an unacceptable level of noise with your system. My normal usage is different - and thus perhaps why my experience is different. I infrequently use Chrome on macOS, I don't have a Netflix subscription, and I infrequently watch videos on my computer.

At the end of the day, as you say, people's hearing and sensitivity and environment is all individual. What might be annoying enough to return for me and some other people might be completely fine or inaudible to others. The best option is to buy something, try it out, and return it if it's not for you 👍

Agreed. People's usage, environments, sensitivity, and expectations are all different. Best is for folks to order from somewhere they can easily make a return/exchange and try the system out to see if it works for them.

 

[fredz2020]

hello there from Spain. Mine (i3 8ram 256gb) with 4 safari tabs is from 32 to 38 C. but I have to say the computer is unplugged to the power. thanks for reading