New 16-Inch MacBook Pro With M1 Max to Feature High Power Mode for Intensive Workloads

[OneInfiniteLooper]

Probably would've been better off buying a used bottom cover on ebay and drilling tiny holes on the heatsink and fan areas it covers and using a cooling pad.

Yes your set up is non invasive and pretty simple. But I think drilling holes in a bottom cover (spare) and using direct airflow to the heatsink and CPU/GPU and fans would work exponentially better and have less fan noise.

This one is a work-provided machine so they probably wouldn't be too happy with me if I did something like that. My previous personal 16" I also probably wouldn't want to do that with... if I were that serious about constant performance under load I'd just use the 3080ti PC behind it. The pic is just a temporary solution when I've got long renders going.

EDIT: Now I see you said use a 'spare' bottom cover... so maybe

 

[BreakYurAnkles]

This one is a work-provided machine so they probably wouldn't be too happy with me if I did something like that. My previous personal 16" I also probably wouldn't want to do that with... if I were that serious about constant performance under load I'd just use the 3080ti PC behind it. The pic is just a temporary solution when I've got long renders going.

EDIT: Now I see you said use a 'spare' bottom cover... so maybe

da intanets alllwaze bout dem deets.

Translation
"The internet is always about them details."

 

[Rob198612]

Which GPU option did you choose?

I got the 24 version

 

[l0stl0rd]

mmh interesting what to know more…. I am guessing cpu overclock? can we have a turbo button like in the old 486 days

 

[Allen_Wentz]

Well, I don't know how hot is beyond 2016 edition but I have the original retina MBP 15" 2,6Ghz and the base temperature using safari is 79ºC
Intensive workloads usually reach 102ºC (105ºC is the maximum I saw)

It is like this since the beginning and I renewed the thermal paste 2 years ago, same result.

IMO the Powerbook G3s were the hottest surface temperature Mac laptops.

 

[spurpura]

This would explain the relatively poor showing in Geekbench 5 compute test. If the M1 Max is throttled to about the equivalent of a 24 core GPU instead of 32 then the benchmark makes sense.

Yesterday, I noted that to run the M1 Max full out, it likely had to use the fans to cool it. Although I purchased a maxed out M1 Max 16", I've been worried that either they would throttle the chip to reduce heat (and avoid noise) or it would burn my legs or chest. I will likely return it for a less powerful machine if it burns me in 'normal' mode but will happily user select-able turbo mode when I need it to do real work (as long as it doesn't burn itself up while in the mode).

When reading user comments on several web sites, it strikes me that when Apple says "pro video users" it really means TikTokers to YouTubers on up. When I think about how one would need the 16" Max to perform for a YouTube content producer, they would use the machine to capture video from a DSLR or maybe even a ProRes LT or HQ stream from an iPhone to their 16" MBP Max in "quiet mode" and then post production would be in Turbo mode to cut the time to produce the YouTube video content and add VFX. It will be a noticeably easy and awesome experience for the content creator.

 

[ellsworth]

Money well spent for the maxed out 16-incher

 

[darngooddesign]

So, it's not laptop-safe on battery and you have to run it on table-top and plugged in contrary to their presentation?

No one knows. Just wait for reviews.

 

[AnaphaseAway]

So I expect my M1 max mbp to go into this “intensive” mode when browsing with Chrome ?

chrome on my M1 13 inch MBP has never activated the fans, or even bog down performance... on Apple chips, chrome runs fine. Yes That stereotype applies to chrome running on intel at this point

 

[GrindedDown]

I’m expecting this situation to be similar to the difference between the M1 MBA and the M1 MBP performance. For long compute times, they perform similarly. After a few minutes, the MBA will begin to throttle as a by product of thermal management.

I would think the 14 max and 16 max will perform similarly, but the 14 may not have the same sustained performance over long times.

 

[miamialley]

Was surprised this year that the 14 and 16 were pretty much the exact same features. Then afterwards we slowly start learning about differences, 16 has new gaan charger, 16 can't do fast charging over magsafe, 16 gets high power mode. Wish they would announce these in the fine print at order time, since while all seemingly small things, for people deciding between 14 and 16, comes down the the small details if you are plugging into an external monitor anyway most of the time.

I think you mean that the 16" doesn't do fast charging over USB-C, if I recall correctly.

 

[macpot]

Cancelled my 14" with M1 Max,
Gonna wait for the reviews now...

 

[macrumors3000]

Cancelled my order too.

 

[8CoreWhore]

chrome on my M1 13 inch MBP has never activated the fans, or even bog down performance... on Apple chips, chrome runs fine. Yes That stereotype applies to chrome running on intel at this point

I wonder if the difference is hardware acceleration.

 

[BreakYurAnkles]

Yesterday, I noted that to run the M1 Max full out, it likely had to use the fans to cool it. Although I purchased a maxed out M1 Max 16", I've been worried that either they would throttle the chip to reduce heat (and avoid noise) or it would burn my legs or chest. I will likely return it for a less powerful machine if it burns me in 'normal' mode but will happily user select-able turbo mode when I need it to do real work (as long as it doesn't burn itself up while in the mode).

When reading user comments on several web sites, it strikes me that when Apple says "pro video users" it really means TikTokers to YouTubers on up. When I think about how one would need the 16" Max to perform for a YouTube content producer, they would use the machine to capture video from a DSLR or maybe even a ProRes LT or HQ stream from an iPhone to their 16" MBP Max in "quiet mode" and then post production would be in Turbo mode to cut the time to produce the YouTube video content and add VFX. It will be a noticeably easy and awesome experience for the content creator.

I honestly think that the heat the new ARM SOC apple has designed has a LOWER heat ceiling (Meaning it cant get too hot. Think max temp 85-90 degrees for example) or it will damage the CPU/GPU/SOC since its a new design and the first of its kind (ARM) for Pro-consumers.

Because things don't quite add up..... It pushes MORE air for COOLING but.... its also COOLER and uses LESS WATTS???

Im thinking the TDP on these m1 Pro/Max are lower than AMD and Intel. Their chips can sustain up to 100 degrees (which isnt good but they "can handle it").

So apple designed the airflow for better cooling because they cannot allow their custom first of its kind SOC's to overheat (for their design NOT actual high hot temps like Intel and AMD).

But only time will tell.... And I'm not going to pay a lot of money to be that guinea pig...

 

[GadgetBen]

Technically, if my Mac was struggling to perform a task and the fans were running fast, this would be a non-official high power mode?

 

[EPO75]

Cancelled my 14" with M1 Max,
Gonna wait for the reviews now...

Canceled mine unfortunately also.. 16 inch is too big. Besides I'm not that fond of using the M1 as base and not the A15. Perhaps if it comes in a few months a Mac Mini with better specs.

 

[falkon-engine]

I wonder what the performance difference, if any, will be between a 16" M1 Max in High Performance Mode vs an "identically" spec'd M1 Max in the 14" that is gimped to 'Normal' mode.

Also, I wonder about power draw of 'High Performance Mode' does the M1 Max consume more power than listed on Apple's marketing materials?

Finally, I wonder if High Performance mode (and the additional power draw) is necessary to accomplish the +70% perf increase above M1, and near RTX-3080 performance? If so, where does that leave the 14" M1 Max? The two models may not be as identical as some Youtubers have speculated.

Thickens, the plot has.

 

[BreakYurAnkles]

I wonder what the performance difference, if any, will be between a 16" M1 Max in High Performance Mode vs an "identically" spec'd M1 Max in the 14" that is gimped to 'Normal' mode.

Also, I wonder about power draw of 'High Performance Mode' does the M1 Max consume more power than listed on Apple's marketing materials?

Finally, I wonder if High Performance mode (and the additional power draw) is necessary to accomplish the +70% perf increase above M1, and near RTX-3080 performance? If so, where does that leave the 14" M1 Max? The two models may not be as identical as some Youtubers have speculated.

Thickens, the plot has.

take their charging "bricks" into consideration.

16" - 140 watts
14" - 96 watts

 

[performa_6400]

Cancelled my order too.

Can someone please cancel their 16" 24 version? Thx!

 

[falkon-engine]

take their charging "bricks" into consideration.

16" - 140 watts
14" - 96 watts

True, I did observe the difference in the power bricks.

But Apple never discussed why the two models have two different power adapters, except to say that the 140W on the 16" enables fast charging.

Apple's own slides on the CPU performance and GPU performance seem to suggest that the CPU draws approx 30W under load, and the GPU draws approx 60W. Combine the two and you get close to 96W for the 14 inch (there are other components on board like the thunderbolt controller, memory, ssd, and promotion screen). But my question always was why the 140W on the 16"?

So I wonder if "High Performance" mode will enable performance above what Apple presented, or if the 16" will need to draw more than 100W to achieve the performance that Apple presented? If the latter, since the 14" will be gimped to 100W max, what will the performance difference (if any) be between the two models?

 

[hotdogcowboy]

take their charging "bricks" into consideration.

16" - 140 watts
14" - 96 watts

That makes me nervous. That is a 32% increase. Whatever the extra budget for the screen and battery, it can't be 32% more. That is a CHUNK of extra power that the M1 can use in the 16".

 

[BreakYurAnkles]

True, I did observe the difference in the power bricks.

But Apple never discussed why the two models have two different power adapters, except to say that the 140W on the 16" enables fast charging.

Apple's own slides on the CPU performance and GPU performance seem to suggest that the CPU draws approx 30W under load, and the GPU draws approx 60W. Combine the two and you get close to 96W for the 14 inch. So my question always was why the 140W on the 16"?

So I wonder if "High Performance" mode will enable performance above what Apple presented, or if the 16" will need to draw more than 100W to achieve the performance that Apple presented?

As consumers its OUR JOB to "read the fine print" (kind of).

If its anything in Apple fashion when they say "UP TO XXX performance improvement" it would be best to assume its for the MAXED OUT ALL EVERYTHING BEST they offer. Period.

Anything lower (model, cpu, gpu etc...) expect less.

They always use "UP TO" ____ detail in EVERY event they host. And every time they get close. Think about every time they've announced new macbooks with Intel processors always "UP TO" X more performance and the tiny little disclaimer *** COMPARED TO _____ USING i9 or highest processor they offer***

I wouldn't expect anything different or less from Apple.

 

[VictorTango777]

True, I did observe the difference in the power bricks.

But Apple never discussed why the two models have two different power adapters, except to say that the 140W on the 16" enables fast charging.

Apple's own slides on the CPU performance and GPU performance seem to suggest that the CPU draws approx 30W under load, and the GPU draws approx 60W. Combine the two and you get close to 96W for the 14 inch (there are other components on board like the thunderbolt controller, memory, ssd, and promotion screen). But my question always was why the 140W on the 16"?

So I wonder if "High Performance" mode will enable performance above what Apple presented, or if the 16" will need to draw more than 100W to achieve the performance that Apple presented? If the latter, since the 14" will be gimped to 100W max, what will the performance difference (if any) be between the two models?

Maybe it's for future models so they don't have to release yet another different power adapter for every size and model like they currently do. Now if they could consolidate the power adapters included with the smaller laptops.

 

[BreakYurAnkles]

That makes me nervous. That is a 32% increase. Whatever the extra budget for the screen and battery, it can't be 32% more. That is a CHUNK of extra power that the M1 can use in the 16".

Closer to 50% more wattage.

96/2 = 48
96 + 48 = 144