New MacBook Pros Include Improved Thermal System That Apple Says You'll Rarely Need Thanks to Apple Silicon

[Lounge vibes 05]

I didn't see your response before I posted. I have the same concerns. In the Intel days you could max out RAM but select a weaker graphics option, which is what I used to do. I want 64GB of RAM, and know that it slightly negatively affects battery life, but have no choice but to go with a 24 or 32 core GPU but don't want to take an additional significant battery hit from potential graphics performance that I'll never use.

This 5 watt difference between the Pro and Max must negatively impact battery life to some small degree. I wonder if the 24 (binned Max) core GPU option has a lower minimum power consumption than 13W.

Given that the reason the old Intel MacBooks with dedicated GPUs had lower battery lives were because they had to switch to the dedicated GPU, I would assume it wouldn’t be an issue here since either way, it’s an integrated GPU that Apple has full control over in macOS, given that it’s their own hardware. So much like the processor, if it’s not in use, it shouldn’t affect battery life.

 

[Rafagon]

The graphic lines of airflow don't make sense. How does the cool airflow come in, spin clockwise, then exit as hot from a counterclockwise direction?

The fans are interdimensional portals, that's how.

 

[citysnaps]

Your anecdote isn't a valid argument against the notch complaints and you're also misrepresenting my position. I never said or implied "doomed to fail". I said it's a deal breaker for me. I'm sure these will do quite well with the already established Macbook user base but some will be buying them begrudgingly due to the notch, as is very evident in these forums.

Unlike cell phones which have now moved on to under display cameras or have designed better solutions than the notch the iphone has currently, I don't believe this will be something we'll see on laptops outside of Macbooks, there is just no necessity for it there.

Nope. Disagree. It's just like the notch complaint.

The laptop screen is used a lot, mobile phone mechanical keyboards were used a lot. Both are human interfaces, that people engage with often.

And similar to your nobody asked for the notch complaint, there was the nobody asked for a glass keyboard on the iPhone complaint.

Deja vu, all over again.

 

[Surne]

Nope. Disagree. It's just like the notch complaint.

The laptop screen is used a lot, mobile phone mechanical keyboards were used a lot. Both are human interfaces, that people engage with often.

And similar to your nobody asked for the notch complaint, there was the nobody asked for a glass keyboard on the iPhone complaint.

Deja vu, all over again.

Doesn't mean anything. But I appreciate that you like anecdotes.

 

[richinaus]

Gamers gonna game. It kind of pissed me off when Apple showed the graphics capabilities of the M1max by using what is essentially a 3D video game rendering of a fictional spacecraft. Totally awesome and at the same time totally pointless. I hope that all this new CPU and GPU capability will be used to improve the real world, not to escape from it.

Game technology is what is used in real time viz these days.
The GPU and cpu are no faster than a pc workstation, just quieter and efficient. No more work can be achieved than that on a competitor laptop, but it will be definitely more pleasant doing the work without jet engines.

 

[KindJamz]

I don't think I'll ever need a laptop in my life (except back when I was at university), but damn, this product is desirable.

Will sell like hot cakes.

Haven’t had a computer other than my phone is years.

 

[ksec]

I am going to the assume the 50% more air is simply because they used a bigger fan and tweaked fan design. We should know once we have tear down.

 

[PsykX]

50% cooler cakes.

Apple's thermals defy the laws of physics

 

[kstotlani]

So much to like about these Macbooks but the notch is a deal breaker for me. Windows is excellent these days and offers me a lot more in terms of software and compatibility, and I have an exceptionally powerful AMD based laptop that covers all my needs, sure it uses significantly more power but that's of no consequence to me. Once Apple gets back on track and loses the notch in their future versions and (hopefully) improves their Macbook aesthetics, I'll jump on board. Until then this is very easy to pass on.

But to all those who do get one, I'm sure you will be very happy with this efficient powerhouse.

Notch is the new touch bar. It’s going to stay for another 5 years. I think next iteration the notch will have Face ID.

 

[starman111]

I will gladly accept a slightly thicker laptop if it means more efficient cooling system. Less noise when under load and totally silent when under typical normal web surfing. I would even love it if there was a setting that allowed you to say run efficient and keep fans off but throttle speed if necessary. Anytime it is throttling because of temp and keeping fans off if it could give an indicator it could help you know your settings are why it might be running slow. And when I say setting I mean a real easy to toggle setting too. I can hardly wait for my new 16 Pro to get here in a month.

There is something like this in Mac OS Monterey. The Battery control panel has a Low Power Mode. It will reduce energy usage, and cause the Mac to operate more quietly. I don't think there is a way to toggle it without opening System Preferences. However, clicking on the Battery icon in the menu bar will show if it's enabled, and it will also show which apps are using the most energy. There is also a command in that menu for opening the Battery control panel.

 

[aknabi]

These new MBPs remind me of the classic Mercedes-Benz models (W123, W124, W126, etc)- overbuilt and function over form.

I wonder what the 14” model looks like inside. In years past the thermal solution has differed significantly, but that might no longer be the case...

Hopefully they're like the W123... until a few years ago my 1980 240D had > 500k miles and still ran great on bio-diesel (sold it for more than the $600 I paid for it with 250k miles). And I got more compliments on that than my $100k BMW 840...

Yeah I hope the new M1 Pro/Max MBPs are like W123s (doubt they'll run for 40 years though)

 

[ellsworth]

I'll put money down that I'll be able to set those fans off with my 8k Cinema 4D Vray Renders in a heartbeat.

P.S. I can't believe people are allowing a notch to be a dealbreaker for them.

 

[hajime]

This will not happen again.

Man burns penis with laptop

Yes, yes, but what make?

www.theregister.com

 

[andreagrandi]

“Rarely”

I guess they never need to use Docker 😏

 

[spurpura]

I'll put money down that I'll be able to set those fans off with my 8k Cinema 4D Vray Renders in a heartbeat.

P.S. I can't believe people are allowing a notch to be a dealbreaker for them.

If it doesn't set off the fans, every cloud provider should add M1 Max chips to their GPU server lineup to remain competitive.

 

[Surne]

This will not happen again.

Man burns penis with laptop

Yes, yes, but what make?

www.theregister.com

Yeah I think Apple has pretty much solved these issues going forward with the M series. I don't think we'll be seeing any issues of laps being burnt ever again. At least not from Macbooks anyway.

 

[Jgreg00]

View attachment 1872504
This is the real airflow diagram as per Apple website.
(the one in the top of this post seems to be MR's "artistic render")

No, the one in the post is directly the in the event video and was animated to show exactly how the air flowed…

 

[T-R-S]

The graphic lines of airflow don't make sense. How does the cool airflow come in, spin clockwise, then exit as hot from a counterclockwise direction?

They make perfect sense the blue are intake the red are exhaust

 

[Shirasaki]

So, Apple gets out of their way to design a new cooling system they say “you will never use”. Then why releasing a MacBook Pro that needs a fan? Passive cooling MacBook Pro would be even better right? Why bother?
Sorry guys, I got triggered by that claim this much. I’m angry.

 

[Shirasaki]

Maybe it’s moving air above and below the fan. The cool is coming from the bottom and then pushing the hot air out the top of the fan?

Never try to make sense about apple production promotional image. It will only confuse you.

 

[Shirasaki]

I’ve seen some people talk about how putting bigger fans in this new MacBook Pro is useless, since Apple Silicon doesn’t get as hot as Intel.
To those people, just stop.

It’s apple who makes those claims, not those people.
Sensible person knows what they want. Apple marketing team however, sometimes, does not.

 

[mjtomlin71]

Good to hear this. I assume this was about how these worked.

Now my only concern is we are down 2 efficiency cores on these machines. So, when the 2 cores are tied up doing “light work” and you throw just a little more “light work” it’s way— I presume more power hunger performance cores will be required to step in, even though the work wouldn’t normally necessitate it (understandably so).

Yes, they will, but p-cores can step down to run at 600MHz (as can e-cores), so they won't use up too much power. I don't think you need to worry about this stuff with these SoCs...

The entire M1 in my mini is currently sipping 0.377W (CPU 0.276W) and I have 3 Safari windows open, a terminal window (running powermetrics), Messages, Mail and Notes open. Plus a full screen remote display session to my iMac. not to mention all the normal OS processes running in the background.

All of that is basically running off 1 efficiency core... e-cluster idle 75%, p-cluster idle 100%

Remember these SoCs were designed for mobile... built from the ground up to be extremely efficient.

 

[Taz Mangus]

There is something like this in Mac OS Monterey. The Battery control panel has a Low Power Mode. It will reduce energy usage, and cause the Mac to operate more quietly. I don't think there is a way to toggle it without opening System Preferences. However, clicking on the Battery icon in the menu bar will show if it's enabled, and it will also show which apps are using the most energy. There is also a command in that menu for opening the Battery control panel.

On the iPhone 13, low power mode shuts down the 2 performance core and down clocks the 4 efficiency cores to 1.37GHz. I wonder if Apple is doing something similar in macOS Monterey.

 

[mjtomlin71]

Fair enough. Based on the GPU performance graphs that Apple showed it does look like the minimum power consumption on the M1 Pro is about 8W, whereas the minimum power consumption of the M1 Max is about 13W. You don't think those 5W will have any appreciable impact on heat and battery life? I'd love to be able to cancel my M1 Pro orders once I know the Max isn't going to run significantly hotter and last less time unplugged.

Those could be minimum figures when all GPU cores are "active". As I type this, the GPU in my M1 Mac mini is currently using 29mW (0.029W) running at an active frequency of 714MHz (max is 1278MHz). The absolute minimum I've seen it hit is 3mW.

 

[california_kid]

View attachment 1872504
This is the real airflow diagram as per Apple website.
(the one in the top of this post seems to be MR's "artistic render")

This diagram isn't correct because of 2 things:

1. For this type of fan, the cool air gets sucked in close to center and then gets pushed to the outer edge and through the rear vent. This diagram shows the opposite.
2. Why is the cool air heating up BEFORE it passes the cooling fins of the heat pipe? You can see the fine cooling fins above the heat pipe. It should be blue all the way until it hits the cooling fins where it then turns red.

Now it could be that Apple designed the blades of the fan to somehow act as cooling fins too and that would be really innovative, but given they got the air flow backwards, I doubt it.