Returned my MacBook Air...and made an unusual decision!

[Tikatika]

My newly purchased 2020 MacBook Air i3 ran at 100c with just Safari and one tab. I know many haven't had a problem, but I could not accept a computer running at these temps. I truly didn't know what to replace it with until I thought about what Mac I had loved beyond all words. Hands down, the MacBook Air 2017 which I sold to purchase the "latest and greatest". I went on Apple's refurbished page and there it was, just waiting for me. i5, 8GB, 256 SSD. I love this thing, like I've always loved Apple stuff! Ports! Mag Safe! Perfect keyboard! Glowing Apple! and best of all, as I type, 41c cool! I have Apple Care on it and will enjoy this beauty until whenever!

 

[JPack]

It would be difficult for me to accept a 128 PPI TN panel in 2020. High temps are one thing but your eyes can't be replaced.

 

[Tikatika]

It would be difficult for me to accept a 128 PPI TN panel in 2020. High temps are one thing but your eyes can't be replaced.

it looks just fine to me ... and I have retina iPads and a 11 Pro Max, all with beautiful screens.

 

[cedwhatev]

Plus you have a 720p webcam that for some reason is better than the webcams on these brand new Macs... go figure.

 

[JPack]

it looks just fine to me ... and I have retina iPads and a 11 Pro Max, all with beautiful screens.

It's one of those things that many people will notice when watching a movie. The old Air has a panel that covers 60% of sRGB, something that even cheap netbooks today exceed. The build quality though, is unmatched.

 

[Seanm87]

I mean... wouldn’t it been more sensible to try another MacBook Air 2020 as it sounds like yours was faulty?

 

[Loog]

You should have joined us on this thread ... it needs to be renamed to how to cool the new MacBook Air 2020. The thread is long start finish but is summaries from here : https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2020-air-heatsink.2227066/post-28488342
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My newly purchased 2020 MacBook Air i3 ran at 100c with just Safari and one tab. I know many haven't had a problem, but I could not accept a computer running at these temps. I truly didn't know what to replace it with until I thought about what Mac I had loved beyond all words. Hands down, the MacBook Air 2017 which I sold to purchase the "latest and greatest". I went on Apple's refurbished page and there it was, just waiting for me. i5, 8GB, 256 SSD. I love this thing, like I've always loved Apple stuff! Ports! Mag Safe! Perfect keyboard! Glowing Apple! and best of all, as I type, 41c cool! I have Apple Care on it and will enjoy this beauty until whenever!

Not that unusual, I went back to my 2018 before I caught the thread above and did the upgrades to this as well with good effects. I've just had my 2014 returned from a family member ... its like an old friend coming back home

 

[lambertjohn]

My newly purchased 2020 MacBook Air i3 ran at 100c with just Safari and one tab. I know many haven't had a problem, but I could not accept a computer running at these temps. I truly didn't know what to replace it with until I thought about what Mac I had loved beyond all words. Hands down, the MacBook Air 2017 which I sold to purchase the "latest and greatest". I went on Apple's refurbished page and there it was, just waiting for me. i5, 8GB, 256 SSD. I love this thing, like I've always loved Apple stuff! Ports! Mag Safe! Perfect keyboard! Glowing Apple! and best of all, as I type, 41c cool! I have Apple Care on it and will enjoy this beauty until whenever!

Great computer, I agree, but the screen. Ugh. In 2020, Retina is the only way to go. Heck, in 2017, Retina was the only way to go. But hey, if you're happy and the computer does what you need it to do, that's all that matters.

 

[sundialsoft]

I have the i5 MBA (2020). It's not hot with one Safari tab. I have a few open quite often in Safari.
I do not find this device any hotter than my 2 previous MacBooks.
Only time the fan has been obvious was doing a big instal after the download while the app was being uncompressed & installed.
( I did try some benchmarks when I got the MBA but soon realised that it's real life performance is perfectly good)

 

[KPOM]

I mean... wouldn’t it been more sensible to try another MacBook Air 2020 as it sounds like yours was faulty?

It’s not faulty. Apple designed the MacBook Air to run the CPU at 100C. There is nothing wrong with that. Intel certifies it to run at that temperature. The Air chip maxes out at 12W, and so it can run on a semi-passive cooling system. I’m not sure why people are obsessed about the CPU temperature. It doesn’t mean the case is hot. To the contrary, lowering the CPU temperature would require transferring more heat to the case, as the MacBook Pro does.

 

[Loog]

It’s not faulty. Apple designed the MacBook Air to run the CPU at 100C. There is nothing wrong with that. Intel certifies it to run at that temperature. The Air chip maxes out at 12W, and so it can run on a semi-passive cooling system. I’m not sure why people are obsessed about the CPU temperature. It doesn’t mean the case is hot. To the contrary, lowering the CPU temperature would require transferring more heat to the case, as the MacBook Pro does.

The issue is more with the fans that come on due to the heat, you'd kind of expect this when working the machine quite hard but with the recent changes and undertaking lots of video conferences there is an increasing number of people who's seeking fans at 8000rpm with few programs open and little CPU load. Add to the fact that the outer case then gets hot means in uncomfortable to use the device, especially if this is on your lap.

 

[nick9191]

I love the old MacBook Air's, still rocking this baby.

 

[Jimmy James]

It’s not faulty. Apple designed the MacBook Air to run the CPU at 100C. There is nothing wrong with that. Intel certifies it to run at that temperature. The Air chip maxes out at 12W, and so it can run on a semi-passive cooling system. I’m not sure why people are obsessed about the CPU temperature. It doesn’t mean the case is hot. To the contrary, lowering the CPU temperature would require transferring more heat to the case, as the MacBook Pro does.

I’ve been wishing heat did have a better thermal path to the case.

My laptop is 11.5 years old and runs ok for my basic use with an ssd swap. I wonder if it would still be here after running at 100 degrees all of these years.

 

[Pugly]

That's awesome you were able to get one of those on the refurb store. Those old Air's are still great, and not much slower than the current ones. I returned my 2020 Air and went back to using my 2015 11"... and once I got over looking at this screen again with all it's bezel... I'm not missing anything from the 2020, It's still great.

I can attest to running 100 degrees not being a problem though. I ran this 11" Air at 100 degrees full blast many times a week since I got it, no issues whatsoever. It's designed to run as fast as it can, and go right up to that 100 degrees whenever it has to. I found it weird that the new Airs start off being much closer to that 100 degrees than before... but it's not really a problem... it's just the kind of CPU that's in there.

 

[Loog]

That's awesome you were able to get one of those on the refurb store. Those old Air's are still great, and not much slower than the current ones. I returned my 2020 Air and went back to using my 2015 11"... and once I got over looking at this screen again with all it's bezel... I'm not missing anything from the 2020, It's still great.

I can attest to running 100 degrees not being a problem though. I ran this 11" Air at 100 degrees full blast many times a week since I got it, no issues whatsoever. It's designed to run as fast as it can, and go right up to that 100 degrees whenever it has to. I found it weird that the new Airs start off being much closer to that 100 degrees than before... but it's not really a problem... it's just the kind of CPU that's in there.

I returned my 2020 i7, i'm back on my 2018 which is much less performance if you scrutinise the benchmark results but real world there is no noticeable difference. I've just had my 2014 11.6 i7 returned from a family member and that feels about the same as my 2018 i5 in usage as well. These machines don't seem to lose their umph.

 

[Shanghaichica]

I'm still rocking my 2014 11 inch MBA. It's the best laptop I've ever had. Still has 90% battery capacity left after 5 years .

 

[MrMacintoshIII]

I don't know what was wrong with yours but my 2020 i3 MBA base config is running at a constant 54˚C so I'm not sure why yours was so hot.

I also wonder how much you paid for that one compared to how much I paid for this...

 

[nepats81]

my 2020 hasn't gotten hot at all. Whats this fuss all about I don't get it

 

[shenfrey]

The only time I hear my Macbook Air i5 fans spin up is when I have it plugged into a 3440x1440 100hz, which is to be expected.

 

[Bazza1]

it looks just fine to me ... and I have retina iPads and a 11 Pro Max, all with beautiful screens. View attachment 917803

Everyone wants the latest and greatest, it seems. Heck, I remember when the Macolytes got all moist about the quality of the pre-retina screens - then, suddenly, it was crap. A waste of time.

I occasionally watch movies on my 2017. I view / manipulate photos. And I do a lot of, well...computer'y stuff - WP, internet, email. I mean, it's not as if the screen is from a Powerbook 190cs - which Macoyltes also got moist about at the time.
The 2017's screen is not going to ruin my eyesight.

Plus, of course, there is - as you say - legacy ports, MagSafe, a robust build and a decent keyboard...

 

[Shanghaichica]

it looks just fine to me ... and I have retina iPads and a 11 Pro Max, all with beautiful screens. View attachment 917803

Totally agree. Nothing wrong with my MBA 11 inch display. I don't have it as close to my face as my 11 Pro max or even my iPad so it doesn't have to be as good.

 

[ignatius345]

I had two or three of those little 11" MBAs and absolutely love them. Super portable, amazing keyboard -- they're perfect writing computers. When the little tiny Retina MacBook came out, I tried that and absolutely loathed the keyboard -- and this was before they started failing everyone left and right, I just hated the way it felt to type on. So I got rid of it and went back to the 11" MBA. My most recent one, I even opened it up and put a new battery in it.

This month, though, I finally succumbed and got the 2020 MacBook Air. I've had it about 2.5 weeks and love it. The biggest surprise? The speakers are incredible.

I still miss MagSafe, and I don't love having both USB ports on the same side of the machine. But the keyboard is awesome, the screen looks gorgeous to me, and everything I do on it feels zippy enough to keep me happy. It's a little heavier than my tiny MBA but I do appreciate the larger screen.

The 11" MacBook Airs served me very very well and I'll probably keep mine around as a media server or something.

 

[Loog]

I still miss MagSafe

I'm with you there @ignatius345

 

[Saturn007]

Some of the reaction to fan noise has to do with people's hearing acuity and sensitivity to noise. If your hearing's only good, but not superb; and you are used to lots of noise in your environment, the 2020 fan may be no bother at all!

Alas, I have excellent hearing and am bothered by fan noise, or white noises of any kind (e.g., running refrigerators), so I decided against the 2020 MBA i5 model. Didn't want to risk it! Whether I eventually spring for the i3 model is still an open question!

Of course, there's also the matter of having to buy dongles for all my beloved oft-used MBA peripherals!

 

[ApoorvPrem]

Pretty sure a faulty unit.
My GF's Safari runs 4-6 tabs with Spotify in the background with fans barely hitting 2000 rpm that too intermittently.