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Should Apple release a M4 Air SKU with fan and vents?
- Thread starter DeepSix
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I remember when Apple first introduced the Apple Silicon M1 chip. They placed it in the same form factor as the previous Intel-based MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. The only difference was that they removed the fan from the M1 MacBook Air, which had a fan in the Intel version. I believe they did this to differentiate the Air from the Pro, as otherwise, the two machines would have had the same performance at that time.
Also because having no fan means no dust ingress or fan noise. Performance for most people with the air is fine.
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You would have to make the Air thicker to allow a fan to circulate the air that’s moved by the added fan and vents — hence the sleek Air form factor would be compromised. However, I do believe a thinner and lighter Pro is possible if SOC efficiency improvements are leveraged to mostly reduce heat instead of performance. I think this is a more viable approach to what you imagine than building a new fan + vent Air SKU.
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Im doing some research to find out if it's worth having it on high powered mode when on battery. It does make sense to have it on high powered mode when on AC. The laptop should only choose it when it needs it and backs off when it doesn't.
Im doing some research to find out if it's worth having it on high powered mode when on battery. It does make sense to have it on high powered mode when on AC. The laptop should only choose it when it needs it and backs off when it doesn't.
It didn't overheat so that's good. Its -20C here so if it did overheat I would just put it outside to quickly cool it off.
Understand that fan and # of ports is a Pro feature. Apple made this clear in 2020 when they launched M1 MBA. The chassis clearly had room to keep the fan, but Apple deleted it.
For consumers who want silence, the fan could exist but not spin. Apple could easily add a Silent Mode, just like High Power Mode. But they literally sell thermal performance (fan) as a feature.
For consumers who want silence, the fan could exist but not spin. Apple could easily add a Silent Mode, just like High Power Mode. But they literally sell thermal performance (fan) as a feature.
LOL. I've still got an old 15" MBP, that's over 13 years old and been round the world. It's mostly used as a media server now, but sometimes if I'm busy on the M1 MBP or go out I let the 2011 rip. It's runs for hours upon hours at around 98C (208F) when fully loaded.
Mac's are fairly durable and can take a beating with ease. If I felt I could only use them with "kid gloves" on I'd give them a miss. You worry far too much about trivia that has little to no impact on the hardware.
As for the box it's just packaging and goes in the recycled garbage after the first month.
Q-6
Just dont... What kills electronics is rapid heating & cooling cycles. High temperature is not an issue, over temp is and that's not possible on a modern Mac. The system will cool itself and or throttle, in the unlikely event of being in an over temp sate it will simply shutdown.
Q-6
The extra ports are definitely handy especially the right side usbc as I always use it on the M1 pro at work.
I just heard my fans on Max for the first time and I'm surprised how loud the M4 Pro can get. Like gaming laptop level loud except much more controlled. I ran cinebench to check my results and compare it to what the reviewers got to make sure I got a good CPU.
I'm seeing the dual fans as an advantage and when I'm not pushing it, it runs completely silent like the Air, which I was completely surprised. So the bonus of the Air running completely silent is no longer an advantage in my use case. I was expecting to hear constant fan noise on low for the entire time the MacBook Pro is on but it's clearly not the case. Apple really does have the best power efficiency in laptops.
I always keep the box for everything because it helps resale value and a lot of people will ask for all the packaging when you sell it to them especially on Apple products.
I keep a small dust brush in my bag and on the desk. I dust down everything really well including the screen before closing the lid and I put a flashlight on it to make sure I get every dust bunny out. Dust getting under the keys will give you problems over time especially since this is not a mechanical where you can easily pop off the keys for cleaning.
Nope. A system with a fan built in is designed to use it. Not using it will either make the system underperform or worse. They designed the current MacAir to work without a fan. Just isn't the same design criteria. Plus, if I don't want a fan, why pay for the design, the inclusion of vents thus weakening the case, or you design for that, etc etc.
You got it backwards. Apple is selling silence as a feature. Some of us like that.
I've been apprehensive about Macs without fans. The last computer without a fan that I trusted ran at 1.79 MHz.
My PowerBook G4 had one of the fans stop working and I had to re-create the situation and record video and audio to point the Genius Bar people to the fan that needed replacing. Thank goodness for the first iSight web cam that wasn't part of the case.
I also had a dual PowerPC G4 die because the fan was having trouble.
Right now, I've got an M1 MacBook Air, fully loaded, and I push it regularly. I also have a laptop cooler underneath it with three fans. My Windows machine turns on the fans for medium intensity applications and games. I haven't seen either machine warn about heat.
I simply dont worry, when I'm finished with a Mac/PC I just give it to a family member or friend as they generally pay for themselves. If not I'll repurpose it for my own needs...
Nothing wrong with taking care of your gear, equally best to keep a balance as with most things in life.
Q-6
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rapid cooling especially near or below 0 c will also cause condensation which could short and fry the machine.
Condensation occurs on surfaces that are cold, not surfaces that are warm. The amount of moisture in the air at 0C is minimal. What will cause condensation is moving the laptop from outside at 0C to indoors at 22C. There will be a lot more humidity indoors and that will condense on the cold surfaces on, and in the laptop.
The device you’re describing is called the MacBook Pro. The Air is everything a netbook wished it could be.
Mac Air is designed for everyday use and portability. For such use, vents are harmful, as they allow dust and water to enter.
Fewer vents - fewer problems.
But there is a downside: Air is designed for light work.
If you need to do a lot of work, which will heat up the Mac, then use the Pro.
Fewer vents - fewer problems.
But there is a downside: Air is designed for light work.
If you need to do a lot of work, which will heat up the Mac, then use the Pro.
It's actually the whole point. If you have used a Macbook Pro for even moderate loads like compiling code, etc... you'd know the fans are very eager there. Even on the ARM version, fans are very eager to kick in for long compilation or batch photo operations.
I'm not chasing every single second on a device I use for leisure and hobby, so I would prefer absolutely zero noise and minimal chances of dust getting in (via the vents). And thus the Macbook Air is that device. Yes, I do in fact have a maxed out M2 model that is still going strong.
I don't feel even an ounce of need for more speed or performance even with the tasks I mentioned (long code compilation tasks for bigger projects or long batch photo editing operations) so... fan + vent would be against the whole point.
Also, in fact, since you mentioned temperature and heat in another response: the Macbook Pro actually do in fact heat up a lot more than Air. Air is only allowed to run the chip up to 10W or so in sustained loads, which means the chip almost never gets that hot. The chip in the Pro can get a lot hotter, especially the Max chips. Fans help but they are there to dissipate heat from the chips. So if you are worried about heat, it actually makes more sense to go for a fanless ARM device from Apple. The Macbook Air is basically just a much more useful iPad to me.
Let's take a drill and drill holes (с) DIY (с)
I'm afraid to even ask about the options. With air conditioning? With a fan? A fan?
No holes! No holes! No shopping! It's a revolution!
That why they have processor throttling. You can find plenty of benchmark tests out there where a MacBook Air and Pro with similar processors basically perform tasks at the same speed... until they heat up enough to require more cooling. At that point, the fans on the Pro kick in and it keeps on chugging along while the Air slows down to keep itself from overheating. I would assume the passively cooled iPad Pro throttles at some point as well.
The 2020 Intel one not only had a fan, it had a fan that came on constantly. I struggled to get more than 4 hours out of that hot little pig. The fact that the M1 was visually identical really hammered home how much better it was: dead silent, incredibly fast and 2-3x the battery life right out the gate.
I've had the M4 Pro for 6 days now and there has been zero fan noise. The only time I've been able to get the fans going is by running Cinebench to benchmark it.
The air isn't any quieter. Both are completely silent. So now I no longer see the air having an advantage over the Pro for silent operation.