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Should I be concerned about the heat? (MacBook Air M1)

asharmus

asharmus

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 19, 2020
22
67
I just got the computer today. I've only been using Discord and Safari, and it's getting rather warm on the bottom. It's not too hot but I keep reading about how people use this computer intensely and barely get any warmth, so I'm a little concerned that only these two applications are causing my laptop to get really warm.
 
Discord is an Electron app so you're basically running a Chrome instance to draw the UI. Also the reports of the machine being ice cold are mostly about near-idle-CPU conditions (simple websites, Pages, native apps). Tasks that spin the CPU/GPU still DO generate heat, and the base cover is really thin.
 
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Had mine which is a base model for a while now and am very impressed at the temp control it has.
 
MBA M1, consistently running at 55-56 degree C for the last hour while I sit on a sofa in the "laptop" mode, well ventilated between my lap and sofa arm. Room temperature is 70F with central heating running.

Usage:

12 tabs in chrome (no streaming, just webpages with some math descriptions, one gmail, one shopping site) - NO safari - it chews up my disk with mounting TBWs.

1 Word Doc
1 Acrobat file
System Monitor running
1 Terminal window
Brightness at 65-70%

What gives?

Launched Anaconda and it went to 60 deg C.😅
 
I don’t check the temperature, but I live in a really cold apartment.
And after a couple of hours use, my MacBook feels warm, but that’s just because the house is so damn cold and has terrible isolation.
Maybe you’re in the same situation.
 
asharmus said:
I just got the computer today. I've only been using Discord and Safari, and it's getting rather warm on the bottom. It's not too hot but I keep reading about how people use this computer intensely and barely get any warmth, so I'm a little concerned that only these two applications are causing my laptop to get really warm.
Click to expand...
No don't worry. Discord makes the computer hot, it dissipates thru the alluminium. So it feel hot at touch with certain heavy or inefficient software (likee discord in emulation).
 
asharmus said:
I just got the computer today. I've only been using Discord and Safari, and it's getting rather warm on the bottom. It's not too hot but I keep reading about how people use this computer intensely and barely get any warmth, so I'm a little concerned that only these two applications are causing my laptop to get really warm.
Click to expand...
Totally fine. Discord won't be too kind to the battery, so I've read, as it runs on Chromium/Electron (which is CPU-heavy), but won't do any damage. The M1 cannot overheat itself.
Check your CPU usage % and see what it says while you've got these running. The higher the %, the more heat. But again, you can't overheat it to the point of doing any damage.
 
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My air never got warm since I bought it earlier this month, I would start a full restore of the computer if you could it could be a software bug that's making your computer run and get warm, if not you can try to swap one out with the place you got it from?
 
Hi,

I got mine a week or so. I run a couple of games that used to make the fan in my old 2014 MacBook Pro howl, and make it quite hot. The Air runs silently, of course, and a bit cooler. Still warm on the bottom, but not hot.
 
I play the game Rust for like 4-6 hours at time about every other day. The M1 MacBook Air manages heat pretty darn good! In normal usage, I notice no warmth or heat at all.

I will say this though, the 7 core model will always run warmer than the 8 core. Power always buys you efficiency. Not to mention, the 8 core model uses better silicon "From what apple says". Usually, this always means lower voltages required at all times, which means less heat and less power consumption.
 
There must be 100's of posts of people worrying about heat on Apple devices. The number of posts where someone has documented a heat related issue is almost null. The only one I remember was one from tropical Asia, where the unit (iPhone, iPad, Mac - don't remember) sensed that it was overheating and shutdown. Once it cooled off it was fine.

As long as the unit is within the operating environment specs don't sweat the heat.
 
HDFan said:
There must be 100's of posts of people worrying about heat on Apple devices. The number of posts where someone has documented a heat related issue is almost null. The only one I remember was one from tropical Asia, where the unit (iPhone, iPad, Mac - don't remember) sensed that it was overheating and shutdown. Once it cooled off it was fine.

As long as the unit is within the operating environment specs don't sweat the heat.
Click to expand...

I've had that happen at the beach a couple times when I forgot to cover my phone. It'll really cook. But yeah, no big deal. Back to normal after it's had a chance to cool off.

So far with the MBA, it seems it's cold most of the time. A big departure from my work laptop.
 
Had my M1 for a couple of months now and I haven't noticed it get hot (or even warm!) once. I don't do anything particularly intensive although do use Discord occasionally. Very impressed with it. Compared to the most recent base model (i3) Air which would have loud fan noise and get hot, this is the complete opposite.
 
I've had my M1 MacBook Air for months hand have been amazed how cool it runs, even with multiple monitors (HDMI + Sidecar). However, recently I finally managed to get Google Drive (formally Google File Stream) to open and run. Since then my laptop has been running hot. It was quite an ordeal getting the application working and now I'm beginning to regret it.
 
LeafsFanNL said:
Hi,

I got mine a week or so. I run a couple of games that used to make the fan in my old 2014 MacBook Pro howl, and make it quite hot. The Air runs silently, of course, and a bit cooler. Still warm on the bottom, but not hot.
Click to expand...

Hi!

Same with me. I also got some games that turned my old MacBook Pro into a literal heating pad. It was loud and really hot and didn't work properly. And don't get me started on the issues I've had while running discord in the background.

But with the MBA now it's a huge difference! I'd also say that it still gets warm sometimes but not nearly as hot as the old device. I guess it also depends on the temperature in your house, like other users suggested. To me it also makes a difference on what kind of surface I'm using the laptop now. When I'm using it in bed, laying on pillows or a blanket, it heats up more that on my tabletop.
Anyways I still think that's not a big issue, unless its not getting flaming hot, you should be fine
 
asharmus said:
I just got the computer today. I've only been using Discord and Safari, and it's getting rather warm on the bottom. It's not too hot but I keep reading about how people use this computer intensely and barely get any warmth, so I'm a little concerned that only these two applications are causing my laptop to get really warm.
Click to expand...
It could be your machine is indexing or installing some upgrades. Wait for some days (at least three or four) and then see.
 
You want heat? Get a MacBook Pro 16".. first time in my life I bought one of those stupid laptop trays you put in your lap.
 
Somehow I found that THIS website was always able to trigger the fans of my MacBook Pro M1:
insideevs.com

InsideEVs | Electric Vehicle News, Reviews, and Reports

We don't just publish the breaking news of the day, but go behind it, create it, and most importantly, examine the how, what and why of electric vehicles.
insideevs.com insideevs.com

1 opened window on Safari: it warms up my MacBook Pro
2 opened windows... : start cooking...
3/4/5: fans kick in and hot computer!

I don't h ave any idea why, but the funny part is that this website is for electric green cars making overconsumption !
 
asharmus said:
I just got the computer today. I've only been using Discord and Safari, and it's getting rather warm on the bottom. It's not too hot but I keep reading about how people use this computer intensely and barely get any warmth, so I'm a little concerned that only these two applications are causing my laptop to get really warm.
Click to expand...
If you transferred a lot of data, Spotlight might still be indexing.
 
asharmus said:
I just got the computer today. I've only been using Discord and Safari, and it's getting rather warm on the bottom. It's not too hot but I keep reading about how people use this computer intensely and barely get any warmth, so I'm a little concerned that only these two applications are causing my laptop to get really warm.
Click to expand...
It's normal I have a m1 air and it gets warm even when using safari but that's normal because of the hot environment of my area. If you live in a hot area then the heating is normal.
 
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