Temps okay on M4 MBA?

[Andy_2341]

I have a base model M4MBA (10/8, 16/256). I want to run Solidworks just to mess around and learn it better for my engineering studies. I don't have the option of getting a windows machine just for that. So i have set up VMware Fusion to run windows 11 Pro. Just setting up windows I am already seeing temps for my cpu sitting around 90 celsius. I know it is setting up a whole OS, but I'm concerned about the temps long term. Should I worry about the amount of heat that may be produced when modeling? Do I need to cool my MBA in some way? Or will the chip handle itself?

 

[maflynn]

The MacBook Air is passively cooled, so it reaching 90c is fairly normal given your running a VM which is computationally intense

 

[Boppi]

As mentioned, the install is intense. After it settles in things will cool down and generally stay cool while using Windows.

That is until the next update, and Windows gets plenty of them, quite regularly. Then it's back to heating up again until it finishes that process.

I run Win11 in Parallels on my MBP M4 Pro and it kicks the fans on during installs and updates, but it never gets above 70°C with the fans running, and their off for most tasks.

Solidworks can be cpu intensive as well depending on what you're doing. Just messing around you'll be fine. Along with running Windows normally. There won't be a heat issue, but Win updates and large models will heat it up.

Long term, your guess is as good as any. I've never worried too much about consistent heat. As long as it's under the threshold and running fine, it is fine.

 

[Andy_2341]

Long term, your guess is as good as any. I've never worried too much about consistent heat. As long as it's under the threshold and running fine, it is fine.

The threshold is 100 Celsius right?

 

[maflynn]

The threshold is 100 Celsius right?

Throttling begins at 95c, and it shuts down to avoid damage at 105c

 

[Andy_2341]

Throttling begins at 95c, and it shuts down to avoid damage at 105c

Thank you! The longer I run it the better its seeming to handle it. That could be it settling or me adjusting to not push it too hard, but at any rate I should have Solidworks all up and running like I want no problems.