YouTuber Claims 15-Inch MacBook Pro With Upgraded Core i9 Chip is Severely Throttled Due to Thermal Issues

[pier]

So maybe it’s not meant for laptops?

It's meant for laptops that can cool it. Nobody is really forcing laptop manufacturers to use the i9.

Although, considering even thick gaming laptops are having a hard time cooling the i9, it is illogical that Apple would use it on the anorexic MBP. This really stinks as a marketing stunt, and not an honest intention to make a solid working tool.

 

[pl1984]

There are posts about the quad core 13" too. It's having challenges.

I hope not. Apple did a nice upgrade with these but if they can't hold up then it's a step backward.

 

[Howard2k]

As others have pointed out: this is a single test with one piece of software from some random YouTuber. Yeah fine he has a lot of followers and talks in a calm soft voice...so? What are his qualifications other than being able to buy this crap and review it on YouTube? There is literally nothing about him that makes him an authority other than he makes decent videos. BTW this isn't an issue with Dave Lee in particular, this is an issue with almost everyone reviewing stuff on YouTube.

Besides that point: I'm curious what people are actually needing an i9 for anyways? From my experience the super high end Intel chips tend to just be for bragging rights as the price increase almost never justifies the extra price regardless of what kind of computer its going in. Anyone remember the Intel Extreme Editions?

What qualifications does he need? He's just trying to get the MBPro to do stuff.
Are you saying that only those with a degree in computer sciences are able to properly execute tasks?

 

[Faelan]

I disagree. It is unique to Apple because Apple doesn't offer an alternative, mobile product.

Because they don't offer a non-anorexic laptop where this would be less of a problem (although supposedly not completely fixed by other manufacturers with the same I9 from what I can gather)? Fair enough. Can't argue against that.

For some reason, they've decided not to focus on thicker laptops with beefier cooling solutions and proper GPUs. I would love to see such a product myself, but I accept that their marketing department is most like miles ahead of my feeble knowledge in that field and have deemed that to be an unprofitable venture because it's most likely too much of a niche product (same problem with the Mac Pro, I bet). I know. It hurts being there. I'm a hardcore flight simmer on the PC. Talk about being a niche within a niche within a niche. I have to buy specialized controllers for my hobby from people building them in their garage and what not. But at least that's something a single person or small group of people can do with limited investment, often in their spare time. Building a high quality top of the line laptop takes far more than that, unfortunately.

 

[jordanm86]

Silly Apple.
Put it in a thicker chassis or a 17" form factor, to fully utilise the CPU.
That's what the Pros should get when they're already paying for the Core i9 upgrade.

Exactly. If you are so worried about portability of the device then I would suggest you are not a 'PRO' user. You are probably using your mac for writing documents in a starbucks with your perfectly groomed beard, ironic tattoo and drinking a skinny no-foam, almond milk, pumpkin-spiced latte.

If needed I lug around a beaten to sh*t old heavy macbook pro (which weighs twice as much as the new models )with an A3 Wacom Intuos Pro tablet, iPad and notebooks.

If I need to do something beyond the abilities of my Macbook Pro, I have no issues lugging a 27" iMac into a clients office for a few days.

My point being is I would taken a laptop with an extra 1cm thickness and a little more weight over a super thin, glued together 'art' piece made to massage Ive's ego and so I look cool in starbucks

 

[Howard2k]

I hope not. Apple did a nice upgrade with these but if they can't hold up then it's a step backward.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Apple-MacBook-Pro-13-2018-Touch-Bar-i5-Laptop-Review.316648.0.html

So how is this possible? We observed the clocks and the power consumption of the processor with the tool Intel Power Gadget (macOS). The following screenshot shows the behavior of the CPU during a single CB R15 Multi run. The processor starts with the full 3.6 GHz for about 5 seconds, which corresponds with a consumption of 48-49W. The cooling solution is quickly overpowered and the CPU hits 100 °C, which results in a clock reduction. The consumption fluctuates heavily between after that (between 20-40W), which obviously impacts the clocks. And we are talking about one single run of the Multi test.

Even this performance level cannot be maintained due to the high temperatures. The score levels off at about 580 points during our Cinebench Multi loop, another 5% compared to the original score. We will repeat the Cinebench loop with Windows where we can use more comprehensive monitoring tools to see average values for the clocks, the temperatures, and the consumption.

 

[dominiongamma]

Will the bad PR ever end? Apple has been facing a lot of issues recently.

As soon they stop limiting the products to its full potential then it will go away

 

[pl1984]

For some reason, they've decided not to focus on thicker laptops with beefier cooling solutions and proper GPUs. I would love to see such a product myself, but I accept that their marketing department is most like miles ahead of my feeble knowledge in that field and have deemed that to be an unprofitable venture because it's most likely too much of a niche product (same problem with the Mac Pro, I bet). I know. It hurts being there. I'm a hardcore flight simmer on the PC. Talk about being a niche within a niche within a niche. I have to buy specialized controllers for my hobby from people building them in their garage and what not. But at least that's something a single person or small group of people can do with limited investment, often in their spare time. Building a high quality top of the line laptop takes far more than that, unfortunately.

Their obsession with thin permeates throughout their entire Mac product line. Their products have focused on form over function for quite some time. If this turns out to be a wide spread issue perhaps some good will come out of it and Apple will stop designing ever and ever thinner devices which are crippled when it comes to performance.

 

[Basic75]

funny, laptop doesnthave any heat spreader dummy!!! the coolers on laptops are placed directlt on the die. learn your facts before you post.

TIL, since when do laptop chips not have the heat spreader? They used to be just like desktop chips.

 

[scoobs69]

To be fair, this isn't so much Apple's fault as it is Intel's. Intel has really dropped the ball in the past couple of years. If they don't right the ship soon, AMD will take over the CPU game for a while. They are late with everything and are having lots of trouble shrinking the dies.

Yes. It's Intel's fault Apple continues to build computers with thermal problems - starting with the 2013 Mac Pro.

 

[pl1984]

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Apple-MacBook-Pro-13-2018-Touch-Bar-i5-Laptop-Review.316648.0.html

I'm not questioning the results. Just hoping this is not going to be typical behavior.

 

[Basic75]

Their obsession with thin permeates throughout their entire Mac product line. Their products have focused on form over function for quite some time. If this turns out to be a wide spread issue perhaps some good will come out of it and Apple will stop designing ever and ever thinner devices which are crippled when it comes to performance.

Hard to tell, on the one hand they made the new iMac Pro with Xeons and ECC RAM, on the other hand they kept the same senselessly thin design as the normal iMac. Looks like they are trying to do thin and powerful at the same time, but not always succeeding.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

To be fair, this isn't so much Apple's fault as it is Intel's. Intel has really dropped the ball in the past couple of years. If they don't right the ship soon, AMD will take over the CPU game for a while. They are late with everything and are having lots of trouble shrinking the dies.

This isn't fair at all! Shove a V8 Hemi into a car desgined for a 1.6L V4 with small radiator, and the engine overheats and dies, and it's the engine manufacturer's fault? Sorry, don't get your logic.

 

[ericinboston]

I know I am very late to this thread...but I found that Lenovo also does this on their super duper thin Yoga 720 with the 8th gen i7. I bought one and the CPU could only max at about 75%! I had to install 3rd party freeware to undo Lenovo's evil ways.

My beef is that I am/was buying a machine and the CPU (main engine) was being capped without my permission. I won't go into the car references. Manufacturers who do this (yes, Apple included) should be sued...and very likely the companies will lose.

As far as I know, Lenovo was/is only capping the Yoga line of laptops...I have numerous other Thinkpads and desktops that hit 100% cpu utilization.

 

[Baymowe335]

Apple stock holders.

This kind of nonsense has no impact on AAPL's share price, just FYI.

 

[Ploki]

The logic board and battery layout looks identical to the 2016/2017 models so I don't see why they cannot retrofit those machines with the 2018 silicone keyboard when 2017 supplies are exhausted in a few years.

its not, batteries are bigger and chassis is thinner

 

[pl1984]

Hard to tell, on the one hand they made the new iMac Pro with Xeons and ECC RAM, on the other hand they kept the same senselessly thin design as the normal iMac. Looks like they are trying to do thin and powerful at the same time, but not always succeeding.

Nothing wrong with thin and powerful as long as the former doesn't come at the cost of the latter.

 

[dspdoc]

Oh no... I knew something negative would have to arise that would blow up the pages of MR.

 

[StefVR]

I think most people dont understand the real implications here and confuse things. Like the guy showing another video where the i9 is quicker.

The 6 core throttles only after a couple of minutes which means that if your close to 100% workload (like rendering a video) is finished before that the i9 will outperform the 2017 and 4 core variant (given the application supports the core count and scales well).

The problem only arises once you exceed the 4 or 5 min threshold and most likely only if all threads are fully or nearly fully utilized which does happen only under specific conditions like rendering a video.

Still you wonder for whom the 6 core is then? If you render long videos seems to be better now because it can sustain the clocks and result in the better long term and the 6 core would only perform better if you either have way less then 100% cpu utilization or your workloads dont last longer then the time given. So for some users the 6 core is still the better option.

Also there might be a solution where the i9 throttles already earlier (software update) and thus maintains better overall performance in the long run.

In the end the youtuber also might have a bad model. Even at auto clockspeed cpus voltage vary chip by chip (the famous silicon lottery). This means some might get hot quicker than others. The YT in queston might have a bad luck model.

 

[Ploki]

Hey guys... I really wanted to get i9, but will i7 proved better perfromance under prolonged stress?
I really don't want an i9 for bragging rights that under-performs because of throttling...

 

[pl1984]

This kind of nonsense has no impact on AAPL's share price, just FYI.

It could if Apples reputation is negatively impacted.

 

[ronincse]

What qualifications does he need? He's just trying to get the MBPro to do stuff.
Are you saying that only those with a degree in computer sciences are able to properly execute tasks?

I'd like to at least know his background, like did he do anything with computers before he started his YouTube channel a few years ago?

This very video is a good example of why he might not be qualified: he tested this with a single app, which he admits is very poorly designed for MacOS, against a Windows PC with a different CPU. There are in fact other Ultrabooks that use an i9, maybe he should test against one of those before claiming the Macbook Pro chassis is the issue and not the processor itself? What about using a benchmark suite and testing an i9 MBP against an i7 MBP? At least that would give us a better idea of the thermal issues. Or even using a program that is actually designed to run on the OS?

Nope all we get is a single benchmark using premiere compared against a Windows PC running a different processor with different specs and a totally different chassis. It does not give a useful comparison outside of fueling Apple hate.

Not saying this isn't an issue, I'm saying this video isn't proof either way. We need real tests before we can say for sure.

 

[needsomecoffee]

Wow -- that is an incredibly damaging.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Apple-MacBook-Pro-13-2018-Touch-Bar-i5-Laptop-Review.316648.0.html

 

[ipponrg]

No idea, but I’m betting software and application optimization are factors. If not, I’ll admit I was wrong.

If you did some homework, you'd know the answer here.

If you have any video editing software, scrub the timeline while a clip is getting rendered into cache. Do this in Final Cut, Adobe Premiere, Avid, etc. Observe the CPU in your Activity Monitor or Task Manager in your respective OS. Try to do things while this is happening.

The only "optimization" that can occur during rendering is delaying completion of rendering ... which is what most (if not all) people don't desire when they are working with videos.

 

[scoobs69]

Welcome to the new Intel. This has been happening for a while. Carefully chosen benchmarks highlighting potential speed gains during brief bursts of use. Specs nowadays pretty much amount to fraud.

Disagree. With decent cooling and ventilation, which Apple refuses to utilize, Intel's i9 chips work wonderfully. In fact, they're fantastic - even without overclocking.