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

[macpcf]

These are the results for final cut pro for i9 macbook pro
https://9to5mac.com/2018/07/18/how-macbook-pro-throttles-with-final-cut-pro-x/

It also throttles. Nothing new people.

 

[throAU]

He knows stuff and I too enjoy his youtube videos but at the same time. Click Bait = Life on Youtube. I have a issue with Youtubers making over-reactions to the smallest things.

This isn't one of those "smallest things".

This is an entirely predictable outcome from stuffing an already hot, overheating-in-PC-notebooks i9 into a Macbook chassis that doesn't cool as well, that was already borderline with the i7s.

 

[dspdoc]

This isn't one of those "smallest things".

This is an entirely predictable outcome from stuffing an already hot, overheating-in-PC-notebooks i9 into a Macbook chassis that doesn't cool as well, that was already borderline with the i7s.

Wouldn’t it be hilarious if sometime tomorrow the i9 option mysteriously disappeared on Apple’s website? LOL

 

[jeremiah256]

I'm seriously bummed out. This is the first time I've been excited about a Mac release in a good long while. I bought my current 2016 MacBook Pro just because the machine it was replacing was so old, not because I especially wanted it.

It seems sort of silly, to be honest. I'm starting to wonder if macOS is even worth the buy-in anymore.

Apple charged the guy you're replying to an extra $400 for a CPU "upgrade" that is 100% useless. Worse than useless. It can't even run reliably at its own minimum base clock. That has to be false advertising. Or something. It's wrong and shady and sad, that's for sure.

Look at what @jgbr posted above. Lisa from Mobile Tech Review (highly respected reviewer) confirms there are issues, but seems to recommend avoiding the i9, that it is more of a marketing gimmick that does not belong in a MBP chassis, and that the i7 hex-core, with help from an app that allows you to be more aggressive with the fans, is the way to go if you need a powerful MBP.

I'm still not pulling the trigger on a new MBP yet, and definitely will be avoiding the i9 at this point, but the same reviewers that found the problems are now starting to provide options.

By the way, while there are pages of posts denigrating YouTube reviewers, if the throttling for the i9 is true, please note that they provided a public service warning before the Apple centric sites.

 

[Dammit Cubs]

This isn't one of those "smallest things".

This is an entirely predictable outcome from stuffing an already hot, overheating-in-PC-notebooks i9 into a Macbook chassis that doesn't cool as well, that was already borderline with the i7s.

It is a predictable outcome so why are people so shocked. The only decision i would blame on Apple is their decision to even give consumers this option. But then again, i would like to see other competitor core i9 performances with the same design language.

 

[0095059]

Those are all band-aids for a broken notebook design.

If i was wanting to run a mac in clamshell mode or on a cooling pad i'd simply buy a desktop instead. Oh wait. The high end iMac and iMac Pro throttle as well! Oops

"Oh it's so thin and light! Just carry around this additional stand, cooling pad, etc. so that when you get to your destination you can use your high end machine properly!"

Never mind using the machine in transit on a train, bus, plane, etc.

Never mind that those are expensive accessories for an already overpriced vs. performance notebook compared to the market.

You bring up some valid points. A dock station would not fix mobile use while in transit, or if you're at a hotel or conference, or even working remotely in a shared office.

That said, if you're editing 4K video, which I think is where this whole throttle news started, you would need to connect to a 4K monitor anyway to view the proper resolution. That or use an iMac Pro.

It would be primarily aimed at end users who do professional work in an office environment but want to use one machine for their workflow. It could be because of costs, the hassle or transferring files between machines, or maybe because space is limited.

I don't think a dock solution would apply to the film studios since the MPAA prohibits the workstation from connecting to the internet. And since the workstations are in a locked room, you might as well use desktop machines.

But it would apply to professionals who make blogs, shoot indie films, create graphics for commercials or websites.

 

[DankeDante]

As a music producer who will be mostly using Logic Pro x and maybe pro tools on the side, should I go for the
13in/2.7-4.5ghz/16GB lpddr3/512gb
or
15in/2.2-4.1ghz/16GB DDR4/512gb?
I plan to use this laptop for 3+ years while in college.

 

[Evangeline]

Do you have any evidence to support Intels published thermal numbers are deceitful?

It's not that they're deceitful, it's that the definition of TDP leaves too much room for interpretation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_design_power

And if you don't know that Intel is notorious for bending the rules at every opportunity then you don't know anything about Intel's history.

 

[dspdoc]

As a music producer who will be mostly using Logic Pro x and maybe pro tools on the side, should I go for the
13in/2.7-4.5ghz/16GB lpddr3/512gb
or
15in/2.2-4.1ghz/16GB DDR4/512gb?
I plan to use this laptop for 3+ years while in college.

You’d be fine with either. A little more longevity with the 15”. Coming from a music producer (and total tech nerd) of over 20 years.

 

[Evangeline]

A Mac in clamshell mounted vertically runs faster than a Mac in clamshell on a flat surface

Good to know but I wouldn't do clamshell, the display can get ruined from the heat.
[doublepost=1531970076][/doublepost]

As a music producer who will be mostly using Logic Pro x and maybe pro tools on the side, should I go for the
13in/2.7-4.5ghz/16GB lpddr3/512gb
or
15in/2.2-4.1ghz/16GB DDR4/512gb?
I plan to use this laptop for 3+ years while in college.

15 inch all the way. Difference in specs is pretty irrelevant really, you can always wait a few seconds more, meanwhile a bigger screen matters.

 

[0095059]

Good to know but I wouldn't do clamshell, the display can get ruined from the heat.
[doublepost=1531970076][/doublepost]

15 inch all the way. Difference in specs is pretty irrelevant really, you can always wait a few seconds more, meanwhile a bigger screen matters.

I use Xcode and store my code repositories on Git. I always found that pulling and pushing commits between different machines was a hassle since the work environments might be missing files, like a note or Photoshop file stored locally. Or the branch might break because a coworker committed a bug. Or you have to download new simulators because Apple released iOS 12.x.x.

So, I began using one machine for writing code and I take it around with me.

I noticed that the simulator ran slowly in clamshell mode on a flat surface. I did some digging and found that the heat doesn't properly escape when flat, so a vertical mount allows more airflow.

Once you use the vertical stand, things like headphones and external HDDs become a tangle of wires, since the ports are in the air. Some of those issues are solved with bluetooth, but a dock for desktop use would be nice.

Then, Apple released USB C for charging, and now the eGPU, so the option to create a dock is possible.

It's not a new concept, PCs have been doing it for years. But it's something I've been thinking about for the Mac for a while.

 

[DankeDante]

You’d be fine with either. A little more longevity with the 15”. Coming from a music producer (and total tech nerd) of over 20 years.

Good to know but I wouldn't do clamshell, the display can get ruined from the heat.
[doublepost=1531970076][/doublepost]

15 inch all the way. Difference in specs is pretty irrelevant really, you can always wait a few seconds more, meanwhile a bigger screen matters.

Thanks!

 

[zshane1125]

15 > 13 by a mile, the footprint is so small now it's irrelevant.

2 inches more display real estate
2 more cores
discrete GPU
better speakers.
option for 32GB ram
option for larger storage.

 

[TerrorOFdeath]

Even the i7 throttles extreme:

https://www.notebookcheck.net/The-n...nd-clearly-beaten-by-the-XPS-15.317264.0.html

Cant belive Apple did something like this

Tod

 

[0095059]

If Apple ever makes a dock, they should call it the "iDock".

 

[Baymowe335]

This excuse is getting old.

1. No, big laptops with proper cooling don't throttle, neither do laptops with anemic processors (Like the ones in chrome books)
2. Screaming 'all laptops have throttling issues!' when these current ones are having SEVERE issues is like going to a dude whose car literally fell into a million pieces on the interstate and saying, 'hey man, look to the bright side, all cars die'

I like how you’ve based your opinion entirely on a single test that was rushed out to get YouTube views.

 

[fairuz]

I'm sure theres some absolutely ****** Lenovo laptops out there. My own experience has been good, I've left several-hour long Maya renders running on my Lenovo without the temperture breaking 70 C. No throttling :3

Yeah, they're buying the kinda sketchy ones that are cheaper than any competition for the specs, which are mid-range. dGPU I think was usually what died.

 

[hajime]

I hope Lisa of MobileTechReview would release her review soon.

 

[zshane1125]

Really debating now between the returning the i9 512GB and getting the i7 2.2 1TB, or keep the i9 for 2 weeks to see of the smoke grenades dissipates a bit.

 

[Evangeline]

Cant belive Apple did something like this

Beware of swear words. Sorry, it's late and I couldn't help myself, hope I don't get banned.

 

[Baymowe335]

It seems like Apple could use a Quality Assurance department. Because whatever they have now is not acceptable. I've been a QA Engineer for 25 years and it seems the level of defects and bugs is unacceptable for a company of this stature.

Please give me a break.

I get so sick of novices on MacRumors acting like a couple bad batteries, software bugs, or some thermal throttling based on a YouTube video means the entire QA department at a Apple is garbage and their perceived inside knowledge of the issue somehow matters. You guys have no knowledge of what is going on at Apple, why decisions are made, what testing is done, etc.

Do any of you people have any concept how massive the operation of Apple is, how much product they move, and how much money they make? I’m not saying it absolves them from every issue but let’s not be so quick to judge or deem a product as a failure. The operation at Apple is approaching a business miracle and they have multiple geniuses at that company.

Apple has a history of making quality products and taking care of customers when that quality is not up to standard.

Let’s also not be so quick to act like your experience at some small operation is anything near applicable to the Apple scale, where over 300 MILLION products per year are built, shipped and supported.

You guys literally have no idea what you’re talking about.

 

[Frank Dalton]

Never said I was any better, nor am I whining. Pointing out flaws and issues without taking a proactive stance is whining. You don’t even have to work for Apple to do something about it. Speak with your wallet. Stop being Apple's customer. A decrease in revenue will send a message much better than simply being a whiny, snarky ***** on an Internet forum. But then again, it sounds to me that most of you don’t have enough backbone to do such a thing.

LOL. Try again. I'm typing this on a ThinkPad I recently acquired because Apple's "professional" notebook offerings no longer cut the mustard for me. Anything else?
[doublepost=1531972793][/doublepost]

The problem is, most people here will say they’re going to speak with their wallet but very few will actually do it - if AAPL’s revenues and stock price as of late is any indication. Toothless threats from people who talk trash on the Internet while giving Apple their money in real life.

This constant appeal to Apple's financials as if they are some kind of quality metric is rather curious. Using this logic, one would have to suppose that Microsoft Windows is and was the bee's knees throughout the 1990s up until today.

 

[throAU]

You bring up some valid points. A dock station would not fix mobile use while in transit, or if you're at a hotel or conference, or even working remotely in a shared office.

That said, if you're editing 4K video, which I think is where this whole throttle news started, you would need to connect to a 4K monitor anyway to view the proper resolution. That or use an iMac Pro.

4k video is not the only heavy CPU use for a mobile workstation.

 

[Evangeline]

I'm typing this on a ThinkPad I recently acquired because Apple's "professional" notebook offerings no longer cut the mustard for me. Anything else?

No but I reserve the right to laugh at your Thinkpad and that pathetic screen if I ever see you. I'll recognise you from your photo here.

 

[throAU]

P

Do any of you people have any concept how massive the operation of Apple is, how much product they move, and how much money they make? I’m not saying it absolves them from every issue but let’s not be so quick to judge or deem a product as a failure. The operation at Apple is approaching a business miracle and they have multiple geniuses at that company.

I know for a fact they're a lot bigger than HP, yet somehow now seem incapable of making workstation hardware that is anywhere near as good.

Primarily because they aren't interested in actual performance anymore it would appear.

Either they don't care so they aren't trying (priority is on other non-performance things)
OR
They do care and are incompetent.

You choose.