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

[KOAO]

Not everyone has a sustained, all-core 100% util workload. And sustained for how long? Indefinitely? I haven’t really looked at the benchmarks, does it throttle at 2 seconds or 2 minutes?

People can say, oh, it’s a $2,800 pro computer, it should be able to run flat out for as long as I want it to... but that’s not the machine Apple sells. Apple sells a thin, light, rather quiet, relatively high performance laptop with good battery life. It’s not a workstation.

Depending on my requirements, I could be very interested in the machine—or have absolutely no interest. Just because the i9 is a $300 or $400 option doesn’t make it the best (performer) for everyone.

No, not sustained max clock speed. I am talking about its base clock speed while not underload. And yes, Apple sells a thin, light, and rather quiet machine. That last part is debatable. But the fact its thin and quiet is why its having issues in the first place.

I didn't claim it was a Workstation. Others did but I didn't. This MacBook Pro is geared towards "Prosumers", just like the XPS line is. A Workstation wouldn't have these issues because it would be thicker, like the Thinkpad P series.

 

[jgbr]

Stop defending Apple like it’s a utopia. They’ve shipped a bad product which is probably more related to the keyboard-gate than the CPU. They slapped the CPU in there hoping it would be fine while trying to solve the keyboard problem.

 

[PickUrPoison]

No, not sustained max clock speed. I am talking about its base clock speed while not underload. And yes, Apple sells a thin, light, and rather quiet machine. That last part is debatable. But the fact its thin and quiet is why its having issues in the first place.

I didn't claim it was a Workstation. Others did but I didn't. This MacBook Pro is geared towards "Prosumers", just like the XPS line is. A Workstation wouldn't have these issues because it would be thicker, like the Thinkpad P series.

Yes, even though it’s affordable and purchased for use at home by some, MBP is mainly for professionals. Apple sells somewhere around 10-12 million MBP a year, and millions of professionals appreciate the tradeoffs Apple makes between features, power, size, weight, fan noise, battery life, etc.

It’s not designed to run flat-out indefinitely, with 100% utilization of all-cores without throttling, though it now appears that some simple power management tweaks might significantly improve the current performance.

MBP isn’t for everyone, and if something else better fits your requirements, of course that’s the machine you should buy. Only 80% of Mac purchases are laptops; iMac is around 15%, about 3 million sold per year.

 

[Tech198]

Stop defending Apple like it’s a utopia. They’ve shipped a bad product which is probably more related to the keyboard-gate than the CPU. They slapped the CPU in there hoping it would be fine while trying to solve the keyboard problem.

lol. Utopia.

 

[Abazigal]

I think the criticism of Apple is fair for the most part -- but many have taken the issues that were raised and have overreacted in a manner lacking any common sense as to helpfulness nor informativeness.

There’s a history of people overreacting when new MBPs are introduced.

In other news, water is wet.

 

[OC40]

There’s a history of people overreacting when new MBPs are introduced.

In other news, water is wet.

It’s not just Apple. BMW, Mini, dice, serato, etc, etc , etc.

 

[Monkeyat]

Not so simple:

 

[AndyMacAndMic]

Not so simple:

In the video above the i7 2018 (2.2 GHz) and the i9 2018 are compared. Those are basically the same processors, only the clock speed differs. It is not surprising that the i9 is faster than the i7 in this test.

In Dave Lee's video the i7 2017 (2.6 GHz) is compared to the i9 2018. Completely different machine than the video above. Dave Lee concludes that the i9 is not faster than the i7 2017.

Apples and oranges.

So, everybody hold your horses, nothing is conclusive yet.

 

[pier]

The download link for the Intel Power Gadget, which reports info like Mac CPU temperature and current clock speed, has been conspicuously removed from the Intel website today. There’s no explanation on the page as to why the company suddenly removed the download, although it sure is convenient timing. The utility has been used by many tech reviewers to highlight possible thermal problems with the 6-core 2018 MacBook Pros.

we found that disabling two of the cores actually resulted in faster export speeds in Final Cut Pro than if all six-cores were active

https://9to5mac.com/2018/07/21/intel-power-gadget-mac-removed/

 

[dspdoc]

Here's another test:

I say BOOM on that video. It’s obvious to me now after watching that that all the Apple haters were just waiting to pounce and even those of us who don’t hate Apple were a little too over eager to freak out about this as being a real problem. I don’t think it is at all anymore.

 

[AndyMacAndMic]

I say BOOM on that video. It’s obvious to me now after watching that that all the Apple haters were just waiting to pounce and even those of us who don’t hate Apple were a little too over eager to freak out about this as being a real problem. I don’t think it is at all anymore.

Read my post #1433. You probably say BOOM to early. Nothing to do with Apple haters, just basic facts.

 

[dspdoc]

Read my post #1433. You probably say BOOM to early. Nothing to do with Apple haters, just basic facts.

I bought the 2.6. I still say BOOM!

 

[AndyMacAndMic]

I bought the 2.6. I still say BOOM!

Well congratz and BOOM to you then !

 

[macpcf]

It's not just Adobe Premier. If you run Prime95, it starts throttling almost instantaneously and drops well below 2.9. Prime95 keeps CPU load at about 98 - 99 percent. In my somewhat perfuntory testing, it oscillates between 2.2 and 2.5, sometimes dropping even below 2.2. And this is without involving the dgpu. Premier hits the processor to the max, and it leverages dgpu, which heats things up even more. Apple "pro" apps simply don't push the CPU hard enough to flesh out the disgraceful degree to which the i9 chip throttles in Apple's sexy svelte chassis.

So the disconnect here is the definition of thermal throttling. Dave2D's review was excellent, comprehensive, and unbiased. As an example of a clueless approach to things, iJustine just did a review of her new $7,700 MacBook pro. She tried to perform a throttling test. In her test, the CPU utilization never reached more than 40 percent. She also put her 2016 and 2018 laptops in her refrigerator, apparently because her audience suggested she do that. She was clearly confused by the process and the results, but she did clean out her fridge.

I also have MacBook Pro retina mid 2015. When prime95 runs, the CPU never drops below 2.6 GHz, which is 100 Hz higher than the base clock. When running other CPU intensive tasks, e.g., Handbrake, the CPU stays around 2.9 - 3.0 GHZ.

Per my earlier messages, Apple can offer a palliative in the form of a firmware update. Where less fan noise will be traded for better performance. I am pretty sure that by making the fan curve more aggressive then can at least keep the i9 around 2.6 - 2.9 GHz under full CPU load.

So the i7 2.2 model is slower than the other two. I wonder how much throttling it has

 

[limo79]

You discuss about throttling while the real problem and enemy is that new Macbook Pros achieve CPU core temp 100 Celcius degree (very close to temperature shutdown about 105 Celcius). This should be limited to max 90 Celcius not only to do not alter internal silicon die structure but also to not stress PCB and solder pads/balls under CPU which is soldered directly in case of thin laptops. Using Macbook Pro 2018 for a long time for heavy taks may overstress these connections and cause solder cracks. Do Apple need another lawsuit action or repair program? I do not think so. Limiting TDP would be reasonable for multi core chip and I really do not understand why Apple did not do it.

 

[DankeDante]

You discuss about throttling while the real problem and enemy is that new Macbook Pros achieve CPU core temp 100 Celcius degree (very close to temperature shutdown about 105 Celcius). This should be limited to max 90 Celcius not only to do not alter internal silicon die structure but also to not stress PCB and solder pads/balls under CPU which is soldered directly in case of thin laptops. Using Macbook Pro 2018 for a long time for heavy taks may overstress these connections and cause solder cracks. Do Apple need another lawsuit action or repair program? I do not think so. Limiting TDP would be reasonable for multi core chip and I really do not understand why Apple did not do it.

I agree. Even if it does perform better, with such high temps, it shortens the life of your MBP considerably...

 

[newnew777]

I got my MBP i9 with 32 Gig of RAM and 4TB SSD.

Using Logic Pro with all my huge collection of soft synths, samples and plug-ins loaded in

This is an amazing machine for the audio pro.....fast CPU, fast internal SSDs and thin & light. Perfect for the studio and travel.

Looking forward to some software updates to refine the performance even more.

Thanks Apple!

 

[ChrisA]

The root of this problem is that Apple tries to make their Mac Pro to thin and small. What Apple needs to do is differentiate their product line. the "PRO" can be a bit more bulky and have decent cooling using bigger heat sinks and bigger fans while the "air" cane the mac people buy if thy want a small and thin computer.

I would be a lot more happy with a 2010 vintage size that is over 3/4 inch thick if it mean the cooling was better and there were more space for a bigger battery.

But what would MOST people want? That is what Apple designs for. Most users just read emails and watch youtube

 

[bkkcanuck8]

You discuss about throttling while the real problem and enemy is that new Macbook Pros achieve CPU core temp 100 Celcius degree (very close to temperature shutdown about 105 Celcius). This should be limited to max 90 Celcius not only to do not alter internal silicon die structure but also to not stress PCB and solder pads/balls under CPU which is soldered directly in case of thin laptops. Using Macbook Pro 2018 for a long time for heavy taks may overstress these connections and cause solder cracks. Do Apple need another lawsuit action or repair program? I do not think so. Limiting TDP would be reasonable for multi core chip and I really do not understand why Apple did not do it.

I can find no evidence that a laptop runs hot but within specs will suffer sufficiently higher failure rates (with the exception of hard drives which are not part of the equation). I believe hot/cold cycles are much more stressful on electronics than just heat itself - especially for poorly constructed PCBs or seated chips (which no longer exist in laptops; we use to refer to it as chip creak ) Hot running laptops are almost a given for gaming laptops (some even so hot that you could probably fry an egg on the keyboard). Apple laptops have generally run hot - and still, they have been known to last a very long time. I believe it all depends on if the electronics are designed for it and the components chosen for that situation. That said, I generally run my computers with higher than default fan settings - just because it makes me feel more comfortable.

Throttling down is the electronics defense mechanism to avoid running too hot.

 

[Feenician]

I can find no evidence that a laptop runs hot but within specs will suffer sufficiently higher failure rates (with the exception of hard drives which are not part of the equation). I believe hot/cold cycles are much more stressful on electronics than just heat itself - especially for poorly constructed PCBs or seated chips (which no longer exist in laptops; we use to refer to it as chip creak ) Hot running laptops are almost a given for gaming laptops (some even so hot that you could probably fry an egg on the keyboard). Apple laptops have generally run hot - and still, they have been known to last a very long time. I believe it all depends on if the electronics are designed for it and the components chosen for that situation. That said, I generally run my computers with higher than default fan settings - just because it makes me feel more comfortable.

Throttling down is the electronics defense mechanism to avoid running too hot.

Right. Both my 2013 and 2015 hit ~100c when they’re stressed. They are designed to do exactly that. They throttle only when they hit that temperature, as the current throttling policy stands. Neither are worse for wear.

 

[sammy2066]

Right. Both my 2013 and 2015 hit ~100c when they’re stressed. They are designed to do exactly that. They throttle only when they hit that temperature, as the current throttling policy stands. Neither are worse for wear.

Neither are worse for wear? Wow, you clearly know nothing about the adverse effects of consistently high operating temperatures on CPU/silicon and overall component longevity. Also, no system is designed to sustain 100c operating temperatures - the fact that it does simply highlights the inadequacy of the cooling system. Also, throttling is not considered normal, as it prevents the CPU from operating at frequencies (e.g. turbo), which it otherwise would have been able to operate at, had the cooling system allowed it.

 

[Waxhead138]

ThrottleGate.

Oh we had that already

Man it would be awesome if a new term besides "XXX Gate" could be coined. The use of "gate" should have ended with Watergate, or perhaps with one of the hundreds of times its been re-used here.

It's over used.....sorry Sethboy...not an attack on you.

It's beyond being used as a term of reference. It started out as humorous....now it's just hack. Let's end the Carlos Mencia with this terminology....

 

[DeepIn2U]

Class action lawsuit in 3...2...1...

In all honesty I think Apple executives need to stop offering the core i9 as an option and offer a better core i7 solution as a full same day swap for those that had been shafted.

Apple engineering team for MBP have finally reached the limit of what Ives design team keeps pushing metal chassis. Time to use carbon hybrids for cooling efficiencies.

 

[dspdoc]

In all honesty I think Apple executives need to stop offering the core i9 as an option and offer a better core i7 solution as a full same day swap for those that had been shafted.

Apple engineering team for MBP have finally reached the limit of what Ives design team keeps pushing metal chassis. Time to use carbon hybrids for cooling efficiencies.

You might want to give these executives a call then and see just how far you get with telling them what they need to do since you know better than their engineers do.

 

[OC40]

You might want to give these executives a call then and see just how far you get with telling them what they need to do since you know better than their engineers do.

Let’s sue everyone!