14'' M3 Max new owners - fan noise?

[H_D]

I'm not surprised. ImageOptim, TopazVideo and Handbrake x265 CPU are prime methods to get the CPU super hot and the fans working overtime. I would have been happy if the M3'd've made a difference but not something to expect, when you push the CPU in a small encasement, this must happen. In the Studiowith the Ultra, it also happens, but due to the offing massive cooling unit you don't notice it as much. The smaller fans in the MBP kick up a lot of noise, though.

 

[Mcdevidr]

I got the 14/30 Max early and after testing I’m going to return it and hold on to the 12/18 M3 Pro. The improved overall performance is not worth the extra heat, noise, and hit to my wallet. Playing games like RE: Village and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided at 60+ fps in near silence on the Pro is something to behold.

Question now is do I return what I have in favor of the same processor but with a RAM and storage upgrade? I’m thinking no as Windows in a VM should run OK with 8 GB allocated and I can use an external SSD if needed. Not sure I really want to spend another $1k plus factoring in AppleCare.

Yep. I don’t play gpu intense games but cpu intense ones. And it’s great to play these in silence at 1200p or higher with fast cou performance and 0 noise.

 

[Filmx]

14" 14 core M3 Max, have yet to hear the fans turn on.

What apps have you tested? Do you have Lightroom? After reading these posts I'm worried my 14" 16/40 core coming next week will be annoyingly loud.

 

[Filmx]

Are you on low or high power mode in the battery setting when you ran your task? It seems no fan noise at 2k-3k rpm on my 14" on lower power. However, I was doing some export in davinci resolve and notice fan noise towards the end of the encoding on higher power. It seems maybe apps need to be optimized to use the m3.

Are you happy with your 14" even with the fan noise or do you wish you got a different config?

 

[Ma2k5]

I got the 14/30 Max early and after testing I’m going to return it and hold on to the 12/18 M3 Pro. The improved overall performance is not worth the extra heat, noise, and hit to my wallet. Playing games like RE: Village and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided at 60+ fps in near silence on the Pro is something to behold.

Question now is do I return what I have in favor of the same processor but with a RAM and storage upgrade? I’m thinking no as Windows in a VM should run OK with 8 GB allocated and I can use an external SSD if needed. Not sure I really want to spend another $1k plus factoring in AppleCare.

I got 12/18 with 36GB/1TB and I think it’s truly the best of the bunch. Awesome battery life, minimal heat/noise.

 

[Lotuskid]

i've been using a 14/30 max 14 inch and i did a short video edit in fcp, granted the footage was 4k iphone footage so not intensive, no plug ins etc. but during the edit and while export the fan didn't kick up at all. only time i heard the fan so far was this morning just out of curiosity began running a cinebench test to see how it compares to my m1 pro 14" that i still have (debating on if the upgrade is justified - yes if i have to ask its probably not)

edit: just started an export of 800+ photos in Lightroom and the fan immediately kicked up, but quieted down after about a minute

 

[Filmx]

i've been using a 14/30 max 14 inch and i did a short video edit in fcp, granted the footage was 4k iphone footage so not intensive, no plug ins etc. but during the edit and while export the fan didn't kick up at all. only time i heard the fan so far was this morning just out of curiosity began running a cinebench test to see how it compares to my m1 pro 14" that i still have (debating on if the upgrade is justified - yes if i have to ask its probably not)

edit: just started an export of 800+ photos in Lightroom and the fan immediately kicked up, but quieted down after about a minute

What camera/file types are you working with in Lightroom? Any lag moving between photos in Lightroom or when zooming in to 100% or 200%? Any lag using the clone stamp tool? My 2020 M1 lags with all of these tasks when working with my Canon R5 raw files. I'm hoping splurging for an M3 Pro or M3 Max will be a massive bump in performance.

 

[Lotuskid]

What camera/file types are you working with in Lightroom? Any lag moving between photos in Lightroom or when zooming in to 100% or 200%? Any lag using the clone stamp tool? My 2020 M1 lags with all of these tasks when working with my Canon R5 raw files. I'm hoping splurging for an M3 Pro or M3 Max will be a massive bump in performance.

36mp sony a7iv raw files, no such lag that I can notice. I will add though that I also currently have an M1 Pro and don't notice much lag in the situations you mention, but I do get a beachball when I add AI denoise etc. in one test on the max the denoise preview popped up right away and applying took 30 seconds, which is double what the M1 Pro does.

(that being said the upgrade for my use seems like it might be overkill)

 

[Tomguin]

I got 12/18 with 36GB/1TB and I think it’s truly the best of the bunch. Awesome battery life, minimal heat/noise.

Would it run WoW well for a few years?

 

[saturnotaku]

Would it run WoW well for a few years?

An M3 Pro is overkill for WoW considering the game runs perfectly on an M1 Air.

 

[Tomguin]

An M3 Pro is overkill for WoW considering the game runs perfectly on an M1 Air.

Thanks I’ll get a Pro. Was going to get the Max but I definitely don’t need one.

 

[lclev]

I got my 14" M3 max 16/40 on Wednesday. On Thursday I exported an hour of HD video with graphics and special touches from Premiere Pro which took about 7 minutes. I had it plugged in with 2 - 27" 4K monitors attached. The fans definitely ramped up. TG Pro showed them maxed out and I could hear them running but it was no louder than my M1 Max got doing the same type of project. Also the minute it was done the fans backed down and it cooled right down. The M3 is definitely faster than the M1.

I also opened up about 300 wedding photos I had done in Lightroom. The photos were in RAW format and I played around with them then exported them as jpegs just to see what would happen. The M3 was fast and snappy. The fans never came on. Export speed seemed to be a bit faster than when I did the project on my M1. Either way it was fast.

I was initially concerned about fan noise, heat output and throttling with the M3 based on what I had read. I can sit with it on my lap and let it export and while it gets warm it is not uncomfortable. My M3 is behaving just like my M1 did only maybe a little snappier and faster but, I really don't see a huge step up from the M1 to the M3 but it is a fast machine.

 

[vividbreeze]

I have the 14" M3 Max with 30 GPU and the fan is annoying. The CPUs heat up pretty fast compared to my M1 notebook. Especially, e.g. when I use the Magic Mask or the Depth Mask for 1min scenes. Sure I can use the Low Power Mode, but then what's the reason to get an M3 Max? And it isn't a fan problem, the CPU get to > 60 degrees Celsius pretty quicky, e.g. while simple stress rotation a simple 3D Model in Blender. I really thinking of returning mine.

 

[brooklyn360]

I have the 14" M3 Max with 30 GPU and the fan is annoying. The CPUs heat up pretty fast compared to my M1 notebook. Especially, e.g. when I use the Magic Mask or the Depth Mask for 1min scenes. Sure I can use the Low Power Mode, but then what's the reason to get an M3 Max? And it isn't a fan problem, the CPU get to > 60 degrees Celsius pretty quicky, e.g. while simple stress rotation a simple 3D Model in Blender. I really thinking of returning mine.

It don't think it gets better. M1 didn't get as hot as it gets now. I guess it depends on how clean you keep your computer and the memory. But if you going to do all the work and still get less power than intended just go for the cooler chip or the larger mbp.

 

[Filmx]

I got my 14" M3 max 16/40 on Wednesday. On Thursday I exported an hour of HD video with graphics and special touches from Premiere Pro which took about 7 minutes. I had it plugged in with 2 - 27" 4K monitors attached. The fans definitely ramped up. TG Pro showed them maxed out and I could hear them running but it was no louder than my M1 Max got doing the same type of project. Also the minute it was done the fans backed down and it cooled right down. The M3 is definitely faster than the M1.

I also opened up about 300 wedding photos I had done in Lightroom. The photos were in RAW format and I played around with them then exported them as jpegs just to see what would happen. The M3 was fast and snappy. The fans never came on. Export speed seemed to be a bit faster than when I did the project on my M1. Either way it was fast.

I was initially concerned about fan noise, heat output and throttling with the M3 based on what I had read. I can sit with it on my lap and let it export and while it gets warm it is not uncomfortable. My M3 is behaving just like my M1 did only maybe a little snappier and faster but, I really don't see a huge step up from the M1 to the M3 but it is a fast machine.

This has eased some of my concerns about my 14" 16/40 arriving on Monday.

 

[Filmx]

I have the 14" M3 Max with 30 GPU and the fan is annoying. The CPUs heat up pretty fast compared to my M1 notebook. Especially, e.g. when I use the Magic Mask or the Depth Mask for 1min scenes. Sure I can use the Low Power Mode, but then what's the reason to get an M3 Max? And it isn't a fan problem, the CPU get to > 60 degrees Celsius pretty quicky, e.g. while simple stress rotation a simple 3D Model in Blender. I really thinking of returning mine.

The post above yours made me feel more comfortable about my 14" 16/40 M3 Max arriving Monday then your post made me think I made a mistake again lol

If you were to have it docked how far would you need it to be to be comfortable in terms of noise levels?

 

[Ma2k5]

Would it run WoW well for a few years?

Easily.

 

[vividbreeze]

The post above yours made me feel more comfortable about my 14" 16/40 M3 Max arriving Monday then your post made me think I made a mistake again lol

If you were to have it docked how far would you need it to be to be comfortable in terms of noise levels?

Well, the overall performance is impressive, other benchmarks such as Blender or Xcodebenchmark show significant improvements of almost 3x. When I use automatic mode the fans don't kick in - or only on low speed which I'm totally fine with (and only on a rare occasion in full speed). Only on high speed they become really annoying (as I am not used to it from the M1). I thought of "upgrading" to the 16" version, but it's too large for me. 14" are just perfect.

I will do some more tests with my everyday live settings (running more VMs and Docker Containers) and make a final judgement.

 

[Filmx]

Well, the overall performance is impressive, other benchmarks such as Blender or Xcodebenchmark show significant improvements of almost 3x. When I use automatic mode the fans don't kick in - or only on low speed which I'm totally fine with (and only on a rare occasion in full speed). Only on high speed they become really annoying (as I am not used to it from the M1). I thought of "upgrading" to the 16" version, but it's too large for me. 14" are just perfect.

I will do some more tests with my everyday live settings (running more VMs and Docker Containers) and make a final judgement.

Did you do any further testing? Are you keeping yours? Based on the posts I've seen about fan noise and throttling I'm considering dealing with the size of the 16" even though I prefer 14".

 

[vividbreeze]

Did you do any further testing? Are you keeping yours? Based on the posts I've seen about fan noise and throttling I'm considering dealing with the size of the 16" even though I prefer 14".

I will keep the 14" Macbook. The other benchmarks look impressive (around 2-3x faster than the M1 or even more) and in real live settings I don't hear the fan at all. Only with very intensive workloads such as the magic mask in Davince Resolve. I had a look at the 16" model in the Apple store and it's way too big for me. In my 14" Macbook Pro the screen is a bit bigger than from my 13" Macbook which is perfect, and the size of the casing is almost the same. It has the perfect form factor for portability.

 

[richinaus]

worth a read.

Apple MacBook Pro 14 2023 M3 Max Review - The fastest CPU in a 14-inch laptop

Notebookcheck reviews the new Apple MacBook Pro 14 M3 Max with 16 CPU cores and 40 GPU cores.

www.notebookcheck.net

 

[Filmx]

worth a read.

Apple MacBook Pro 14 2023 M3 Max Review - The fastest CPU in a 14-inch laptop

Notebookcheck reviews the new Apple MacBook Pro 14 M3 Max with 16 CPU cores and 40 GPU cores.

www.notebookcheck.net

Great review, thanks

 

[Filmx]

I will the 14" Macbook. The other benchmarks look impressive (around 2-3x faster than the M1 or even more) and in real live settings I don't hear the fan at all. Only with very intensive workloads such as the magic mask in Davince Resolve. I had a look at the 16" model in the Apple store and it's way too big for me. In my 14" Macbook Pro the screen is a bit bigger than from my 13" Macbook which is perfect, and the size of the casing is almost the same. It has the perfect form factor for portability.

Do you notice a big difference in fan noise between automatic and high power mode?

 

[vividbreeze]

Yes, but it depends on the situation. I guess in high power mode the Macbook tries to utilise all the processing power it can technically provide and hence the fans kick in faster. There was only benchmark test I performanced (afair Cinebench) where the fans ran at max speed. And with the Magic Mask feature in Davinci in High Performance Mode the fan kicks in at high speed pretty early. But these seem to be an exception. And afaik, this also happens with the 16" version.

 

[richard371]

I’ve decided to keep my 14”16/40 48/1tb. The 16 is just too much of a slab for me. When in doing intense tasks it’s docked at my desk and I have music playing so even with max fans it doesn’t bother me. When on the couch etc I don’t do anything that intense. I also ran xplane 12 on my mbp 14 m2pro 12/19. The fans came on, it also got hot and throttled and it’s not a max. Yes the 16 is the way to go if you can deal with the size. I’m sure it will get warm and throttle at times too just less. The 14 m3 max is still very usable and fast.