14" MacBook Pro usage vs M2 Air on bed/couch -> dust?

[Imory]

I realize it's a funny title, but I recently bought a 14" MacBook Pro (16 GB/1TB) to replace my aging 2013 MacBook Air. While it has been an excellent computer it is starting to feel its age and really needs to be replaced. However, my question to all you current 14" Pro users are if you can comfortably use the 14" on your bed cover or let it be on the couch without suffocating it? Since the inlets/vents are on the bottom to pull air, I'm concerned that it might be suffocated since I mostly use my current 2013 Air in bed by letting it lie on the bed cover. When traveling, I always prefer to let it lie on the bed when watching Netflix/Youtube and that has never been an issue since the 2013 Air is fairly sealed.

I tried out the new M2 Air and the fanless design would really puts those (absurd) concerns to bed (no pun intended). The 2013 Air has no bottom vents so I've never really been concerned regarding dusting and just the outright accumulation of it.

If anyone else out there is debating this between the M2 Air and the 14" Pro, feel free to let me know. I've pretty much already accounted for all other differences, but this one seems to be flying under the radar and I'm concerned about the dustin/overheating aspect of letting the Pro lie on a surface which can really block the vents.

My usage will primarily be tab-hoarding Safari/Firefox and watching 4K clips on Youtube.

 

[raffyraffy]

🤦‍♂️

 

[Imory]

🤦‍♂️

Why bother if you’ve got nothing valuable to add? I find it to be a legitimate question since there are probably a fair amount who use their MacBooks on non-flat surfaces.

 

[Apple_Robert]

14 pro is overkill for in the bed. I would not do it unless money is no concern and you have a way to prop the Mac up off the bed sheets. You should consider an M1 MBA or an iPad for bed use.

 

[Imory]

14 pro is overkill for in the bed. I would not do it unless money is no concern and you have a way to prop the Mac up off the bed sheets. You should consider an M1 MBA or an iPad for bed use.

Any particular reason you opted for 16 GB of RAM vs 24 for your Air?

 

[Apple_Robert]

Any particular reason you opted for 16 GB of RAM vs 24 for your Air?

24GB isn’t needed in the Air period. If someone needs that kind of power with a large SSD for sustained work, that person should be using a mini or a MBP. Apple offering 24GB is nothing more than marketing bucks.

 

[Imory]

24GB isn’t needed in the Air period. If someone needs that kind of power with a large SSD for sustained work, that person should be using a mini or a MBP. Apple offering 24GB is nothing more than marketing bucks.

Sort of arguing the same. Was curious. Can't underestimate the prevalence of electron and the web getting more bloated though.

 

[luy]

Just got my MBP14 and im going to use it 80% on my lap on the couch or in bed.
I don't care about ventilation or something at all. The fans never turned on so far, or I never could hear them.
I don't think the MBP14 is a overkill for casual users, the mini led screen makes the difference, specially when watching a lot video content.

 

[Imory]

Just got my MBP14 and im going to use it 80% on my lap on the couch or in bed.
I don't care about ventilation or something at all. The fans never turned on so far, or I never could hear them.
I don't think the MBP14 is a overkill for casual users, the mini led screen makes the difference, specially when watching a lot video content.

Thoroughly agree about the screen. But I was surprised to see how good the screen of the M2 Air was. I thought the difference would be greater, but the M2 Air has great contrast and color reproduction for being an LCD. The panels Apple are sourcing aren't too bad at all. However, the differences become more apparent in a darker setting so all of that was negated by seeing them side by side in a very well lit environment (store).

 

[netnative]

Any particular reason you opted for 16 GB of RAM vs 24 for your Air?

24GB should be useful for running Windows 11 applications with Parallels Desktop. The more RAM that one allocate to the virtual machine without affecting the efficient operation of macOS the better.

 

[xraydoc]

24GB should be useful for running Windows 11 applications with Parallels Desktop. The more RAM that one allocate to the virtual machine without affecting the efficient operation of macOS the better.

While valid, I can't see a VM getting RAM-limited but not also getting CPU-limited. And given there's only 4 performance cores on the M1/M2 as compared with 6 or 8 performance cores on an M1 Pro, if you're going to need 24GB to run that many VMs, you're probably also going to want those extra cores.

I'm suspecting the chief reason the M2 supports up to 24GB is just so the M2 Pro/Max/Ultra/SuperMegaLighting machines can support 48GB, 96GB and 192MB, up from 32GB, 64GB and 128MB.

 

[Devyn89]

I realize it's a funny title, but I recently bought a 14" MacBook Pro (16 GB/1TB) to replace my aging 2013 MacBook Air. While it has been an excellent computer it is starting to feel its age and really needs to be replaced. However, my question to all you current 14" Pro users are if you can comfortably use the 14" on your bed cover or let it be on the couch without suffocating it? Since the inlets/vents are on the bottom to pull air, I'm concerned that it might be suffocated since I mostly use my current 2013 Air in bed by letting it lie on the bed cover. When traveling, I always prefer to let it lie on the bed when watching Netflix/Youtube and that has never been an issue since the 2013 Air is fairly sealed.

I tried out the new M2 Air and the fanless design would really puts those (absurd) concerns to bed (no pun intended). The 2013 Air has no bottom vents so I've never really been concerned regarding dusting and just the outright accumulation of it.

If anyone else out there is debating this between the M2 Air and the 14" Pro, feel free to let me know. I've pretty much already accounted for all other differences, but this one seems to be flying under the radar and I'm concerned about the dustin/overheating aspect of letting the Pro lie on a surface which can really block the vents.

My usage will primarily be tab-hoarding Safari/Firefox and watching 4K clips on Youtube.

Any tasks that don’t heat up or throttle the chip on the MacBook Air won’t on the MacBook Pro. The fans and vents are there specifically for when you need them for high intensity, sustained workloads. The chips are designed to be very efficient just the like the M1/M2, the difference is if you need the extra power the fans help sustain the load. You shouldn’t need to worry about dust getting in or covering the vents unless the fans are actively on because you’re doing some intensive. In other words you should be totally fine using the Pro in bed just like the Air but I would avoid doing anything really taxing for long periods in bed.

 

[mizzoucat]

Get a $35 lap desk from Amazon. Problem solved.

 

[Imory]

Get a $35 lap desk from Amazon. Problem solved.

Haha, is that a thing?

 

[Feisar]

The only time my fans kicked on was when I was first setting it up - downloading and running software update 12.4.

Otherwise, fans haven't kicked on at all from everyday use. Watched 2 4K HDR streaming movies last night, Dune and Everything Everywhere All at Once, with the MBP 14 M1 Pro base model sitting on my bed - no issues or worries.


Setting up MBP - Software updater running




Watching Dune 4K HDR last night

 

[Imory]

The only time my fans kicked on was when I was first setting it up - downloading and running software update 12.4.

Otherwise, fans haven't kicked on at all from everyday use. Watched 2 4K HDR streaming movies last night, Dune and Everything Everywhere All at Once, with the MBP 14 M1 Pro base model sitting on my bed - no issues or worries.


Setting up MBP - Software updater running

View attachment 2030653


Watching Dune 4K HDR last night

View attachment 2030654

That’s very positive to hear. So you let it sit on the bed cover and the Pro never got hot during that period?

 

[thv]

I have the 16" but I used my father's 14" for a time & did photoshop tasks that made my 2017 iMac fans sound like an airplane - never heard them once in the 14"... I haven't done super intensive stuff yet as I don't tend to do that in bed anyway, but I don't think this is something you need to be very concerned about. I can't imagine safari making them kick on

 

[Feisar]

That’s very positive to hear. So you let it sit on the bed cover and the Pro never got hot during that period?

Nah never got hot or felt warm during that period, peak air flow was 37C and CPU temp average was 51C on the bed cover.

 

[Imory]

Nah never got hot or felt warm during that period, peak air flow was 37C and CPU temp average was 51C on the bed cover.

View attachment 2030671 View attachment 2030672

Interesting. Where is the airflow sensor? Is that the bottom vent or the exhaust vents by the screen?

 

[Feisar]

Interesting. Where is the airflow sensor? Is that the bottom vent or the exhaust vents by the screen?

Not quite sure TBH - could be air intake on the sides and/or exhausts by the screen. Was looking for airflow sensors on the Chip ID list but only found the Texas Instruments TMP461 Temperature Sensor on touchpad.

 

[Graham Caracas]

If you prefer sleeping with a computer, I would think an iPad would be more versatile for your favorite positions, and those "special" occaisions.

 

[Imory]

If you prefer sleeping with a computer, I would think an iPad would be more versatile for your favorite positions, and those "special" occaisions.

Let’s not project too much pal.

The point is that I don’t use my laptop on a desk most of the time. If I did, why get a laptop at all? I want the flexibility of using it like an iPad. Except the iPad requires a stand and has an OS that is a 1000 times more cumbersome to use than MacOS.

 

[barkomatic]

I use my 14 MBP on the bed all the time without issue at all. I mostly just keep a bunch of tabs open and watch short videos so the fans have never kicked in. If I were to do something more taxing like editing 8K video then I would move to a desk but it doesn't sound like you're going to use it like that.

The "Pro" is mostly a marketing term. Being a video or photo editor isn't a prerequisite for getting these machines and they have benefits that non-pro users enjoy. That being said, the new Air is also really nice and I love the blue color. You can't go wrong with either choice.

 

[Imory]

I use my 14 MBP on the bed all the time without issue at all. I mostly just keep a bunch of tabs open and watch short videos so the fans have never kicked in. If I were to do something more taxing like editing 8K video then I would move to a desk but it doesn't sound like you're going to use it like that.

The "Pro" is mostly a marketing term. Being a video or photo editor isn't a prerequisite for getting these machines and they have benefits that non-pro users enjoy. That being said, the new Air is also really nice and I love the blue color. You can't go wrong with either choice.

Yeah I agree with the marketing aspect. If I could get the XDR display on the Pro for the Air I would’ve gone with the Air. Pro just means Prosumer who is willing to pay up for nicer features.

 

[MK500]

The fans and cooling system on the 14” are exceptionally good. I honestly don’t think you will have any problems with dust; as they are over-engineered. After a few years it may be worth opening it and carefully blowing out the fans with air (while holding them still so they don’t spin up and send voltage into your board).

I also worried a bit about vent blockage when sitting on my comforter; so I stole one of my wife’s small bamboo cutting boards (maybe 8x5?) and attached 4 of those little rubber sticker feet to it. I set my MacBook on that and it keeps it up off the comforter and it is still comfortable. The rubber feet contact the bottom of the MBP and keep the board from sliding around and give extra cooling space.



I ordered my 14” Max at launch and have absolutely loved it. I actually run iStat Menus on mine to set the fan curve a little higher than default when I use it on my lap. You can link it to the palm rest temperature and tune it to keep it extra cool (it’s just preference; it never really gets that hot anyway). Your model will run a lot cooler than mine anyway.

Apple really hit the engineering of this model out of the park. I plan on keeping mine at least 7 or 8 years.