16GB m1 pro is hot and fan is running for 75% of my normal workload,battery last only 10 hours

[AlexOnBoard]

My mac: 16GB m1 pro with 512ssd, booked online and got it 4 days ago

Main Payload: terminal+react native + ios simulator, chrome 10+ tabs, firefox 10+ tabs, vscode, android studio and an extra monitor
Result: it hot than my windows10 ThinkPad L570 laptop(32GB,i7) and the fan is running sometimes

And the battery only lasts around 8 to 10 hours if using the battery with the same payload.

This is around 75% of my normal workload as a full stack developer and I feel this pro mac almost reach its limit.
Does anyone have similar feelings? or is there something wrong of this mac?

 

[bill-p]

You're using way too much memory keeping too many things running all once.

Your memory usage is hitting 15GB + swap is already at 6GB. It sounds like you need a 32GB machine with that kind of usage.

On top of that, Safari and Chrome are both thrashing your CPU, and I don't know why your workflow needs you to have 3 different browsers running concurrently with multiple tabs each?

Last but not least, VS Code is not native M1, but I think it'll be fine. The problem is Android Studio. It is based on IntelliJ IDEA, which is a resource and CPU hog even when it's running natively on an x86 machine. Here, it's running through Rosetta 2, and I bet that isn't a happy recipe.

Isn't your L570 also running warm with the fan audible with that usage? I'd find it hard to believe the L570 is quiet and cool, and can last 8 hours with the same usage. As for why the M1 MacBook Pro is hotter, I think it's just because Apple doesn't ramp the fan up until temperature hits a certain threshold, so as a result, the MacBook gets quite warm (hot?) before the fan kicks in. No doubt they're optimizing for fan noise here.

 

[bobmans]

The problem is that you purchased an entry-level Macbook for high-end workloads.
Should've waited until they updated the actual Macbook Pro (The 4 Port 13"/16", the base model that got replaced was never a real Macbook Pro). You didn't run those workloads on an i3 either.

I also develop in Android Studio a lot and I don't even have it installed on my low/mid-end laptops because I know for a fact that it requires a high-end machine.
I'm actually surprised that it just runs hot and doesn't crash all the time on a M1 machine and not even being Native, very impressive for a low-end machine.

 

[Ursadorable]

You're using way too much memory keeping too many things running all once.

Sounds more like the M1's pathetic 16GB ceiling is the culprit, which is why I avoided the M1 Mac Mini and bought the 2018 instead and stuffed 64GB in it.

All these shills trying to claim "you're using it wrong" when concerns were raised about the maximum available memory on these new M1 computers. Just because your worflow doesn't make use of RAM over 16GB doesn't mean it's an invalid issue. Even a web developer can have multiple browsers open, including photoshop, a code editor, etc. simultaneously and bang their head into a 16GB ceiling.

 

[AlexOnBoard]

Hi Bill,

I know it's a heavy workload for this mac, however, it works better on the ThinkPad L570 with 32GB ram. Seems 16GB on m1 chip still not enough. Now the swap is 11GB and the firefox consumed around 9GB memory. Firefox may be the issue I need to fix. And, The swap seems not to release until reboot?

About the fan, Like you said the m1 mac did not turn on the fan until I open the android studio app while ThinkPad's fan always on but quiet than the m1 mac.

Chrome & firefox & Safari are for different debugging & testing purposes, don't know why they consume so much CPU.

Most apps I installed seem native, e.g vs code insider, firefox nightly, chrome, node, MySQL etc. I agree the Android Studio is one big performance issue of m1.

 

[bill-p]

Yeah, I don't get all of these people claiming "16GB on M1 is just like 32GB on Intel". M1 may be fast, but it's still a computer, and an "artificial" limit of 16GB RAM will cause it to suffer just like any other computer with 16GB RAM. I think you may have to wait until a Mac with 32GB RAM is released.

I do have a work-issued HP ZBook 15" for development of desktop apps. It does have 32GB of RAM, and I can max that out pretty easily with just 3 windows of IDEA running. The problem is IDEA itself is just a hog. It constantly tries to index things all the time. For smaller projects, that may be okay. But for larger projects with multiple modules, it gets pretty insane.

But I'm also surprised Firefox is eating up 9GB RAM. It seemed pretty tame a while ago, but I haven't tried it on my M1 to tell if it works well or not. It may be because you're running the Nightly version, and it has memory leak issue?

 

[AlexOnBoard]

The problem is that you purchased an entry-level Macbook for high-end workloads.
Should've waited until they updated the actual Macbook Pro (The 4 Port 13"/16", the base model that got replaced was never a real Macbook Pro). You didn't run those workloads on an i3 either.

I also develop in Android Studio a lot and I don't even have it installed on my low/mid-end laptops because I know for a fact that it requires a high-end machine.
I'm actually surprised that it just runs hot and doesn't crash all the time on a M1 machine and not even being Native, very impressive for a low-end machine.

Based on the m1 benchmark results, it already beat 16'' mac pro 2019. the CPU and SSD performances are much higher than my 3-year old ThinkPad L570.

IMO, it should not be considered as a low-end machine except only 16GB ram

 

[nameste]

Hi Bill,

I know it's a heavy workload for this mac, however, it works better on the ThinkPad L570 with 32GB ram. Seems 16GB on m1 chip still not enough. Now the swap is 11GB and the firefox consumed around 9GB memory. Firefox may be the issue I need to fix. And, The swap seems not to release until reboot?

View attachment 1680479

About the fan, Like you said the m1 mac did not turn on the fan until I open the android studio app while ThinkPad's fan always on but quiet than the m1 mac.

Chrome & firefox & Safari are for different debugging & testing purposes, don't know why they consume so much CPU.

Most apps I installed seem native, e.g vs code insider, firefox nightly, chrome, node, MySQL etc. I agree the Android Studio is one big performance issue of m1.

I wonder what will happen with the m1 mba under same load?

 

[AlexOnBoard]

Yeah, I don't get all of these people claiming "16GB on M1 is just like 32GB on Intel". M1 may be fast, but it's still a computer, and an "artificial" limit of 16GB RAM will cause it to suffer just like any other computer with 16GB RAM. I think you may have to wait until a Mac with 32GB RAM is released.

But I'm also surprised Firefox is eating up 9GB RAM. It seemed pretty tame a while ago, but I haven't tried it on my M1 to tell if it works well or not. It may be because you're running the Nightly version, and it has memory leak issue?

I tried the firefox standard and it crashes all the time when I inspect element. so I install the nightly bata instead. Let's hope the memory issue is the firefox nightly.

 

[Ethosik]

Sounds more like the M1's pathetic 16GB ceiling is the culprit, which is why I avoided the M1 Mac Mini and bought the 2018 instead and stuffed 64GB in it.

All these shills trying to claim "you're using it wrong" when concerns were raised about the maximum available memory on these new M1 computers. Just because your worflow doesn't make use of RAM over 16GB doesn't mean it's an invalid issue. Even a web developer can have multiple browsers open, including photoshop, a code editor, etc. simultaneously and bang their head into a 16GB ceiling.

If you have heavy workflow, more memory makes sense. But would you have even looked at the 16GB to begin with?

Give this a watch:

 

[ipponrg]

Main Payload: terminal+react native + ios simulator, chrome 10+ tabs, firefox 10+ tabs, vscode, android studio and an extra monitor
Result: it hot than my windows10 ThinkPad L570 laptop(32GB,i7) and the fan is running sometimes

And the battery only lasts around 8 to 10 hours if using the battery with the same payload.

Seems 9-10 hours is reasonable when you're thrashing at it with as many apps/tabs as you have opened. My 2018 15" MBP with 16GB lasts maybe 2-3 hours with similar number/types of opened apps with thrashing.

 

[pshufd]

Yeah, I don't get all of these people claiming "16GB on M1 is just like 32GB on Intel". M1 may be fast, but it's still a computer, and an "artificial" limit of 16GB RAM will cause it to suffer just like any other computer with 16GB RAM. I think you may have to wait until a Mac with 32GB RAM is released.

I do have a work-issued HP ZBook 15" for development of desktop apps. It does have 32GB of RAM, and I can max that out pretty easily with just 3 windows of IDEA running. The problem is IDEA itself is just a hog. It constantly tries to index things all the time. For smaller projects, that may be okay. But for larger projects with multiple modules, it gets pretty insane.

But I'm also surprised Firefox is eating up 9GB RAM. It seemed pretty tame a while ago, but I haven't tried it on my M1 to tell if it works well or not. It may be because you're running the Nightly version, and it has memory leak issue?

Firefox routinely runs up about 4 GB on my system with about 7 tabs open all the time. I have it on maximum performance settings - maybe decreasing the number of Firefox processes would help with RAM. I think that it ranges from 2 to 8.

 

[curl_marx]

Last but not least, VS Code is not native M1

FYI there are in fact experimental builds available for VS Code with support for Apple Silicon.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1326237772860981249

 

[vddobrev]

My mac: 16GB m1 pro with 512ssd, booked online and got it 4 days ago

Main Payload: terminal+react native + ios simulator, chrome 10+ tabs, firefox 10+ tabs, vscode, android studio and an extra monitor
Result: it hot than my windows10 ThinkPad L570 laptop(32GB,i7) and the fan is running sometimes

And the battery only lasts around 8 to 10 hours if using the battery with the same payload.

This is around 75% of my normal workload as a full stack developer and I feel this pro mac almost reach its limit.
Does anyone have similar feelings? or is there something wrong of this mac?

Are you sure this is realistic needs and expectations? Can you justify the need, and if yes - why do you think you need "chrome 10+ tabs, firefox 10+ tabs". What exactly are you monitoring in 20+ browser tabs? Simultaneously?

Battery - 8 to 10 hours of doing what exactly? If you were watching a movie only, it will perhaps last 20 hours...

Full stack developer? Which stack exactly? I think this is unrealistic expectations of this machine, i.e. this is not a workstation with a 64GB RAM and a 24 core CPU. So be real please.

 

[EPO75]

How about not use a browser via Rosetta, think that would make your life a lot better. Intel stuff then hogs battery and so it seems killing your system.
Firefox is not yet M1 ready, they are working on it, avoid it until then.

 

[jerryk]

Firefox is sort of buggy and experimental these days. I hate that Chrome tracks everything, but I need a browser that performs well so I grit my teeth and run Chrome.

 

[trifid]

"chrome 10+ tabs, firefox 10+ tabs". What exactly are you monitoring in 20+ browser tabs? Simultaneously?

I'm a pro user but I don't understand this line of questioning. Does no 'regular' consumer open a ton of tabs when shopping and looking and different reviews, etc? 10 tabs is nothing, sorry. It seems a perfectly reasonable use case. Looking at some personal examples I know some of my family members that are not techie also have a ton of tabs open in this same example.

 

[pshufd]

I'm a pro user but I don't understand this line of questioning. Does no 'regular' consumer open a ton of tabs when shopping and looking and different reviews, etc? 10 tabs is nothing, sorry. It seems a perfectly reasonable use case. Looking at some personal examples I know some of my family members that are not techie also have a ton of tabs open in this same example.

I'll open 10 YouTube tabs sometimes and 4 GB for Firefox is normal for me. Absolutely no problems but I'm running on 64 GB of RAM. My solution if I wanted to go M1 would be to get two of them so that I have 32 GB of RAM.

 

[trifid]

Yea youtube is a good example as well. And browsers eat RAM like crazy, I just checked mine at 4gb right now. It's time to stop underestimating 'normal' usage, normal users don't just use Facebook and look at news, there is heavy usage from something as simple as browser usage, which by the way can hog the CPU as well.

 

[Sanpete]

Sounds more like the M1's pathetic 16GB ceiling is the culprit, which is why I avoided the M1 Mac Mini and bought the 2018 instead and stuffed 64GB in it.

All these shills trying to claim "you're using it wrong" when concerns were raised about the maximum available memory on these new M1 computers. Just because your worflow doesn't make use of RAM over 16GB doesn't mean it's an invalid issue.

How is it pathetic to replace base machines that were capped at 16GB with base machines that are capped at 16GB?

No one has said the 16GB limit isn't a legitimate concern for those who need more, or that needing more is doing it wrong.

Yeah, I don't get all of these people claiming "16GB on M1 is just like 32GB on Intel".

Not hard to understand those claims in the contexts where they're true, which are many.

 

[KPOM]

Sounds more like the M1's pathetic 16GB ceiling is the culprit, which is why I avoided the M1 Mac Mini and bought the 2018 instead and stuffed 64GB in it.

All these shills trying to claim "you're using it wrong" when concerns were raised about the maximum available memory on these new M1 computers. Just because your worflow doesn't make use of RAM over 16GB doesn't mean it's an invalid issue. Even a web developer can have multiple browsers open, including photoshop, a code editor, etc. simultaneously and bang their head into a 16GB ceiling.

These are consumer-grade products that replaced consumer-grade products that didn't support more than 16GB of RAM. I'm sure next year Apple will release new models that support 32GB or 64GB of RAM.

 

[KPOM]

The problem is that you purchased an entry-level Macbook for high-end workloads.
Should've waited until they updated the actual Macbook Pro (The 4 Port 13"/16", the base model that got replaced was never a real Macbook Pro). You didn't run those workloads on an i3 either.

Agreed. I think the high performance of the CPU leads some people to downplay the limitations of these entry-level Macs. To use a car analogy, a Corvette may have more horsepower than a Ford F150, but the Ford is still better at towing a boat.

 

[Ursadorable]

How is it pathetic to replace base machines that were capped at 16GB with base machines that are capped at 16GB?

To clarify, I referred to the Mac Mini, where the 2018 Mini caps at 64GB, and the M1 Mini caps at 16GB.

In other threads around the time the M1 was announced, there were some saying that 16GB was the same usefulness as 32GB on Intel, and if you needed more than 16GB on the M1 you were doing something wrong (hence my "You're doing it wrong" comment)

 

[KPOM]

To clarify, I referred to the Mac Mini, where the 2018 Mini caps at 64GB, and the M1 Mini caps at 16GB.

In other threads around the time the M1 was announced, there were some saying that 16GB was the same usefulness as 32GB on Intel, and if you needed more than 16GB on the M1 you were doing something wrong (hence my "You're doing it wrong" comment)

You can still buy the Intel Mac mini that supports 64GB of RAM. My guess is that the Intel model gets replaced the same time that the iMacs get Apple Silicon.

 

[Sanpete]

To clarify, I referred to the Mac Mini, where the 2018 Mini caps at 64GB, and the M1 Mini caps at 16GB.

In other threads around the time the M1 was announced, there were some saying that 16GB was the same usefulness as 32GB on Intel, and if you needed more than 16GB on the M1 you were doing something wrong (hence my "You're doing it wrong" comment)

The thread is about an MBP, of course. (The new M1 Mini doesn't directly replace the base Intel Minis. It's a new cheaper base model with fewer ports and smaller RAM limit.)

I've never seen anyone say that if you need more than 16GB on the M1 you're doing something wrong. There are ways in which 16GB on the M1 works just as well as 32 on the Intel Macs, but that doesn't imply no one will need more than 16, even to do what they did before with 32. Depends on what they're doing.