2020 Air Heatsink Modification Thread

[throAU]

The case on my Macbook Pro 2018 sometimes gets so hot I can hardly use it on my lap.

You need a heat pipe mate.

Whelp, I guess the MBA is the true spiritual of the MB 12 with a very power constrained chip, no wonder Apple discontinued the MB 12.

Yup.

The new MBP 13 will have the same class of chip as that Acer. You're comparing apples to oranges there...

This is also a thing - the chip in the MBA is power limited as well. Intel spec for boost is only a fixed time over and above rated TDP and Apple probably designed for that - a limited time above base clock via the slightly larger than previous air heat-sink.

In short, expecting a 12 watt CPU to do the things some people are throwing it is literally choosing the wrong device for the job.

Would a heat pipe cool better? Sure. Maybe. But heat isn't the only limiting factor in the design of this machine. In fact, in some perverse way, by limiting the machine via lesser cooling, apple will limit the boost and power consumption of it, guaranteeing better battery life than if it had a more comprehensive cooling solution. It can't burn through the battery because it is both power and cooling limited

Also, they'll limit the volume of hot air heating the chassis and/or your crotch. Which is probably relevant for those using this machine as an actual LAP top, rather than a portable they take from desk to desk.



Now, should we all complain about how the ipad pro is cooling solution limited now? How about the iphone?

 

[RegularGuy09]

I'm a bit miffed. Product looked great on paper and geekbench scores looked amazing for an ultrabook, but there are some concerns with how hot this thing get. I'm glad it seem to perform better with Safari, but that's not an option for me as a web developer unfortunately.

Did you try using this machine with your regular workflow? How did it perform?

 

[intelligence]

Did you try using this machine with your regular workflow? How did it perform?

I have not. I still have hope that 13"/14" MBP might come with option to not have touch bar (yeah, silly me..). After that I'll make a decision and try out the option that seem to work best for me.

My current machine, which is a 2014 MBP 15" runs at below 50c with multiple programs open (including Chrome, Figma, Slack and Spotify). If I watch 4K material it goes up to ~70c, the computer gets hot, but not uncomfortable and fans come on and are fairly noisy around 4500 RPM. So based on this I feel that this machine might not be for me.

 

[RegularGuy09]

My current machine, which is a 2014 MBP 15" runs at below 50c with multiple programs open (including Chrome, Figma, Slack and Spotify). If I watch 4K material it goes up to ~70c, the computer gets hot, but not uncomfortable and fans come on and are fairly noisy around 4500 RPM. So based on this I feel that this machine might not be for me.

Hmm. I dont have a MBA to test this out, but from what Ive seen from other people testing it out, I think the MBA 2020 would also hit similar temps/fan speeds like your MBP. Then again, Im not sure and correct me if Im wrong.

 

[jgorman]

Notebookcheck released their review of the MacBook Air with the i5 CPU.

I did not know the fan noise changed this much compared to the 2019 model. Under load, the 2020 MBA averaged about 45 dba, while the 2019 model averaged about 34 dba.

 

[deeddawg]

So yeah, stuck between a rock and a hard place.

I'd rather have an updated version of the rMB12 to replace my 2015 model.

Yet that's not gonna happen in the foreseeable future.

We make the best choice we can of the available product lines.

 

[raymanh]

Ten pages later and the argument still goes on. What's the original debate again? 😄

Seems like a few things have been established from user reports and videos:

1. The Air runs hot during simple tasks and the fan is noisy.
2. It shows only marginal gains with improved cooling, and with further cooling showing no increase in performance despite significant temperature headroom.
3. Therefore, it appears Apple has hard coded limits into the CPU performance.

Going back to the main argument, a heatsink therefore would not improve performance substantially. Not because a heat pipe wouldn't cool better, but because of point 3.

It's a bit unfortunate. Apple could've made an amazing machine but ultimately handicapped it to protect the Pro. That's the issue here. It's not that we don't understand what it's 'intended market' is – please stop repeating that rhetoric (also as one user pointed out the Air is actually advertised playing a game). The Pro doesn't have any of these issues, it can sustain high boost speed and has a heat pipe. It's well designed and not compromised. To those arguing that the Air is a smaller lighter machine, let me reiterate; the Air is identical in footprint, thicker than the Pro near the hinge and almost the same weight. They're really in the same market segment! Now the 12" MacBook, that's completely different and therefore understandable that it throttles and isn't particularly fast.

 

[Bolanders]

Ten pages later and the argument still goes on. What's the original debate again? 😄

Seems like a few things have been established from user reports and videos:

1. The Air runs hot during simple tasks and the fan is noisy.
2. It shows only marginal gains with improved cooling, and with further cooling showing no increase in performance despite significant temperature headroom.
3. Therefore, it appears Apple has hard coded limits into the CPU performance.

Going back to the main argument, a heatsink therefore would not improve performance substantially. Not because a heat pipe wouldn't cool better, but because of point 3.

It's a bit unfortunate. Apple could've made an amazing machine but ultimately handicapped it to protect the Pro. That's the issue here. It's not that we don't understand what it's 'intended market' is – please stop repeating that rhetoric (also as one user pointed out the Air is actually advertised playing a game). The Pro doesn't have any of these issues, it can sustain high boost speed and has a heat pipe. It's well designed and not compromised. To those arguing that the Air is a smaller lighter machine, let me reiterate; the Air is identical in footprint, thicker than the Pro near the hinge and almost the same weight. They're really in the same market segment! Now the 12" MacBook, that's completely different and therefore understandable that it throttles and isn't particularly fast.

Couldn't care less about Apple's perception or the company other than the products I have and yet it performs flawlessly for my normal day to day usage so far and is virtually silent. Looks like someone is looking to create a controversy when there is none.

This is like you arguing a Honda Civic should be able to go 150mph instead of only 120mph and then calling that car horribly flawed because you can only go 120mph

 

[magbarn]

Notebookcheck released their review of the MacBook Air with the i5 CPU.

I did not know the fan noise changed this much compared to the 2019 model. Under load, the 2020 MBA averaged about 45 dba, while the 2019 model averaged about 34 dba.

that’s quite a bit louder than last years model. That’s pretty bad

 

[raymanh]

Couldn't care less about Apple's perception or the company other than the products I have and yet it performs flawlessly for my normal day to day usage so far and is virtually silent.

Just disagreeing with the idea that people can defend this decision by saying that it serves its intended market well.

This is like you arguing a Honda Civic should be able to go 150mph instead of only 120mph and then calling that car horribly flawed because you can only go 120mph

Not really. It's more like if a company put decent turbo 4 cylinder engine in a Civic, capable of 150 mph. Then, they placed a restrictor plate into the intake manifold, removed the pipes connecting the radiator to the cylinder heads, changed the cylinder heads to air cooled finned heads and then removed the now useless radiator so there's only a couple of fans left behind to air cool the engine. Now the Civic can only go 120 mph.

You then come along and say "oh its fine for its intended market, for normal day to day usage it works great".

 

[RegularGuy09]

Seems like a few things have been established from user reports and videos:

1. The Air runs hot during simple tasks and the fan is noisy.

From what I'm seeing from user reviews, and that YT video which tested the MBA with regular tasks(not benchmarks), this doesnt really seem to be true.
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Is there any other laptop in the market with the 10th gen icelake 9W processor(I know apple uses a slightly custom one but still) , that HAS a heatpipe connected to the heatsink?

We can then compare that to the Air and find what the hoopla is all about.

 

[KPOM]

Whelp, I guess the MBA is the true spiritual of the MB 12 with a very power constrained chip, no wonder Apple discontinued the MB 12.

Except the Air is a lot bigger.

 

[magbarn]

Just disagreeing with the idea that people can defend this decision by saying that it serves its intended market well.




Not really. It's more like if a company put decent turbo 4 cylinder engine in a Civic, capable of 150 mph. Then, they placed a restrictor plate into the intake manifold, removed the pipes connecting the radiator to the cylinder heads, changed the cylinder heads to air cooled finned heads and then removed the now useless radiator so there's only a couple of fans left behind to air cool the engine. Now the Civic can only go 120 mph.

You then come along and say "oh its fine for its intended market, for normal day to day usage it works great".

Your analogy works for Apple as Apple intends this MBA for people like my MIL who drive a 400+hp 550i and always drive the speed limit.

 

[RegularGuy09]

I think the problem is people see the quad core and think "Woah blazing fast sustained performance". But its a 10W chip. It cant do that. So I dont think Apple handicapped this to protect MBP or something. Its only meant to reach high performance in bursts. So Apple put in the limitations to improve the device's battery life and longevity.

It gets worse when all its competitors are using 15W chips like MBP, Dell XPS, HP x360 etc.

 

[raymanh]

and yet car companies restrict things all the time.

Road car engines do not use restrictor plates. What are you trying to say with that vague statement?.. Yes, everything is restricted in a sense.

Maybe we should get back to talking about the Air?

 

[Bolanders]

Road car engines do not use restrictor plates. What are you trying to say with that vague statement?.. Yes, everything is restricted in a sense.

Maybe we should get back to talking about the Air?

My wife used to have the V8 version of the Mercedes GL450 when it was a V8. It was the exact same engine as the GL550 and yet it was tuned down (or limited) so that it did not perform as well as the GL550. This would have been you saying "they should have tuned it better" and the answer then is as it is now for the MacBook Air which is no they shouldn't. There needs to be a big enough difference so that it is warranted for some to buy the "better" model.

As numerous posts have shown this MacBook Air is fine as designed by the numerous people getting through their day to day with no issues.

 

[raymanh]

My wife used to have the V8 version of the Mercedes GL450 when it was a V8. It was the exact same engine as the GL550 and yet it was tuned down (or limited) so that it did not perform as well as the GL550. This would have been you saying "they should have tuned it better" and the answer then is as it is now for the MacBook Air which is no they shouldn't. There needs to be a big enough difference so that it is warranted for some to buy the "better" model.

As numerous posts have shown this MacBook Air is fine as designed by the numerous people getting through their day to day with no issues.

You didn't pick a good example there. Yes both use the M273 engine, but the GL550 is 5.5L whereas the 450 is 4.7L. I wouldn't exactly call the smaller one detuned or limited, it's physically smaller in displacement. It's not like they added a thick cylinder lining to the 5.5L version to reduce the bore and stroke and called it a day.

An example more inline with 'detuning' is something like BMW's N20B20 that's found in the F30 320i and 328i (among many many other models). In both the 320i and the 328i, the engine is the same displacement at 2L (BMW's naming doesn't follow engine size anymore), unlike your example with the GL. Here, the N20 in the 320i is detuned through the ECU (and different pistons). But, it's very easy to (and many car enthusiast do this) to reprogram the ECU or put in another unit to get it up to the power of the 328i. But then the 328i can be tuned even higher due the different pistons and a few other things.

Thing is, I don't know why people are doing these car analogies. Car manufacturers restrict engines like this because it means they can use one engine design for multiple models. It then restricts an engine so it has lower emissions and lower power, therefore lower tax and lower insurance (and sometimes better economy, not always though). But, these aren't really a consideration with laptops, apart from better economy (i.e. battery life). No one cares about how much electricity their laptop consumes (financially), there's no extra tax costs and no higher insurance costs.

That's why these car analogies aren't really useful.

So again, shall we go back to talking about the Air?

 

[raymanh]

Again, who are we here, consumers right? You want consumers to appreciate Apple's business decision to handicap the Air? If that's what you're interested in maybe join a forum about business and product cycles.

Apple slowed down older iPhones because their batteries could no longer sustain high draw. People complained, Apple got fined in some countries. I guess you were there in the comments telling people that Apple slowed down their phones for a reason and laughing because you thought people didn't realise this.

Want a trusted consumer opinion which also mentions shortcomings in the the thermals? Here's notebookcheck's review.

Before the Air went retina, it had a heat pipe and didn't thermal throttle much. Now that the Air is essentially a 0.3 lbs lighter version of the Pro, Apple removes the heat pipe to differentiate. You expect folks here to just accept this? Really.

There's been quite a bit of work going on in this thread to see if performance can be improved through cooling and firmware. I guess you find that all uninteresting. This thread isn't for you.

 

[Altherekho]

Ok release the new Air
..oh oh...its too much pro to be just an Air...
But we have to improve the Air we can’t anticipate a Pro under the hood we must wait
Ok i buy you ..this is an Air right ok put a quad core and remove the heatpipe
Wow you’re a genius.

ps.just joking​

 

[Zahni]

Ok, don't buy it.

 

[Altherekho]

If you’re talking to me , i bought one for my wife and i will buy a new macbook pro when it gets out ,while i’d appreciate to find an heatpipe .. .

 

[NoBoMac]

Moderator Post:

Posts have been deleted.

Once again, keep it on topic and cease with the insults, name calling, etc.

 

[throAU]

So, just did some YouTube.

No fan noise.

My new air (i7) is still running through photo analysis...

 

[Falcon80]

I just returned my 2020 MacBook Air since it's not what I was looking for, but... VS Code wasn't bad at all. Chrome's high resource use has to do with stray JavaScript on a lot of pages these days. VS Code itself is pretty well optimized and I don't think I noticed much of a difference between my MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air running VS Code.

Then again, VS Code is not my main IDE. I only use it for my website. Android Studio and Xcode are more my thing, and let's just say... Android Studio was not kind to the MacBook Air at all.

I am planning to use it for Xcode and Android Studios? Performance is bad? Is your project very big?

 

[KPOM]

I think the problem is people see the quad core and think "Woah blazing fast sustained performance". But its a 10W chip. It cant do that. So I dont think Apple handicapped this to protect MBP or something. Its only meant to reach high performance in bursts. So Apple put in the limitations to improve the device's battery life and longevity.

It gets worse when all its competitors are using 15W chips like MBP, Dell XPS, HP x360 etc.

But to be fair, there are advantages of the lower power chips. Apple gets decent battery life with “Retina” screens. The Dell XPS is a really nice machine, but it ships with a 1080p screen in the base model. The alternative is a 4K, which is somewhat overkill, but Windows 10 scaling isn’t as good as macOS, so it’s the only real upgrade option.

The upcoming 13” MacBook Pro will be more comparable to the Dell XPS 13 et al.