2020 Air Heatsink Modification Thread

[Altemose]

Look at what the guys on YouTube are doing, ask yourself if it is a realistic test vs. what you would purchase the machine for and think for yourself. A Youtube review basically saying "yeah, it does what it says on the box" won't make anyone money.

The key to remember as well is that just because a review cites issues with a device does not necessarily mean that it will impact you. As the Desktop Engineer for a college, I choose hardware for all of our faculty, staff, and students. I do read reviews on the tech, but what some may see as a dealbreaker is a non-issue for us. For example, we were ordering ThinkPads last year and a criticism was the display in direct sunlight. Many consumers will take that as a blatant reason to not buy the system, but since these systems are being used in a classroom it is irrelevant.

Some take any criticism as a dealbreaker, even when it does not affect them directly. Likewise, many don't want to see any sort of differences between the Air and the Pro. Many reviews cite the display on the Air as having less brightness and color reproduction than the Pro. Is this true? Yes! Is it an issue for the consumers buying the Air? In most cases, no!

I'm sure if he was to do the same test on a Surface Pro (even thought its got PRO in the name, no less!) or Surface Laptop, he'd have exactly the same sort of results. That's the MacBook Air competitor, not a gaming machine.

Even with a direct comparison like that, reviewers will argue that the Surface uses a 15w processor. Microsoft markets the Surface Pro 7 as the competitor, and when being marketed as a competitor it is critical that we all look at them as similar competitors rather than by the granular details. Excellent comparison!

Maybe what we should all do is petition apple to support the vp9 codec. The hardware supports it, it's a macOS deficiency that is preventing 4k video from working in a cool and quiet manner on YouTube. In this case, it is making their MacBook Air look bad. So one could argue that it is perhaps in their interests at this point to do something about it. I've hit them up on twitter about it.

That would be very beneficial for Apple.

Yup..the i5 quad core version. I wonder if we're supposed to go to the i3

With your i5, is the machine unusable in terms of heat and fan noise? The reason why I ask is that I am wondering if Apple caught wind of this issue early on and made a software change to the system, which some users are not yet running. I ordered my machine on March 27, but it just arrived today (April 15). Under Windows, the results are largely the same and I am quite satisfied with it.

 

[esphil]

Altemose, thats a interesting thought you had about, if newer airs possible have a updated firmware. Keep in mind too alot of these issues can be addressed in future updates that Apple may release in the future. Alot of devices can have issuea or bugs that can be addressed via software later on.

 

[jgorman]

I wouldn’t say that you get into a “fan and temp problem” with Dev work, especially web development work that doesn’t compile anything locally.

The people saying “chrome runs hot” are referring to it playing 4K video. Safari can’t play 4K so it runs cooler. You can use Chrome’s developer tools without worry.

You can have tons of tabs open without any heat issue:
View attachment 906057

Are you a javascript programmer? How is the debugging and profiling experience in Chrome with the 2020 MBA?

 

[magbarn]

After playing with the 2020 MBA and did a batch process of over a hundred 45 MP RAW DSLR files the MBA's cooling is OK for what it is. It just has enough cooling so the heat/power throttling occur about the same time. Sure I wish it wouldn't run at 100C Tjunction max all the time, but MacBooks have always run hot...

 

[997440]

When removing the heatsink I do not understand why the frame that fits the cpu is so high! so placing a thin layer of paste when you mount the heatsink does not get the paste to make contact !!! you have to put a lot! which theoretically separates one metal from the other by the paste. I have filled the heatsink base with paste, I have placed the aluminum plate of a can of Red Bull ... I have put paste again and when I put the heatsink on the cpu I have noticed the contact without tightening the screws.
Another question that drives me crazy is that this heatsink is neither aluminum nor copper ... placing a copper one would be fantastic!

Do you know what the heatsink’s material is?

Thanks for sharing your experiments.

Edit to add: thanks to everyone else, as well. The time you’ve taken to post your experiences has helped me to help someone.

 

[raftman]

I almost cancelled my MBA order when I watched the Max Tech review. I also read about how the fan is just a "placebo" and that the fan blows air to "god knows where". So I decided to figure out for myself if these claims are true. I know most of you understand the cooling already but here's what I see: As soon as I saw the case opened I realized its actually a clever design. The key is the ducting that forces the air over the CPU. There is a pad on the bottom case cover that pinches the air and forces the air into the grooves of the heatsink. Since the flow path has narrowed, the air will increased in velocity (represented by longer arrows) as it travels over heatsink. The hot air then makes its way to the intake of the fan. None of this is explained properly in any review, they just tell you the fan is too far away and there's no heat pipe.

The benchmarks max out the CPU continuously, which maxes out the cooling system and is reflected in the results. Then the reviewers say the cooling system is terrible yet the benchmark results are great. NOT POSSIBLE!

Also, this is a CPU that doesn't even use a fan in the Microsoft Surface (heatpipes only).

Now, as for VP9, its here to stay (until AV1) so Apple better get off their high horse and look after their well paying customers and enable hardware acceleration in OSX. Google Stadia is also VP9.

 

[ilikewhey]

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

thats sensationalist of you to say that consider the previous air model had a heatsink, if the previous air never had a heatsink to begin with then yeah i would agree i'm looking to create a controversy when there is none. but thats not the case is it.

 

[mvalmapd]

Do someone really think Apple can't design an efficient cooling system? The MacBook Air is designed with a precise target use in mind, and the cooling system is designed to warranty the expected performances while avoinding hardware fault.

Have a look: https://www.powerelectronictips.com/smart-selecting-fan-forced-air-cooling/

If you need to race LeMans why are you buying a smart hatchback? Stop complaining you can't win a car race and use it to commute everyday... you will be a very happy user for many years...

 

[damitssam]

Copying from my post on another thread:

Model: i5 - 16 GB - 512 GB

I initially assigned 256 GB to Parallels and left the rest in Mac.

Clearly the performance is severely handicapped due to its virtualization aspect. For reference my 4-year-old Surface Book was slightly faster then MBA 2020 doing Vlookups / Indirects.

This is after allocated 8 cores and 12 GB of RAM to Parallels. Not also mention, whenever I have windows open the fan is running non-stop, and only after exiting parallels did everything return to normal.

Quite frankly, quite disappointing for the price paid, and will return once stores are reopen.

At this point either will have to splurge for a MBP 16" or buy a 2015 old laptop solely for coding purposes.

 

[throAU]

This is after allocated 8 cores and 12 GB of RAM to Parallels.

Why did you do that?

You know the MacBook Air doesn't even HAVE 8 cores? It has hyper threading, sure - but that isn't the same.

Over-provisioning (i.e., configuring more than you have spare) of CPU resources in a virtual machine badly hurts performance - because the VM won't get scheduled until all of the virtual cores are available to run in lockstep. You'll likely get better performance by allocating 2-3 cores than 8 to the VM (leave at least one for the host). In vSphere there's even a metric for measuring this wait time to get all the cores lined up, called "co stop" (essentially dead time where the VM just doesn't run because all the cores it needs aren't available) but Fusion and Parallels are desktop products and don't log/report on that. But the problem still exists.

Windows, like macOS does a heap of stuff in the background and Windows update smashes the CPU pretty hard even on bare metal. You'll need to let Windows 10 do its post install telemetry and updates, etc. before you'll get an accurate representation of how it performs.

Oh yeah, vSphere administrator is my job so.... I do VM work for my day job.

 

[damitssam]

Why did you do that?

You know the MacBook Air doesn't even HAVE 8 cores? It has hyper threading, sure - but that isn't the same.

Over-provisioning (i.e., configuring more than you have spare) of CPU resources in a virtual machine badly hurts performance - because the VM won't get scheduled until all of the virtual cores are available to run in lockstep. You'll likely get better performance by allocating 2-3 cores than 8 to the VM (leave at least one for the host). In vSphere there's even a metric for measuring this wait time to get all the cores lined up, called "co stop" (essentially dead time where the VM just doesn't run because all the cores it needs aren't available) but Fusion and Parallels are desktop products and don't log/report on that. But the problem still exists.

Windows, like macOS does a heap of stuff in the background and Windows update smashes the CPU pretty hard even on bare metal. You'll need to let Windows 10 do its post install telemetry and updates, etc. before you'll get an accurate representation of how it performs.

Oh yeah, vSphere administrator is my job so.... I do VM work for my day job.

I ran it on default settings and using 2 cores made it pretty much unusable for any excel heavy lifting. 8 cores at least it matched my surface. I was using the parallels assistant, so no installation and no updates.

 

[Altemose]

Altemose, thats a interesting thought you had about, if newer airs possible have a updated firmware. Keep in mind too alot of these issues can be addressed in future updates that Apple may release in the future. Alot of devices can have issuea or bugs that can be addressed via software later on.

In light of the hysteria surrounding the 10.15.4 update, I wonder if that is half of the battle.

I almost cancelled my MBA order when I watched the Max Tech review. I also read about how the fan is just a "placebo" and that the fan blows air to "god knows where". So I decided to figure out for myself if these claims are true. I know most of you understand the cooling already but here's what I see: As soon as I saw the case opened I realized its actually a clever design. The key is the ducting that forces the air over the CPU. There is a pad on the bottom case cover that pinches the air and forces the air into the grooves of the heatsink. Since the flow path has narrowed, the air will increased in velocity (represented by longer arrows) as it travels over heatsink. The hot air then makes its way to the intake of the fan. None of this is explained properly in any review, they just tell you the fan is too far away and there's no heat pipe.

View attachment 906275

The benchmarks max out the CPU continuously, which maxes out the cooling system and is reflected in the results. Then the reviewers say the cooling system is terrible yet the benchmark results are great. NOT POSSIBLE!

Another concept to consider is that maybe this was entirely by design to improve the user experience. How many with previous MacBooks would feel them get uncomfortably hot with fans on full blast? The new Air maintains a cooler temperature (to the touch, not in CPU statistics) and is quieter under strain. I can't help but think maybe this was intentional. However, the throttling claim definitely holds water in this design, but again, this is the first quad core CPU to ship in the Air.

thats sensationalist of you to say that consider the previous air model had a heatsink, if the previous air never had a heatsink to begin with then yeah i would agree i'm looking to create a controversy when there is none. but thats not the case is it.

In comparison to the previous Air, does the machine feel the same to the touch or cooler?

 

[Bolanders]

thats sensationalist of you to say that consider the previous air model had a heatsink, if the previous air never had a heatsink to begin with then yeah i would agree i'm looking to create a controversy when there is none. but thats not the case is it.

I have seen car manufacturers change engines on a new model and the liters of the engine might be slightly less, or the type of engine can differ. In the end it allows the car to still reach the top speed of the old one. Again controversy where there is none.

It would be one thing if you found each and almost every person who had this machine saying they could not get through their normal day to day workflow, but it is the opposite where numerous posts say that this thing is flawless in day to day operations.

 

[esphil]

For everyone saying that the temps you see sometimes on the Air are too high, when you actually look at temps on other macs you would be surprised. For reference, I've not checked temps on a Mac in years. I always noticed my mbp feels hot especially when doing light tasks on my lap when Im on the couch. On my 2015 mbp 15" i7/16gb work machine I started looking at temps. Looking this morning I have Chrome with 10 tabs open, Zoom, terminal and slack. My temps are running between 90-98c with the fan spinning at 4k!

 

[throAU]

For everyone saying that the temps you see sometimes on the Air are too high, when you actually look at temps on other macs you would be surprised. For reference, I've not checked temps on a Mac in years. I always noticed my mbp feels hot especially when doing light tasks on my lap when Im on the couch. On my 2015 mbp 15" i7/16gb work machine I started looking at temps. Looking this morning I have Chrome with 10 tabs open, Zoom, terminal and slack. My temps are running between 90-98c with the fan spinning at 4k!

every MacBook (including two pros - a 13 and a 15) I have owned back to 2011 have run up above 95c when loaded. apple let the cpus go up to their thermal limit according to intel spec.

 

[PiterxR]

After playing with the 2020 MBA and did a batch process of over a hundred 45 MP RAW DSLR files the MBA's cooling is OK for what it is. It just has enough cooling so the heat/power throttling occur about the same time. Sure I wish it wouldn't run at 100C Tjunction max all the time, but MacBooks have always run hot...

Any significant drop in performance when reaching these temps while playing with photos ?

 

[Danielgerard]

The fan on my 2020 MBA (i5, 8GB) never comes on. Well it's completely silent if it does. Even working away between MS Office applications, Chrome and Twitter app, nothing.

 

[Bolanders]

The fan on my 2020 MBA (i5, 8GB) never comes on. Well it's completely silent if it does. Even working away between MS Office applications, Chrome and Twitter app, nothing.

That is not possible. I have seen enough youtube videos that if you move your mouse on the new Air it completely throttles, the CPU goes to 200 degrees, and gives a warning that the computer may combust if you move your mouse.

On a serious not that is good to hear and my experience has been the same

 

[magbarn]

The fan on my 2020 MBA (i5, 8GB) never comes on. Well it's completely silent if it does. Even working away between MS Office applications, Chrome and Twitter app, nothing.

Consider yourself lucky, my i7 fan is noticeable about 50% of the time, but I'm stressing mine out editing photos in lightroom/PS

On a 2nd note, the i7 is power/heat constrained. Scores about the same as the i5, maybe 6-7% better at best. Not worth the $150.
I'm getting about 374 on R20, which is the same single core score as the i5 model
I get 1059 on multi core, which is about 6-7% above the i5 model
save your money....

 

[srkirt]

Just one question ...
Because when I play 4K at 60fps (maximum stress), the temperature rises almost to 100º with the Macs Fan Control at 8000 rpm, the graphics of the CPU does not exceed 60 or 70% of use?
In other words ... it should only reach 100º if the CPU was working at 90%, OK ?? at least in Windows it is like that.

 

[intelligence]

For everyone saying that the temps you see sometimes on the Air are too high, when you actually look at temps on other macs you would be surprised. For reference, I've not checked temps on a Mac in years. I always noticed my mbp feels hot especially when doing light tasks on my lap when Im on the couch. On my 2015 mbp 15" i7/16gb work machine I started looking at temps. Looking this morning I have Chrome with 10 tabs open, Zoom, terminal and slack. My temps are running between 90-98c with the fan spinning at 4k!

That's how it goes with old thermal paste. I changed mine last year and I rarely see temps above 75c now even with 10 chromes with multiple tabs, playing 4K YT, running Slack, Spotify, Sublime and a Virtual Machine. I have a 2014 15" MBP with i7 aswell.

Currently doing all of the above except playing 4K YT, and the CPU is a cool 50c. Playing 4K in Chrome will push it to 75c and the fans will come on very loudly at around 4500 RPM, and that is super annoying as it feels I'm about to kill the machine. That's why I'm slightly concerned that the Air might be too hot for me.

 

[srkirt]

Someone explain this to me !!
Why if the CPU is not at 100% performance if it is at 100º?
All that after all the invention of dissipating heat to the back cover.
[automerge]1587057352[/automerge]
What pasta do you use? I use Arctic MX-4 2019 Edition

 

[Cengiz Dönmez]

I am a student. I am learning Javascript (Front-End). Will the MBA 2020 (i5 8gb 256ssd) be enough for me? How is the temperature?

 

[thadoggfather]

That is not possible. I have seen enough youtube videos that if you move your mouse on the new Air it completely throttles, the CPU goes to 200 degrees, and gives a warning that the computer may combust if you move your mouse.

On a serious not that is good to hear and my experience has been the same

count me in too. for casual uses, I think I've heard the fan go up once.

Sometimes lots of things are just clickbait and hate hype.

This machine will not replace a Pro, if you push your Pro. That seems like a no brainer state of fact. It's always been that way with the Airs, even in the pre-retina days

 

[ARJR84]

Someone explain this to me !!
Why if the CPU is not at 100% performance if it is at 100º?
All that after all the invention of dissipating heat to the back cover.
[automerge]1587057352[/automerge]
What pasta do you use? I use Arctic MX-4 2019 Edition

Made an account just for this.

First of all, the fanboying in this thread is silly. The machine clearly runs hot for real workloads. Nobody is impressed that your machine runs at 50 degrees while doing a workload your iphone could do just as well. Thank you mods for clearing up some of the engineering talk the first half of the thread, it was horrible reading back and forth for 20 pages without anybody actually trying to fix the problem. In the PC world, XPS users noticed their machines ran hot and there was a community effort to cool the things down - from different thermal pastes to thermal pads.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Srkirt:

I appreciate your efforts to mod the MBA. I am on the cusp or ordering mine and modding the heatsink and your efforts gave me inspiration. I think I'll slip a graphite thermal pad between the CPU and heatsink instead of your red bull can, though .

Even if the thing is cooled, as Max showed with his informal watercooling, the machine has hardcoded limits regardless of if the chip can be pushed further. It'll leave performance on the table. Perhaps it's just ****** binning on apples part.