Active cooling should enable High Performance Mode

[torncanvas]

Multiple reports state that for much of the time, the MBP and Minis’ fans don’t even run. And then under load, they’re very very quiet.

Doesn’t it seem like there’s performance being left on the table?

It’d be neat if there was a High Performance Mode that bumped up the wattage a bit more. Even if it was the case that the fans would run more often, they’re so quiet it’s definitely not bothersome. Or maybe they could even run just a little faster.

 

[dboris]

I was expecting also a 50% increase on the pro or some throttling on the air.. 15% is ridiculous and I wonder if apple will update the thermals by boosting the cpu instead of crippling clocks like they did in the past with intel. Only time will tell.

 

[torncanvas]

My theory is that they designed the thermal systems before they were even sure what the SoC was capable of. As stated in a recent interview, they underestimated the power and efficiency, so it turned out the Air throttled way way less than expected, and the MBP didn’t throttle at all.

As a result, the thermal modules are straight-up over-engineered. And that is precisely what makes them the perfect candidate for overclocking with some kind of High Performance Mode.

I’m not sure how locked down the clock speed is, but it would make a great little utility for the 1st gen, since the 2nd gen will very likely “fix” this “problem”.

 

[Kung gu]

The M1 MacBook Pro do kick in when u are doing the most demanding tasks, like using all the CPU cores and GPU cores to 100%.

She got the fan running

 

[leman]

Doesn’t it seem like there’s performance being left on the table?

There is definitely performance left on the table. The M1 can potentially run faster, probably by at least 20-25%. But I suppose that they decided to priorities the overall experience (e.g. cooler, quieter running machine) while also giving themselves a bit breathing space for future updates. I very much suspect that the performance of M1 machines is finely tuned to be just slightly better than it's competitors but not more than that. Frankly, I would expect future software updates to improve the performance as the power controller AI gets fine-tuned.

One might argue that this is not customer friendly, but then again, it's a very normal thing to do in the industry (everyone always holds the performance back or otherwise you go bankrupt). I personally think that Apple's approach of "hey, we sell you a fast and cool running machine and guess what, it's fast and cool" is more transparent than Intel and AMD's approach of "hey, we sell you a fast and cool 15W CPU and guess what, it actually draws 50 watts and then throttles, because BENCHMARKS"

 

[torncanvas]

What’s funny is that on the MacBook Pro, it’s basically an accomplishment to get the fans running. And when they are it seems quiet enough that it’s at like 300RPM.

It just leaves me with the impression “These are begging to be pushed harder, come on!” ha.

 

[unchecked]

I don't know if performance is left on the table. If the scores are pretty much as they are across the board, that means the Air with it's passive cooling will get throttled and subsequently lowered performance over time. But their cap is still the same. Any more cooling won't move the cap for the Pro and Mini upwards.

These bodies currently do set the bar for what to expect in the upcoming 14" and 16" bodies. But there's also an expectation for those bodies to have four-ports, and we don't know if there's an M1X chip that's available for four ports. It does seem the M1's currently limited to two TB ports.

 

[Kung gu]

to get the fan running on M1 MBP, she
played a game, Video calling, rendering a video on Premier and opened a LOT of chrome tabs.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

I would rather have a cool, quiet machine, than a "helicopter-sounding" beast, and has thus ordered the new Air.

That said. Others have mentioned something similar: https://9to5mac.com/2020/11/18/m1-mac-mini-teardown-why-isnt-it-smaller/

 

[amorph]

Is it really true that the fans on the M1 MBP are inaudible? This is really important for me as I ordered an M1 Air because I want a very, very quiet laptop. If the MBP really is that quiet I would cancel the Air and order a MBP. Can someone with a M1 MBP confirm that the fans make no noise?

 

[hefeglass]

yes its true..I manged to get my fan spinning after playing a game (liftoff fpv simulator) at native resolution and settings maxed for like 20-30 minutes. Even then I had to lift the machine up to my ear to make sure it was running. And the game ran incredibly(higher resolution and plays as smooth as my i7 7700k 2080 super desktop pc)!...its shocking to see macs running games like this. any games that use metal seem to run great.

also, the battery life is every bit as long as claimed. I have already put 9 hours on this battery and its at 50 percent!

 

[torncanvas]

If I had to guess, a MBP at full load is in the low-30s dB. Many folks’ rooms have an ambient noise of 32-34 dB, so as a result it’s hard to tell it’s ever running.

In terms of the “knee” of the performance curve, it seems like the MBA is about at that sweet spot, but based on the cooling of the MBP and Mini, those are far shy of it.