Airflow / fan differences 14" and 16"?

[EagleDrama]

Hey everyone,

does anyone know if there is a difference in fans and/or airflow in the 14" and 16" Macbooks?

I'm about to buy my first own Macbook soon (so far I've only ever had one that was given to me by my workplace) and while I really like the bigger screen of the 16", I prefer the portability of the 14" more.

But I wonder if the 16" has better fans / airflow during demanding tasks.

I can't find anything about this online so I thought someone here might have some knowledge about this.


TIA !

 

[Chancha]

The rate of air intake is not the main factor between each's heat loss efficiency, when we look at 2021 and (early) 2023 models, but their relative volume is. The sizes of their heat sink, meaning total surface area was the deciding factor it seems.

Assuming this time they didn't change anything in the chassis, you can simply find head to head videos of the previous models to get an idea. The topped out M1 Max 14" for instance "suffered throttling" to the point the upgrade seemed useless. The same config does not have that problem in the 16" chassis. But that said, it took concurrently pushing both CPU and GPU cores for the machine to run into that state.

To me, the 14" has always been a really flexible design, it gives you this small of a foot print while still maintain the potential in getting burst performances, which frankly describes most pro tasks. Of course you aren't getting sustained performance as good as the 16", or even the Mac Studios, due to physics. But if your priority is portability then that is that.

 

[EagleDrama]

Thanks!
I'll look up those videos for the previous generations.

So if I decided to start gaming on the new Macbook (I'm really thinking of trying Baldurs Gate 3) it might make more sense to think about the 16", right? Because that would be 'concurrently pushing CPU and GPU'?

I'm with you on the size factor though, in the end 14" with an external screen at home is probably what make the most sense in my case.

 

[ascender]

Totally unscientific, but as an example, Football Manager 2023 on a 14" M1 Pro, I could get the fans to come on in the match engine. Very, very quietly, but definitely on.

FM2023 on the 16" M1 Pro... no fans.

 

[EagleDrama]

Totally unscientific, but as an example, Football Manager 2023 on a 14" M1 Pro, I could get the fans to come on in the match engine. Very, very quietly, but definitely on.

FM2023 on the 16" M1 Pro... no fans.

Thanks!
Unscientific personal experiences is what I was looking for 😁

 

[ascender]

Thanks!
Unscientific personal experiences is what I was looking for 😁

Glad to help...

 

[lJoSquaredl]

I didn't even realize the new baseline M3 MBP 14" has only one fan like the 13" MBP it's replacing. I'm sure it's not too big of a difference (lil louder when it actually does turn on) but kind of a bummer to see them not just add the extra fan. Could make a difference when really pushing the system with editing tho, or running thru a raid on max graphics in WoW or whatever...may still have to consider the M3 Pro:/

 

[TinyMito]

I didn't even realize the new baseline M3 MBP 14" has only one fan like the 13" MBP it's replacing. I'm sure it's not too big of a difference (lil louder when it actually does turn on) but kind of a bummer to see them not just add the extra fan. Could make a difference when really pushing the system with editing tho, or running thru a raid on max graphics in WoW or whatever...may still have to consider the M3 Pro:/

Pretty sure it will use more power if you're running on battery with the extra fan.

Hypermiling on Battery...