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hanr

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 10, 2021
2
0
Hello, first time poster, nice to meet y'all and I'm not sure if I'm posting in the right category.

So, I'm a developer and also a streamer as a hobby/side gig and I've recently heard such good things about the M1 Macs from coworkers and wanted to buy a Mac for my mobile workstation and I also wanted a dedicated encoding PC for streaming. So, I thought of just combining the two and wondering if maybe I'm just nuts lol.

I've thought about using a M1 MBP as a mobile workstation and dedicated encoding PC while streaming (OBS).
I do have some questions though. I've seen benchmarks for running it for an hour with minimal thermal throttling. But what about 4-5 hours? Would it start throttling then? Speaking of temperatures, does anyone have readings of sustained performance battery temperatures, does the MBP's battery cross the 40C threshold for when it starts to become unhealthy for the battery? Would the fan be an issue leading to another point of failure and/or a degrading thermal profile over something like a thermal modded MBA? Apologies if these are all newbie questions, it'd be my first Macintosh.

The other option I have is just buying a second streaming PC and a MBA M1. The con of this is having 3 Computers and costing more coin.
I'd love to hear if anyone else is using their M1 MacBooks for streaming long sessions and their experiences with it, especially thermals/thermal throttling over long periods.

Thanks for reading if you have, I'm excited to join the Mac community either way I end up, peace and love!
 

Mr Screech

macrumors 6502
Mar 2, 2018
260
264
The encoding settings will decide how hot it gets.

On the superfast preset with 6000kpbs, it barely gets hot and the fan doesn't even kick in after hours(12+) of streaming, about 20-25% of cpu, 75 degrees.

On the fast preset I get about 60% cpu usage, 90 degrees and the fan kicks in.

I'm using TGPro for custom fan profiles, so mine starts sooner than the default macos setting. No info on battery temperature, though I imagine the Air will get a lot hotter than the Pro.
 

hanr

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 10, 2021
2
0
The encoding settings will decide how hot it gets.

On the superfast preset with 6000kpbs, it barely gets hot and the fan doesn't even kick in after hours(12+) of streaming, about 20-25% of cpu, 75 degrees.

On the fast preset I get about 60% cpu usage, 90 degrees and the fan kicks in.

I'm using TGPro for custom fan profiles, so mine starts sooner than the default macos setting. No info on battery temperature, though I imagine the Air will get a lot hotter than the Pro.
Thanks for the reply, 60% CPU usage on fast is pretty good considering what I was expecting, appreciate it!
 
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