M3 Max 14” vs 16” Cooling Question

[Standard]

Hi everyone,

I’m wondering about the cooling capabilities between the 14” and 16” M3 Max MacBook Pro. Would they be equivalent for extensive 3D vfx workflows that push the system, ie, rendering and real time rendering? I’m considering the 14” due to the form factor, but I’m not sure if there is a massive cooling improvement with the 16”?

Thanks!

 

[theorist9]

I'd be interested to learn about that as well. in particular, even if they have about the same performance under heavy loads, I wonder if the 14's smaller size means its fans have to run faster, leading to noisier operation.

 

[vigilant]

Hi everyone,

I’m wondering about the cooling capabilities between the 14” and 16” M3 Max MacBook Pro. Would they be equivalent for extensive 3D vfx workflows that push the system, ie, rendering and real time rendering? I’m considering the 14” due to the form factor, but I’m not sure if there is a massive cooling improvement with the 16”?

Thanks!

Take this with a grain of salt, but I would think any difference would be negligible.

The 14 didn’t have the “High” power mode that the 16 had with the M1, and I don’t think it’s there in the M2 models either.

It appears though that at least from early looks it is available on the M3 which implies cooling shouldn’t be a huge issue.

 

[macduke]

I'm going to mostly copy my response here from another thread with some small changes:

The cooling system seems good enough on the 14", which has High Performance Mode for the first time in a 14" MBP. My screenshots below are from this video, for reference:

They compare two M3 Max 14" and 16" and they are pretty close on most tests within a few percent, with the 14" slipping behind a little when under sustained load, and it seems more evident in Premiere Pro for some reason. But the 14" M3 Max still beats out the M2 Ultra in that real-world test! So that's pretty significant. And gaming it seems like a more middle ground difference of about 8%. We're talking about computers that are so fast here, that the form factor you want is honestly probably more important than the speed. Get what suits your needs best for size.

It's also important to note that the 16" in this test has twice as much RAM, so that might affect video apps more in particular, like Premiere. Doubt it affects game performance much, as neither one of those would come anywhere close to hitting 64GB VRAM, much less 128GB.

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[Grobaouche]

Hello,

there will always be an impact due to the size, the 16 have more space and materials to dissipate heat.

Also, due to that, in the M2 line up the M2 Pro/Max chips were running at lower wattages in the 14 than in the 16.

We have to wait the confirmation through in depth testing of the M3, but it should be the same.

 

[vigilant]

Hello,

there will always be an impact due to the size, the 16 have more space and materials to dissipate heat.

Also, due to that, in the M2 line up the M2 Pro/Max chips were running at lower wattages in the 14 than in the 16.

We have to wait the confirmation through in depth testing of the M3, but it should be the same.

Of course! I only intended to communicate that the difference would likely be negligible.

Even when I’m running multiple VMs, and messing around in Visual Studio I’ve never the heat on my 16 ever be worrying or troublesome.

 

[Grobaouche]

Of course! I only intended to communicate that the difference would likely be negligible.

Even when I’m running multiple VMs, and messing around in Visual Studio I’ve never the heat on my 16 ever be worrying or troublesome.

Agreed in most of the use case, except when you will have both GPU and CPU stressed simultaneously, this is where the heat dissipation and the wattage difference will come to play a role.

 

[Grobaouche]

Hi everyone,

I’m wondering about the cooling capabilities between the 14” and 16” M3 Max MacBook Pro. Would they be equivalent for extensive 3D vfx workflows that push the system, ie, rendering and real time rendering? I’m considering the 14” due to the form factor, but I’m not sure if there is a massive cooling improvement with the 16”?

Thanks!

another thing to consider, will you use mainly external displays ?

In my case I also picked the 16 because I use it without external display, with my iPad as additional display.

in the case your using external monitors it could make sense to use the 14 as you will use its screen only on the go.

It goes down to your workflow and personal preferences, but if you want the absolute best performances pick up the 16.

 

[Standard]

I'd be interested to learn about that as well. in particular, even if they have about the same performance under heavy loads, I wonder if the 14's smaller size means its fans have to run faster, leading to noisier operation.

Yes! I’m eager to understand this as well. I’ve had the fans going currently with my 16”, but, it’s not that problematic.

Take this with a grain of salt, but I would think any difference would be negligible.

The 14 didn’t have the “High” power mode that the 16 had with the M1, and I don’t think it’s there in the M2 models either.

It appears though that at least from early looks it is available on the M3 which implies cooling shouldn’t be a huge issue.

This is great to hear. I didn’t keep up too much with the earlier models but I remember the smaller sizes always had some bottleneck with cooling.

I'm going to mostly copy my response here from another thread with some small changes:

The cooling system seems good enough on the 14", which has High Performance Mode for the first time in a 14" MBP. My screenshots below are from this video, for reference:

They compare two M3 Max 14" and 16" and they are pretty close on most tests within a few percent, with the 14" slipping behind a little when under sustained load, and it seems more evident in Premiere Pro for some reason. But the 14" M3 Max still beats out the M2 Ultra in that real-world test! So that's pretty significant. And gaming it seems like a more middle ground difference of about 8%. We're talking about computers that are so fast here, that the form factor you want is honestly probably more important than the speed. Get what suits your needs best for size.

It's also important to note that the 16" in this test has twice as much RAM, so that might affect video apps more in particular, like Premiere. Doubt it affects game performance much, as neither one of those would come anywhere close to hitting 64GB VRAM, much less 128GB.

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Thank you very much! I’m going to watch the shared video tonight and some of the reviews. With whichever machine I get, I’ll be getting it fully loaded with max specs as I need it for my workload. So if the heat won’t be a problem, I would prefer the 14” in a notebook for portability, even if I will have it plugged into monitors for the majority of the time.

Hello,

there will always be an impact due to the size, the 16 have more space and materials to dissipate heat.

Also, due to that, in the M2 line up the M2 Pro/Max chips were running at lower wattages in the 14 than in the 16.

We have to wait the confirmation through in depth testing of the M3, but it should be the same.

Ok, thank you. I was unaware of the wattage difference. I will look for some reviews to see what is going on with these new machines.

In my case I also picked the 16 because I use it without external display, with my iPad as additional display.

in the case your using external monitors it could make sense to use the 14 as you will use its screen only on the go.

It goes down to your workflow and personal preferences, but if you want the absolute best performances pick up the 16.

Yes I will be using it most of the time with external displays. Thanks for the insight!

 

[ProXMac]

Hi everyone,

I’m wondering about the cooling capabilities between the 14” and 16” M3 Max MacBook Pro. Would they be equivalent for extensive 3D vfx workflows that push the system, ie, rendering and real time rendering? I’m considering the 14” due to the form factor, but I’m not sure if there is a massive cooling improvement with the 16”?

Thanks!

In my experience, yes you will hear heavy fans if rendering, at least for me with the 16 core M3 Max, its intel fan noise level. Watch Luke Miani's video he also seems to confirm the M3 Max in the 14" is pushing limits of its thermal chassis layout.

 

[Grobaouche]

Another video that explains a lot even if it is on M1 generation the facts remains the same

 

[Standard]

Thanks guys. I decided on a loaded 16”. Going to be mobile for a while so the extra screen real estate is optimal.