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Sagnet

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 5, 2009
99
30
Pictures from teardowns show that the heatsink in the M2 MacBook Pros is smaller than the heatsink in the M1 MacBook Pros. I have yet to see any speculations on why this is, and what effects it could have. Is this yet another cost saving for Apple? Or is it actually an improvement to the heat dissipation design of the computer?

screenshot-2023-01-27-at-00-18-25-png.2148862
 

BlueGhost

macrumors member
Dec 30, 2015
57
24
Ohio
Wonder what the differences are between the two (other than the M2 seems darker). Maybe a different material? Using iStatistica Pro on a much older mbp, there are heat pipe temperature sensors as well as cpu, cpu proximity... Would be interesting to see a detailed description of active cooling mechanism.

Looks like M2 heatsink is wider than M1, but not as tall. Can't really judge total cubic inches or centimeters from the picture, but looks about the same ballpark. Would also be useful to know how heat is conducted to the dual fans. Is fluid used, or is heat piped thru solid metal (or something else)? I assume there is some kind of detailed training manual used by repair staff. I've seen such manuals for a number of minicomputers in the past. Wonder if it comes with the self-repair kit rental (or is available either online or in print form)?
 
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Stackin

macrumors member
Nov 2, 2019
56
118
UK
I’m thinking the original heatsink was unnecessarily large. As long as the heatsink covers the high temperature area of the chip, the heat will be conducted to it. The only route for that heat to dissipate is through the heat pipe that passes through the centre.
 

Queen6

macrumors G4
I tend to suspect similar to the introduction of slower single/dual SSD's on the M2 models Apple is under pressure to maintain margins versus inflation and spiralling international pricing of it's products in many regions.

Bottom line is escalating prices due to the global economy neither serve Apple or the customer with the former having more to loose. What I see is Apple is doing it's best to maintain the status quo as if pricing increases beyond the customers will, they will turn to cheaper solutions...

Q-6
 
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xraydoc

Contributor
Oct 9, 2005
11,030
5,491
192.168.1.1
I'm thinking given the heat pipe is (presumably) the same, the heat spreader cap on the SoC being smaller on the M2 doesn't make much of a significant difference.
 
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