Apple MacBook Air M2: Small modification brings better than MacBook Pro 13 performance to fanless laptop

[Redaktion]

It turns out that the latest MacBook Air can match or even outperform the M2-powered MacBook Pro 13. With a simple modification, the MacBook Air can maintain peak performance for longer, which should be useful for short bursts of intense activity.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Apple-MacBook-Air-M2-Small-modification-brings-better-than-MacBook-Pro-13-performance-to-fanless-laptop.635861.0.html

[valuxin]

Apple MacBook Air M2: Small modification brings better than MacBook Pro 13 performance to fanless laptop

... and exponentially increase battery degradation from increased battery temps far beyond optimal range.

[vertigo]

It's pretty ridiculous that people have to pay a couple thousand, more or less, for a computer only to void the warranty to get it to perform the way it should, all because Apple couldn't be bothered to properly design it and spend the extra $10-20 on thermal pads. Just like Intel with their expensive CPUs that throttle because of cheap, poorly applied TIM. People keep buying their products, though, even when the companies repeatedly demonstrate they don't care about offering good quality or value.

Apple MacBook Air M2: Small modification brings better than MacBook Pro 13 performance to fanless laptop

... and exponentially increase battery degradation from increased battery temps far beyond optimal range.

Sorry, you lost me. You'll have to explain how removing more heat from the computer will result in increased battery temps.

[kninez]

Apple MacBook Air M2: Small modification brings better than MacBook Pro 13 performance to fanless laptop

... and exponentially increase battery degradation from increased battery temps far beyond optimal range.


Sorry, you lost me. You'll have to explain how removing more heat from the computer will result in increased battery temps.

The heat is normally concentrated around the chipset area, away from the battery, when you use thermal pads, you allow the heat from the chipset to spread all around the bottom panel which reaches all above the battery more often, thus potentially speeding up battery degredation.

[valuxin]

Sorry, you lost me. You'll have to explain how removing more heat from the computer will result in increased battery temps.

For you to know, when you transfer some heat from SOC to bottom cover it will radiate both ways: outwards and inwards the case. Max optimal operating temp for Li-Pol batteries in Macbooks is 45c. Anything above that will increase battery degradation. For example, M1 Air without TPmod hits maximum 44C on battery under 1hr Cinebench R23 load. With TPmod it hits 45c within first 5 minutes under the same conditions. Just imagine what M2 can do to your batteries with this TPmod.

[_MT_]

For example, M1 Air without TPmod hits maximum 44C on battery under 1hr Cinebench R23 load. With TPmod it hits 45c within first 5 minutes under the same conditions.

I imagine that the root of the problem is increased power draw. Improved cooling lowers die temperature which allows power management to pump more power in and push higher frequency.

[vertigo]

It's hard to say how much effect one way or the other this would have without doing tests on multiple samples with and without the mod. Yes, it spreads the heat out more instead of being focused around the CPU, but it also helps transfer it to the case so it can dissipate, so the overall heat will be less. And without it, that heat will eventually move to the battery anyway. And yes, it's going to spread throughout and radiate from the case once it gets there but, again, this would happen anyways, and I would expect it to have a net beneficial effect.

Still, the point isn't so much whether the mod itself is ideal, but the fact that Apple could have designed things better in the first place. They could have used thermal pads (or just shaped the interior of the case to make contact on its own, which would be even better) in addition to other improvements to help prevent those other issues, like using move heat-conductive case materials in areas leading away from the battery and less conductive materials around the battery, and by building a poorly heat-conductive barrier internally between the battery and the CPU. The fact is, it was already known the CPU is thermally limited, and this mod proves that with minimal cost and effort that could have been improved fairly significantly. Not to mention an optional limiter to throttle based on battery temp vs CPU temp.