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An app for M1 Macs that plays the sound of a fan as CPU usage goes up

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Re: An app for M1 Macs that plays the sound of a fan as CPU usage goes up

#301

Post by monsieurbanana »

tomxor wrote: post #145
zitterbewegung wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The most likely thing to break on a computer is the fan itself. Apple has revised the display hinge and the keys have been redesigned. I don't know of any reports of the Speakers breaking or a Taptic Engine (other than people using Bootcamp on Intel MacBook Pros but that isn't an option anymore) but since there is no long term data on all of those components the only thing that I would question would be the redesigne…

Annecdata: I've never had a desktop or laptop fan fail on me, and I'm the kind of person who keeps them for a decade. Spinning HDDs (Toshiba bearings), keyboards and hinges on the other hand have all failed on me multiple times, in macs. but the fans kept going. The keyboards were the last thing to fail in the 2009 design, they last about 10 years. Also while were at it, mechanical failure isn't always the biggest co…

I bought a cheap M1 Air model (only the ram is upgraded to 16gb) at $1030 Apple-refurbished. My intent is to try and sell it a bit before the 1 year mark.

For some of the reasons you mentioned (specially the last paragraph), but also the battery and the general non-reparability. It almost feels like a consumable item, compared to my previous Thinkpad.

Here's the thing: all the other laptops I was looking at cost at least twice the price. High-end Thinkpads, my second choice, almost 3 times.

All of the sudden Apple became the budget choice for my use case. In one year hopefully when I sell this one there will be competitors to the M1 chip (or maybe the M1X?), and I'll have more options.

Re: An app for M1 Macs that plays the sound of a fan as CPU usage goes up

#302

Post by Rd6n6 »

prawn wrote: post #259
Retr0id wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only real catch is that you're currently limited to only 16GB of RAM.

I haven't found that to be a catch actually. I went from a mid-2015 15" MBP to 13" M1 with 8GB. I made the impulsive purchase to get 8GB ASAP rather than wait for 16GB (which was backordered). My primary apps are DaVinci Resolve, Lightroom and Photoshop. On the 15", the fans would run on full constantly . I would have to create proxy video files to work with. On the M1, I don't create any proxies at all and the video…

I had assumed that photoshop and the like would be gpu bound, not cpu bound

Re: An app for M1 Macs that plays the sound of a fan as CPU usage goes up

#303

Post by ericye16 »

ajconway wrote: post #226
codedokode wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think Apple has any special tricks for input loop. Some Android phones really have input lag, but it is not caused by CPU load. For example, on my phone, there is approximately 100-150 ms lag between tapping the screen and registering the touch. The lag is not caused by CPU load, but by slow touch sensor. I don't think Apple has any smart code optimization tricks. Either they have a faster touch sensor or jus…

They do! See https://devstreaming-cdn.apple.com/videos/wwdc/2015/233l9q8h... and the corresponding WWDC session on them minimizing the input-to-display time.

This is off-topic, but I love that the title of the slides is "233_Advanced Touch Input on_iOS_04_Final_Final_VERY_Final_D_DF.key".

Re: An app for M1 Macs that plays the sound of a fan as CPU usage goes up

#304

Post by PikachuEXE »

cjmaria wrote: post #201
MiguelHudnandez wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"MenuBar Stats" has a versatile collection of widgets to add to the menu bar. I'd prefer something open source though, if anyone has recommendations, please share. Once you're running a tool like that, it is interesting to see the efficiency cores often saturated and the performance cores usually sleeping.

I've been using this one: https://github.com/yujitach/MenuMeters

In addition to that I also use

https://github.com/exelban/stats

Re: An app for M1 Macs that plays the sound of a fan as CPU usage goes up

#306

Post by maximus-decimus »

c-smile wrote: post #290

Do we have same thing but for Tesla & Co ? Cycling side by side with silent EVs is quite dangerous.

EVs make artificial sound outside at low speed for that reason. I'm not sure but I would assume this is government mandated.

This is different though, this here is for the user to be able to judge how much the cpu/motor is working. And yes, not only do some EVs offer you fake indoor noises, a lot of gas cars also do it as engines get more silent/sound worse to meet modern regulation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lQPc9VXBzk

Re: An app for M1 Macs that plays the sound of a fan as CPU usage goes up

#307

Post by maxioatic »

dbtc wrote: post #42
MiguelHudnandez wrote: post #4

That's pretty hilarious. Until recently I didn't think of the CPU fan as an auditory cue for how hard your system is working. But now I can remember times that excessive fan noise has prompted me to investigate the cause of excessive usage.

I had a habit of touching the strip of metal above the keys on my old macbook air, since that heats up before the fan becomes audible. The sensible approach, of course, is to add a load monitor to the menu bar; now with my new m1 macbook, I can simply make the appropriate noises myself, as necessary. This is the UNIX way.

You can do this with xbar [0] (which is also just a super cool app). Looks like someone even made one specifically for checking the CPU throttling speed [1]

[0] - https://xbarapp.com/docs/plugins/System.html

[1] - https://xbarapp.com/docs/plugins/System/cpu-thermal-throttle...

Re: An app for M1 Macs that plays the sound of a fan as CPU usage goes up

#309

Post by SilverRed »

e3bc54b2 wrote: post #293
SilverRed wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>only two screens Honestly I feel like multi monitor setups are actually worse than single monitor. Having to bend your neck to use some of your windows left me with neck pain. Now I only use one large monitor and use the workspace switching shortcuts to move everything around so I only look forwards. My productivity is identical and my neck feels better. I'd only say its worth it for when you really do need to see a…

Multi-monitor setup has been a giant boost to my programming productivity. I can simply keep the specification/documentation/stack overflow alongside editor/IDE window alongside debugger. If I had to put the benefit in words, I can offload the state of my programming session all on screen, instead of in my head, taking space where more of the abstract logic and relational graph can reside, before it gets turned into…

I used to do the same thing but now I put my IDE on the middle workspace with the left and right workspaces holding my IMs/music/browser and terminal. Now instead of moving my head to see other windows I press ctrl+alt left/right and the windows move in to the space I am already looking. Effective use of workspaces feels just as productive as multiple monitors did but my neck is always facing forward.

Re: An app for M1 Macs that plays the sound of a fan as CPU usage goes up

#310

Post by code_duck »

jmkni wrote: post #25

Pre M1, I've always preferred a PC. When I'm using a laptop, especially doing real work, they heat up, the fans go crazy, the laptop is hot to the touch and everything slows down. It almost makes you anxious. You're wondering if it's about to crash or go on fire. I've always kept a Desktop PC on the go for this reason, a well cooled desktop just doesn't have these issues. With a laptop, I always feel like I'm comprom…

Sitting in front of a laptop, the fan coming on at max speed makes me feel like I am stressing the machine and need to be gentle with it. When using the same machine through VNC I feel completely insulated from that effect. It’s a more pleasant feeling. I’ve considered getting a desktop and just using my Macs as remote terminals.
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