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MacBook Pro with i9 chip is throttled due to thermal issues, claims YouTuber

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31–40 of 413 posts

Re: MacBook Pro with i9 chip is throttled due to thermal issues, claims YouTuber

#31
post #19

Dave Lee's youtube video is a withering takedown, presented dispassionately. His argument is such a slam dunk that the article concludes with stunned disbelief, speculating that maybe there's "something wrong with the MacBook Pro with Core i9 chip that Lee received". Yes there's something wrong with it, that was the exact point of his video. Do people really think he just got a lemon?

In fairness, Lee criticized the Dell XPS 15's thermals in a video a couple of days ago. Of course, he also posted a video last week about how he was starting to hate Apple products. If you watch a lot of his videos, you'll notice that he almost always talks about thermals, so it's not surprising to see him focus on that aspect of the MBP.

And thermals is real issue with race to making thinnest laptops possible. My Thinkpad T450s throttles just running Chrome and bunch of tabs. I don't see how a competitor having thermal problems exonerates Apple from having similar problems.

Re: MacBook Pro with i9 chip is throttled due to thermal issues, claims YouTuber

#35
post #6

I don't know a lot about heat dissipation, but could the slimness of the MBP be a factor in this? I would think that after a certain point, you wouldn't be able to get good airflow in such a small space.

There are multiple factors, but slimness is probably not the only culprit. I don't think Apple (or most other PC vendors) use the best thermal compound on their CPUs. When my early 2011 MBP was having heat problems, I replaced the compound over the CPU and GPU and got noticeable although not spectacular reductions in heat. Of course, that's not something you can do on a "modern" Macbook Pro, since they're not intende…

They can use an okay quality thermal joint compound if it is applied well. My Dell's thermal joint compound looked like someone was trying to make a PBJ sandwich with the stuff. Applied too thickly, and it becomes an insulator. Mac used to have this problem in the past. I repasted my Dell and got 5F reduction at load right away.

The problem with all high end mobile CPU's is that they are given a tiny heatsink and heatpipes which are simply not up to the job. They quickly become heat soaked and the fans are unable to reduce the heat, so the units throttle.

Re: MacBook Pro with i9 chip is throttled due to thermal issues, claims YouTuber

#36
post #34

I guess the key is that it under-performed vs last model's i7... not that it has thermal issues. I would think most laptops have some level of thermal trade offs.

I’d say that not even being able to maintain the advertised base clock is a pretty key issue. Being slower than last year’s model just adds insult to injury.

Re: MacBook Pro with i9 chip is throttled due to thermal issues, claims YouTuber

#37
Apple it seems is happy to be known for iPhones and iPads but for many people Apple is really about a rich history in computing, computers, good engineering, design and well built products.

Now especially with the mac business they are reducing the scope and value of their brand, and becoming purveyors of high value trinkets. This is nothing short of a tragedy.

There is a difference between a small premium for good engineering, components choice and design, and profiteering to the point of becoming an extremely overpriced luxury product with more brand than real value.

Re: MacBook Pro with i9 chip is throttled due to thermal issues, claims YouTuber

#38
post #19

Dave Lee's youtube video is a withering takedown, presented dispassionately. His argument is such a slam dunk that the article concludes with stunned disbelief, speculating that maybe there's "something wrong with the MacBook Pro with Core i9 chip that Lee received". Yes there's something wrong with it, that was the exact point of his video. Do people really think he just got a lemon?

In fairness, Lee criticized the Dell XPS 15's thermals in a video a couple of days ago. Of course, he also posted a video last week about how he was starting to hate Apple products. If you watch a lot of his videos, you'll notice that he almost always talks about thermals, so it's not surprising to see him focus on that aspect of the MBP.

But does the i9 version have performance issues (i.e. it under performs compared to the i7)? The XPS 15 with the i9 configuration comes with 32GB ram and it much cheaper than an equivalent macbook pro. I can deal with it getting hot!

Re: MacBook Pro with i9 chip is throttled due to thermal issues, claims YouTuber

#39
post #25

One of the many downsides of making all your computers like two millimeters thin.

Indeed. What ever happened to product differentiation?

To be fair they’ve always been bumping up against this since they don’t like to put tons of fans in their laptops.

While this obviously shouldn’t happen, it seems like something you could easily predict might be a flaw if you knew that one had to exist.

Re: MacBook Pro with i9 chip is throttled due to thermal issues, claims YouTuber

#40

It's summer now and as soon as I plug my MacBook Pro 2017 in to charge, it starts throttling itself due to the heat of the charging battery. Same thing happened to the 2012 I had before. These things just don't have adequate cooling.

I often work outdoors, and merely being in sunlight makes my 13” MBP go to max fan speed after about ten minutes, and insufferably slow after a half hour or so.
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