Apple M3 MacBook Air hits 114 degrees Celsius under full load

[Alfonso Maruccia]

Boiling hot: Laptops and portable devices are known for running hot when CPU and GPU units have to deal with demanding workloads. However, recent tests have shown that the newly released M3 MacBook Air can reach unprecedented heat levels.

Apple has launched new MacBook Air models to generally positive reviews. The new 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Airs are based on the M3 SoC that Apple claims provide up to 60 percent more performance compared to the M1 models, and are up to "13 times faster" than older Intel-based MacBook Airs.

A recent test performed by Max Tech confirms that the M3 systems are indeed very fast, but they also tend to experience some of the most extreme working temperatures recorded in the industry. The lightweight laptops include no fans, relying instead on passive cooling to provide a silent computing experience.

Max Tech tested the 15-inch MacBook Air using the 3DMark Wild Life Extreme and Cinebench 2024 benchmark suites, recording how hot the system was running. The hottest core inside the M3 SoC reached up to 114 degrees Celsius on multiple occasions, while the CPU and GPU units in the chip reached up to 107 and 103 degrees Celsius under load. The external chassis hit 46 degrees at its hottest point.

Laptop processors are generally safe to operate at higher temperatures under stress, but maintaining a temperature significantly higher than the standard boiling point of water is essentially unfeasible. The M3 MacBook Air did go into thermal throttling, reducing frequency and power consumption to return to a still high but safer temperature of around 100 degrees C throughout the test.

MacBook Air models based on the M2 SoC had similar 'overheating' issues, but there is no evidence that they were able to reach the same extreme temperatures recorded on the M3 system. Max Tech compared the performance of the MacBook Air to an M3-based MacBook Pro laptop, which is designed to provide higher performance levels thanks to its active cooling system.

Due to thermal throttling, the MacBook Air model experienced a steep decline in graphics performance (27 percent) on 3DMark Wild Life Extreme.

So far there have been no widespread reports of overheating issues with the new M3 laptops though. After all, the MacBook Air is designed for light computing tasks and is ill-suited for heavy workstation-like loads.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/102227-m3-based-macbook-air-hits-114-degrees-celsius.html

 

[redhat]

Can somebody please in Techspot Team do cooling test between passive-cooler vs cooler with 5% fan speed, 10% and so on.
I think a cooler with 10% fan speed would be still much better than a passive one as well as being silent as the db with slow speed fan is hard to be heard.

 

[Lew Zealand]

LOL having no fan on a modern device is just asking for throttling, like most high-end phones. Considering the MBAir has had a fan for most of its existence and is big enough to fit one in there, Apple removing it for the M series Airs is beyond ridiculous.

I've been using Apple machines since before there were Macs and there's a good reason I haven't bought a new Mac in over a quarter century. The value just isn't there.

 

[VariableSpike]

LOL having no fan on a modern device is just asking for throttling, like most high-end phones. Considering the MBAir has had a fan for most of its existence and is big enough to fit one in there, Apple removing it for the M series Airs is beyond ridiculous.

I've been using Apple machines since before there were Macs and there's a good reason I haven't bought a new Mac in over a quarter century. The value just isn't there.

Faster obsolesence disguised through being "quiet and sleek" is what it smells like, even if the die is fine running at 115 degrees, other components inside probably won't be, especially with heat cycles

 

[Nintenboy01]

Faster obsolesence disguised through being "quiet and sleek" is what it smells like, even if the die is fine running at 115 degrees, other components inside probably won't be, especially with heat cycles

Yep. I predict solder breaking or caps dying pretty soon

 

[p51d007]

I've been using Apple machines since before there were Macs and there's a good reason I haven't bought a new Mac in over a quarter century. The value just isn't there.

But but but, aren't you missing out on your "experience" hanging out at Starbucks with all the other Apple logo computer types?? /sarcasm

 

[Seong]

Yep. I predict solder breaking or caps dying pretty soon

temperature and heat are totally different things

you are talking about 114 degrees at 14 watts, that's very different from the PS3 and Xbox 360 dying at 200 or 300 watts

 

[trieste1s]

temperature and heat are totally different things

you are talking about 114 degrees at 14 watts, that's very different from the PS3 and Xbox 360 dying at 200 or 300 watts

Physics says temperature is temperature.

 

[Seong]

Physics says temperature is temperature.

the fact you think that is a reply to what I said is kind of funny, the reason a phone chip can be hotter and still be safe is because there is much less heat... there is much less spillover to the rest of the system, less danger (the central 114 degree reading is inside the core)

 

[Seong]

Physics says temperature is temperature.

here's something that might help, think about the difference between the edge and the core temperature limits for a Radeon GPU

 

[trieste1s]

the fact you think that is a reply to what I said is kind of funny, the reason a phone chip can be hotter and still be safe is because there is much less heat... there is much less spillover to the rest of the system, less danger (the central 114 degree reading is inside the core)

No one is talking about spillover. Temperature is temperature. Solder and silicon don't care about heat, they care about temperature. If spillover is a worry, then upgrade the heatsinking and make it active.

 

[Beerfloat]

here's something that might help, think about the difference between the edge and the core temperature limits for a Radeon GPU

Ah, so for your typical Radeon we're looking at somewhere between lava and a core area that sustains hydrogen fusion.

You're right. That is helpful.

 

[takaozo]

8080, 8086, 80286, 80386 and some 80486 didn't have heatsinks at all. The first heatsinks attached to cpu's I saw at 80486 dx2 and after that also fans.

 

[mbk34]

temperature and heat are totally different things

Really?

 

[hahahanoobs]

Really?

Heat and temperature are similar in that they are both related to energy concepts and are studied in thermodynamics. They are different in many ways: heat is extensive and temperature is intensive; heat transfer is equivalent to work and temperature is not; heat includes potential energy and temperature does not.

 

[hahahanoobs]

Physics says temperature is temperature.

Thermodynamics specifically says no.

 

[kiwigraeme]

Don't think it's a problem for most mac users doing stuff a chromebook could do but faster with a better screen and Apple integration , Excepting people editing home videos etc or the odd gamer on limited game choice.

give a laptop a few ports, a good screen , good battery , a fast drive and it will be good enough for 95% of causal users.

Apple's M3 chip shows the future for for Windows ARM or Linux Arm - where you own the machine do to as you please
If I have a powerful laptop I don't need a limiter to enjoying all it can be by Apple

I mean with OLED screens coming to laptops in greater numbers , new QUALCOMM SOCs , AMD APUs coming . Nvidia wanting to get in this space . more powerful hand holds - I really don't see the point in a powerful Apple laptop for most people . Browser , media server and apple mobile games , with some steam games thrown in .

Even articles using latest Ipad as your main driver to do stuff you need so much cheaper,
Media , broswer , cast , note taking etc for the apple system for 30% of price , more if add a keyboard

 

[trieste1s]

Thermodynamics specifically says no.

Seems like solder and silicon are disobeying thermodynamics, yikes.

But wait: The zeroth law states that if two thermodynamic systems are both in thermal equilibrium with a third system, then the two systems are in thermal equilibrium with each other.

 

[mbk34]

Heat and temperature are similar in that they are both related to energy concepts and are studied in thermodynamics. They are different in many ways: heat is extensive and temperature is intensive; heat transfer is equivalent to work and temperature is not; heat includes potential energy and temperature does not.

I'm genuinely intrigued but unfortunately I'm no better off after your explanation

 

[Nobina]

Since the dawn of time temperatures exceeding 100 degrees celsius have been considered high. It's only now when Apple does it that fanbois are bending over backwards to prove it's actually not a big deal.

 

[Bobbydpue]

" are up to "13 times faster" than older Intel-based MacBook Airs." I would certainly hope a new SoC would be faster than an i3 laptop processor that was announced in 2019.

 

[trieste1s]

I'm genuinely intrigued but unfortunately I'm no better off after your explanation

Heat is like the number of packages that can be stored and transferred between different warehouses. Some warehouses can contain more packages than others.

Temperature is like the percentage of storage space used in each warehouse. Smaller warehouses can only store so many packages before they get full. But if they're full, they're full.

So whether it's the M3 laptop or the Xbox, if the solder temp hits say 103 degrees C, it's going to soften or melt. Doesn't matter if the Xbox is dissipating more heat (getting rid of more packages) or not.

 

[Bobbydpue]

" After all, the MacBook Air is designed for light computing tasks and is ill-suited for heavy workstation-like loads" Why does a light task laptop cost $1400?

 

[Theinsanegamer]

LOL having no fan on a modern device is just asking for throttling, like most high-end phones. Considering the MBAir has had a fan for most of its existence and is big enough to fit one in there, Apple removing it for the M series Airs is beyond ridiculous.

I've been using Apple machines since before there were Macs and there's a good reason I haven't bought a new Mac in over a quarter century. The value just isn't there.

Why specify modern? Any fanless device, any time in history, has limited heat output. Difference being modern hardware can still do quite a lot when throttled down. Nobody fondly remembers those awful atom chips.

" After all, the MacBook Air is designed for light computing tasks and is ill-suited for heavy workstation-like loads" Why does a light task laptop cost $1400?

Because there is a person who will gobble these up while so they can drink their $20 starbucks latte, wearing their $250 ugh boots, and whine about capitalism being evil on the internet via multi billion dollar social media apps.

You know, Imbeciles. Suckers. Cargo-cultists who have to have the new shiny.

I'm genuinely intrigued but unfortunately I'm no better off after your explanation

Temperature is a measure of how much thermal energy is in a chip at a given point. "heat" is a measure of how much thermal energy is being given off by said chip.

So a xbox 360 running at 100c and this macbook running at 100c would be the same temperature, 100c, but not give off the same heat, as the macbook draws 15-20w while the xbox was 200w.

When talking about reliability, the temperature is what matters the most. The solder joints on the M3 dont care how many watts it is giving off, they care about hitting 100c during operation then cooling to room temp when turned off. What would care about heat is everything else in the M3 chassis, the SSD, the sound chips, keyboard, battery, ece.

 

[Hikibo Fori]

Perhaps Apple wants to further restrict the use of the mb air for more demanding users and shift them to more powerful/expensive models?