this post was submitted on 10 Jun 2024
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I like silent laptops but sometimes I want to max out the power budget and get work done without worrying about thermal throttling. Having a fan and customizable power settings gives users a choice. Apple takes that choice away.
When I got my first Raspberry Pi (4B), I was kind of shocked at how hot even my passive Argon case would get. Though I am guessing a more powerful and efficient ARM or RISC-V CPU would not spike to 100% so fast. But when I got my Pi 5 I made sure to get the official case that came with a fan while I waited for the more powerful active cooling fan to release. So much better at running stuff like YouTube or other media without hitting thermal issues (got the active cooling Argon One for my 4B with similar results too).
Having more powerful ARM/RISC-V CPUs that can actually handle stuff I expect a full on laptop or especially a desktop will be awesome. But while we are in the "still not as good" period of these CPUs both matching x86_64 and programs for them being full versions. The inefficiencies of either needing emulation or just very un-optimized code as devs are getting the hang of ARM/RISC-V coming from x86 mean those temps are easy to hit.
Installing a fan negatively impacts the passive cooling ability (at the absolute least by taking space that could be occupied by a bigger radiator and by obstructing the airflow), so it's always a tradeoff.
Apple wanted to make it passively cooled, and it wouldn't be possible at decent loads if a fan would be installed alongside passive cooler.
I have a 2021 Asus Zephyrus G14 unless I run a game, that thing is running without active cooling. Seems like a solved problem.
Solved for larger laptops.
Macbooks are significantly slimmer, and have way less internal space that could be used to make a combined cooling system that would be passive most of the time.
The G14 is 14 inch and has a dedicated GPU, so without one the cooling requirements are far less.