I have an Air. Maybe active cooling prevents it from getting too hot. With the Air, the metal body is kind of the heatsink.
replyI can configure my Snapdragon plastic laptop such that the fan doesn't turn on, so the body being metal isn't a requirement for not turning on the fan...
If the body was a heatsink, it would be extremely hot to the touch.
replyhttps://hothardware.com/news/make-your-m1-macbook-air-perfor...
From your link:
replyEssentially the bottom cover of the MacBook Air becomes one large heatsink
Anyway, the author claims:
you are the type that likes to work with the MacBook Air on your lap it will be quite a bit more toasty than before.
Does toasty mean extremely hot?
The Apple M4 CPU is, if I recall correctly, capable of converting 20 watts of electrical energy in to heat, at full throttle.
Is that likely to bring the back plate or a MBA above 45 degrees?
You’re probably right, with sustained workloads it could.
Everything’s a trade off.
In a Notebookcheck test, they got the bottom plate up to 43C, and top plate near the screen up to 45C: https://www.notebookcheck.net/The-passively-cooled-M4-SoC-ma...
replyhence the Neo and the iPhone chip!
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