Fanless cooling keeps the new MacBook Air running quietly, but limits the performance of the M2 chip
On Apple’s new generation of MacBook Air, you may like its more fashionable appearance, better screen or a new generation of M2 chip, etc., but many people overlook one of its big advantages, which is that it uses a fanless cooling system, which allows it to run almost silently, but everything has two sides, and this design also limits the performance of the M2 chip.
ArsTechnica mentioned in a recent report that although this year’s new MacBook Air and new MacBook Pro both use the M2 chip, the latter is actually 30% faster in multiple tests. This is mainly due to the fanless design of the MacBook Air, which causes the chip to get too hot during a high load operation. A YouTuber tried to disassemble the phone and made small changes to the heat dissipation, and it was able to drop from 108 degrees Celsius to 97 degrees Celsius in some tests, although this still seems to be a high value.
Compared with the MacBook Pro of the same generation, the M1 chip MacBook Air of the previous generation has basically the same performance in running points. It is only after long-term operation that the performance will decrease, and some players choose to change the heat dissipation for it. This time, the M2 chip may have a relatively large improvement in CPU and GPU performance, and the heat generation will also increase a lot. In fact, Apple has added a vapor chamber this time to enhance heat dissipation, but the fanless design still cannot completely suppress this generation of hotter chips.
Of course, Apple has originally positioned the MacBook Air to handle light and moderate tasks. The bigger advantage is that it has a thinner and lighter body, can run quietly, and provide long battery life. If you really need performance, it is recommended to choose the 13-inch MacBook Pro to fully enjoy the speed of the M2 chip.
