Apple Overlooked Cooling System in New MacBook Air; Users Discover Affordable Fix
Explore how users addressed the overheating issue in the new $1200 MacBook Air M2 with a budget-friendly cooling solution, enhancing performance and reliability.
It's concerning that a $1200 laptop requires modifications to prevent overheating.
The new MacBook Air featuring the M2 chip launched on July 15, and complaints have already surfaced online. Previously, we reported that the Midnight color variant scratches more easily than others. Now, iFixit experts have identified a more serious issue: the absence of an effective cooling system. While there is sufficient thermal paste and graphite tape inside, Apple omitted heat sinks.
This presents both challenges and opportunities. Surprisingly, the laptop delivers impressive benchmark results despite lacking a proper cooling mechanism. However, real-world usage reveals that under heavy workloads, the processor quickly overheats and throttles performance.
Tech YouTuber Max Tech addressed the problem by installing a silicone thermal pad. Although he used a relatively thick silicone layer, the laptop’s lid closed without issue. He then conducted tests to evaluate the performance improvements.
Exporting 50 images at 42MP resolution via Lightroom Classic took the modified MacBook Air just 1 minute and 56 seconds. In comparison, the actively cooled MacBook Pro M2 completed the task in 2 minutes, while the standard MacBook Air without the thermal pad took 2 minutes and 55 seconds.
During a CineBench stress test involving 9 runs over approximately 20 minutes, the laptop’s chassis temperature reached 47°C, causing the processor to reduce its speed due to overheating. However, CineBench simulates extreme processor loads rarely encountered in daily use, so this should not be a concern for most users.
The benchmark scores are impressive: the MacBook Air fitted with the thermal pad scored 8,684 points, outperforming the standard Air and Pro models, which scored 8,551 and 8,557 respectively.
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