ifixit shows us the new M1 MacBooks from the inside The MacBook Pro 13″ shows almost no differences: the design is almost identical to the Intel models. Also the fan has remained the same size. However, since the M1 chip’s heat dissipation has been greatly reduced – unlike its Intel counterpart – the cooling solution is almost oversized. Or to put it positively: the MacBook Pro should always remain quiet, even under heavy load and in warm environments.
The MacBook Air is forced to remain silent: Apple has completely eliminated the fan. In its place, a piece of aluminum simply acts as a heat sink. This completely fills the space freed up by the fan. This seems to be enough to survive medium-term heavy loads without having to downclock too much.
MacBook Air has always had the reputation that the cooling solution for the Intel CPUs was never really sufficient under load – with the step towards the M1 chip Apple has finally been able to develop a processor that meets their own demand for a flat design and minimal cooling systems.
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