The biggest perk of using an Apple Silicon Mac was the insane power efficiency coupled with abnormally high battery life. However, just like any other chip out there, when pushed too hard, the power draw can rise substantially and with it, increased temperatures that will make your eyes sore. With the M5 Pro and M5 Max, which are slated to launch in the first half of next year, one Redditor mentions a valid concern for the top-end chipset’s power consumption, as he demonstrates that the M4 Max can reach 212W of peak power consumption when running heavy workloads.
Apple Silicon is known for its efficiency, but with enough thermal headroom, an M5 Max could exceed the M4 Max’s peak power consumption
Given that the M5 Max is expected to flaunt a 16-core CPU and 40-core GPU for its most powerful configuration, one of the differences separating this Apple Silicon from its immediate predecessor is the slightly improved manufacturing process, which is TSMC’s 3nm ‘N3P’ node. Unfortunately, the N3P is just an optical shrink of N3E and can only deliver a mere 5 percent performance improvement at the same power consumption. Also, given that the M5 has its performance cores running at 4.61GHz, and that too six of them, the M5 Max’s power draw will be through the roof with its 16-core configuration and slightly increased clock speed.
Coming to the M4 Max’s peak power consumption, Reddit user ‘MarionberryDear6170’ has shown that, when running Adobe Premiere Pro with lots of effects, it can stress the chipset to the point where it ends up with a peak power draw of 212W. On other occasions, the SoC consumed 187W and 202W, with GPU and CPU temperatures reaching a scorching 110 degrees Celsius. If this was surprising for you, we’d like to remind you that even the M5 can reach 99 degrees Celsius when pushed hard, as the single heatpipe cooling solution isn’t sufficient to tame all of that heat.
The conversation on the Reddit thread attempts to downplay the individual’s concerns, stating that if there is enough thermal and power headroom, the M4 Max will eventually reach this stage, especially when there’s a taxing load being run for a considerable period. Also, given that M5 Max MacBook Pro models will likely be rocking the same cooling solution as the current models, it will probably get toasty inside. Thankfully, the Redditor states that while the power draw and temperatures were high, the chassis remained cool, which is a positive sign.
Hopefully, Apple will redesign the cooling solution when it launches the M6 MacBook Pro series later this year, so let us keep our fingers crossed, and if we’re lucky, the company may add a vapor chamber to these machines as this upgrade is reportedly arriving in the M6 iPad Pro family.
News Source: Reddit
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech's mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
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