Not too long ago, Apple introduced a refresh of its MacBook Pro lineup. This updated lineup features support of up to 32GB of RAM and also the use of Intel’s new chipsets in which users can configure the laptop to support an Intel Core i9 processor. Sounds good, especially for those who might have the need for all that power, right?
Unfortunately it seems that maybe your money could be better spent elsewhere, at least according to popular tech reviewer and YouTuber Dave Lee (via MacRumors). In a recent video uploaded onto his channel, he found that the MacBook Pro with the Core i9 processor could be facing some throttling issues due to the design of the laptop itself, in which apparently it isn’t good enough to deal with the heat, thus leading to throttling in order to prevent the laptop from overheating.
In his testing, Lee found that the laptop is unable to maintain its base clock speed after a short period of time doing processor intensive work, such as video editing via Adobe Premiere Pro. He also found that the render times of Premiere Pro actually took longer compared to a 2017 MacBook Pro with a Core i7 processor. His theory about the laptop’s thermals are proven right when he sticks the laptop into his freezer, which saw rendering times drop from about 40 minutes to 27 minutes.
That being said, Lee points out that such throttling is not new and not exclusive to Apple. However his conclusion is that this level of throttling is in his opinion, considered “unacceptable”, especially since the users who would require such a powerful laptop would be using it for precisely such intensive purposes in the first place. It is unclear as to whether or not Apple will address this issue, but Lee isn’t alone in his findings as there are multiple user reports on Reddit which all claim the same thing.
Filed in . Read more about Intel, Laptops and Macbook Pro.