First Water Cooled Mac Studio

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How good of a job did Apple do with the cooling on the Mac Studio?? Well it definitely isn't as good as our custom water cooling solution, I can tell you that much.
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MUSIC CREDIT
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Intro: Laszlo - Supernova
Video Link: • [Electro] - Laszlo - S...
iTunes Download Link: itunes.apple.com/us/album/sup...
Artist Link: / laszlomusic
Outro: Approaching Nirvana - Sugar High
Video Link: • Sugar High - Approachi...
Listen on Spotify: spoti.fi/UxWkUw
Artist Link: / approachingnirvana
Intro animation by MBarek Abdelwassaa / mbarek_abdel
Monitor And Keyboard by vadimmihalkevich / CC BY 4.0 geni.us/PgGWp
Mechanical RGB Keyboard by BigBrotherECE / CC BY 4.0 geni.us/mj6pHk4
Mouse Gamer free Model By Oscar Creativo / CC BY 4.0 geni.us/Ps3XfE
CHAPTERS
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0:00 - The Drag Race of the Century
0:39 - GCore!
0:51 - LTT Intro
1:01 - Weird Fans?
2:11 - Internal Cooling Plan
4:01 - Heatsink Destruction
6:03 - External Cooling Plan
8:20 - Finding PSU Polarity
9:16 - Cooling Assembly
12:40 - Filling the Loop feat. Problems
14:15 - Filling the Loop feat. It Working
15:05 - Linus Reaction & Results
16:42 - Manscaped!
17:17 - Outro

[@WaLApA117]

Whoever designed the cooler mechanism so that it's (almost) compatible with the Threadripper mounting mechanism is getting the boot.

[@ivnaes1094]

HAHAHA

[@guscichoski]

😭

[@AMan-xz7tx]

the COs at apple are gonna fire their entire engineering team ._.

[@moldyshishkabob]

Apple ran so far away from Intel that they accidentally ran into AMD

[@zeelux55]

@@moldyshishkabob good one😂

[@MakeItWithCalvin]

As a machinist, I would have done a similar hold-down setup for the milling. My only comment would be maybe using bolts instead of the threaded posts & nuts for a lower profile but hey, it worked. That is all that matters!

[@revlouch]

As an ex electrician I too would have used wago lever nuts on my wire job for future expand ability and maintenance.

[@d3lsl0w]

@@revlouch It's not stupid if it works!

[@niedas3426]

As a game publisher, I would have added an ingame store with predatory lootboxes and dark patterns to the cooling design.

[@KarenTookTheKids]

As a McDonalds worker, i would have done it as shown in the video

[@dustinjames1123]

@@KarenTookTheKids comment of the year lol

[@trevalyon8610]

Nick: "This is dumb in all the right ways..." Alex: "Thank you! That's what I was going for..." "Sketchy cooling solutions with Alex" will always be an all-time favorite of mine, around here. ^_^

[@computernaut]

It really wouldn't be an LTT cooling video without Alex!

[@_Sigfried_]

This video was hilarious from start to finish. Props not only to Alex but a lot of kudos to the editors for the immaculate timing!

[@CalumRaasay]

That was worth it just for looks alone. Like Linus said, it’s literally a hot rod Mac Studio! Amazing work!

[@kishascape]

Next up, liquid Nitrogen cooling.

[@WarrenPostma]

It's a Cool Rod.

[@IceMan2019]

What would be great is having the body of the mac, but a windows PC inside with the watercooling.

[@rubiconnn]

@@Akkbar21 It's pointless anyways because it's a low TDP CPU which is made to sacrifice performance for a smaller computer, less heat, and cheaper parts. Then again Apple somehow managed to do a terrible job of cooling a low TDP CPU in the first place.

[@moontravellerjul]

i thought so too. also, hi calum, love your vids!

[@ShasLaMontyr]

Alex being equal parts relieved and angry that the Mac doesn't care about having no fans was quality content.

[@birne_]

my theory is that it is another "screw you" from apple, because "you weren't supposed to disassemble it in the first place" and then they make you deal with the consequences

[@ShasLaMontyr]

@@birne_ seems a lot of confidence that the part won't break even for Apple, as unplugging it won't be the only way it breaks.

[@chiefdenis]

The m1s were designed to work without fans though

[@ShasLaMontyr]

@@chiefdenis I mean good to know it won't overheat and break then, but it does mean performance will be throttled with no notification of why should the fans stop working.

[@gabriellundmark]

@@birne_ far more likely is that it just throttles to not overheat

[@cs188]

12:08 LTT knows how to do it all over again, and get the joj done right, the first time.

[@plushifoxed]

i think linus might want the joj

[@xDownSetx]

It took me aback seeing that on a LTT video. Looks like one of their editors has some great taste.

[@MichaelKlements]

Water cooling things that ought not to be water cooled always lands up taking way longer than expected haha. Loving Alex's unnecessary but awesome builds!

[@iana.3388]

I do love these monthly builds featuring Alex. It's like my month won't be complete without seeing him carefully -violently mutilate- handle hardware to execute a really dope concept.

[@Rekhan4242]

We need a collab with Alex and JayzTwoCents on the worst PC case mod

[@che-weihsieh975]

I literally wheezed out when he mentioned Tynan sharpened the chisel and continued to manhandle the heatsink away.

[@grozaphy]

@@Rekhan4242 Oh god... Throw in Dennis for maximum chaos

[@RafaelusOptimus]

More Alex mods and less Alex cars! (sorry, I don't care about seat massagers or the quality of the infotainement system UX desing...)

[@Chris-hw4mq]

Alex brings in more engineering vibes to the video

[@dekkonot]

Alex inviting his boss in to show him what he spent a week working on at the end of every video is a vibe

[@poipoi300]

probably more like 2 or 4 lol

[@davidandrew7314]

It's a vibe? How? What's the vibe exactly?

[@Oilcancap]

@@davidandrew7314 The vibe is: Dude look at what I made you spend money on LOL.

[@vi0cs]

@@poipoi300 they did say day 5.

[@poipoi300]

@@vi0cs Research, modeling, experimenting, logistics. When it's "Day one" with the camera crew, it's not day one.

[@draco4799]

These videos with Alex are truly a treat, I know it takes a lot of RND to do but my god do I love it

[@gremlynmusic]

Strangely enough, mid way through the video, I was beginning to feel the YTP vibes, with the rapid fire chiseling hammer hits. And then that "do it all over again" clip from CS188 drops in. Wow. Such a KZbin throwback. Thanks LMG Editors

[@warehousetechtips]

23 secs later: water flows out of the apple

[@popejohnny5]

Alex’s commentary on the fans not throwing a warning. Which was good for them, but also very bad in general was priceless.

[@jubuttib]

Yeah, seems odd. Meticulously control every single aspect of the computer that relates to users upgrading their experience, but don't have even a warning for fans not working?

[@untitledsurfer8503]

​@@jubuttibI know this is unexpected for people accustomed to PCs, but on the Apple Silicon Macs, the fans are actually turned OFF when the Mac boots, and they do NOT turn on during normal usage, they remain completely off. The fans only turn on (into idle mode! Lowest RPM) when you start to really stress the Mac Studio, and they are completely inaudible regardless of what you do with the Mac. As you stress it more, it slowly increases speed (because it doesn't need to go any faster, considering the whole SoC at maximum output with 100% CPU and 100% GPU usage only uses about 140W, I think for the Ultra model. The Max probably tops at 90W or something like that (look for the Anandtech review for the exact numbers))

[@jubuttib]

@@untitledsurfer8503 Fair, though PCs can do that too, but the main issue is that they don't even check if the fans are present. They could sense whether they're there without spinning the fans even with just a 2 wire setup, let alone the 6 wire one they're using.

[@Amagys]

@@untitledsurfer8503 The fans being off until needed is expected, I think the primary issue is it's not checking if fans are working and in this case--completely unplugged. Clearly though if the fans die then the SoC would be okay being passively cooled, but it's still a strange oversight from Apple.

[@MrTsolar]

@@Amagys It'll just fall back to passive cooling and thermal throttle to keep from overheating. I only had the fan in my M1 MacBook Pro kick on once, and that was during a stress test. The initial file transfer from my Intel MacBook Air nearly melted the Air while not even getting the M1 above skin temperature, and it was sitting on carpet (the Air was elevated on a box).

[@industrialvectors]

Alex did a bang up job. Editing is through the roof.

[@joshpark868]

Love that shot at 16:37! Good to see products in dramatic lighting, not just RGB colors splashed everywhere.

[@lasarith2]

When Linus brings out more Mac models then Apple themselves.

[@tonyburzio4107]

Of course, it's very hard to be cheated buying an Apple, unlike the PC.

[@ijustfelldown]

@@tonyburzio4107 what?

[@maritoguionyo]

@@tonyburzio4107 what?

[@EikottXD]

@@tonyburzio4107 Buying any Apple product for the prices they set is being cheated.

[@hman6159]

@@EikottXD depends what products, msrp for a lot of their products is different in different countries, but I mostly agree with you

[@1wsm1]

It should have been tested on a longer task. I believe the performance difference will be observed doing longer workloads

[@aznoak]

Yeah I was shocked it wasn’t a sustained video render

[@LinusTechTips]

We tested it for longer after the video was shot. Performance doesn't seem to change on the Mac Studio, but after about 2.5h of full load the non-water cooled one gets pretty hot and the fans finally become audible while the water cooled one remains silent and below 60C. -AC

[@XTJ7]

You could think that, but the Apple cooler is effective enough. Even after hours it won't heat up more and the fans barely run over idle. Apple clearly designed this with the option of putting a higher TDP SoC in there eventually.

[@yuxuanhuang3523]

@@LinusTechTips Now I want to see a sub-zero M1 max with no fans at all 😉 a huge passive tower air cooler with thermoelectric would do

[@ekim4926]

@@XTJ7 LTT seems to disagree with you there

[@thatduke390guy]

The quality of the final product is really quite good as linus points out. Great video as usual

[@Bamfhammer]

This is probably the best looking exposed watercooling system I have ever seen LTT create. Just incredible!!

[@otakuotaku6774]

All Tech KZbinrs: posting Videos about the new iphone 14 Linus: I love PC

[@tippitytop]

😂 😂 😂

[@mrprogrammer9116]

Agree with you

[@hitman627]

You are right

[@DotArve]

As someone who's used Apple computers exclusively for more than a decade, I kinda like the look. It's cyberpunk enough. That said, I think it needs a square acrylic enclosure around everything, G4 cube-style

[@Redbikemaster]

oh man I remember the cube!

[@SamuelxShaban]

Or a glass dome, like the Harman Kardon Aura Studio 3 speaker 😍

[@Manivelarino]

What if they made it a cylinder? 🤔 sort of like a trash can 😅

[@33gles]

Hear me out here.... tinted acrylic in various colours....

[@makuikui]

Or built the cooling system inside another Mac Studio case.

[@rayhawkins993]

need more content with alex! as someone from blue collar who loves tech (i actually work in it now yay!) i really love seeing him play in the shop, and apply that "if it works" mindset to tech (especially cooling lol)

[@WAZZINUK]

Alex videos are so watch-able, he's like ever person's hot engineering version of Sir David Attenborough, but it's when he explains to Linus what's been broken, fixed, completely changed that the good humour kicks in. Love it

[@lucasrem]

David Attenborough, sleeping with gaming PC's, yeah, that level!

[@j377yb33n]

it really sells the "top gear of computing" vibe

[@Katoptrys]

Alex nerding out on thermals and engineering is strangely satisfying to watch. It's like tech ASMR, but you actually learn something

[@pilkycrc]

Honestly, the result doesn’t really surprise me. I’ve had my M1 Ultra Studio taxing both the CPU and GPU near 100% simultaneously and they barely get above 60°C with the fans running at idle. The Mac Studio has probably the most overkill cooling solution Apple has put in a Mac (I can only assume it’s to give them headroom for potentially hotter chips down the line)

[@mika2666]

Overkill cooling is good for longevity, which is great. Great to see properly cooled machines.

[@kishascape]

It's more the weak smartphone grade ARM architecture that keeps it from getting hot. If you get one of the original macs witht he more powerful non-fad x86 you can really toast it, because apple cooling and ventilation is trash.

[@tronam]

I noticed that with my M1 Ultra MS as well, even if I slow down the fans to their minimum 1100rpm. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such an over-engineered cooling solution before.

[@mrmotomoto]

@@kishascape when smartphones whoop intel, i guess?

[@IshayuG]

@Uche It’s kind of amazing that ARM began life as a desktop chip, never realised its potential, became the centrepiece of all the world’s phones and now, at last, circles back home. It’s not the fastest chip in any category but it’s still very powerful yet uses almost no power. Sometimes I do wonder if Macs will gain on the competition due to electricity prices 😂

[@knitejax659]

Very cool. I can definitely see myself editing, streaming, and gaming on a pc while this chills out in the same room.

[@athok98]

Creating overkill cooling solutions is my favourite content lately on this channel 😂

[@jono6379]

Hey alex can you please build a table sized heatsink and use it as a table. All passive cooling all the way.

[@LinusTechTips]

We're basically the Simpsons Did It meme at this point kzbin.info/www/bejne/q2e6damwodKnia8

[@jono6379]

@@LinusTechTips Thats radiators. Im talking a GIANT block of aluminum milled to a heat sink profile with fans under it. No water needed.

[@modarkthemauler]

@@jono6379 could work with the motherboard that has the CPU on the back of the board.

[@MrTurbo_]

​@@modarkthemauler or just heat pipes

[@jono6379]

@@modarkthemauler Yeah. The design i have in my head in basically flat on top and all the fins underneath and then you can just screw the motherboard into the tabletop lol. I dont know how well it would work but it would be entertaining.

[@joakimp2711]

Linus have so many employees that are so entertaining and enjoyable to watch. It's awsome!

[@MurCurieux]

These are the videos that keep my sub’d. Amazing work all involved. Crazy.

[@vitorcordeirom]

LOL I loooove the editing of this video!! Congrats to the editor!!

[@chapelknight951]

I love this kind of hotrodding. It's like having cutting a car's hood so a giant blower can be installed lol. I wanna do a super overclocked budget build doing this somehow.

[@yannissotiriadis1267]

Impressed with apple. Not for the engineering but for finally going for performance over looks

[@haydenlee8332]

might be an unpopular opinion, but I think Jony Ive leaving Apple was one of the best thing it has happened for the company It always felt like Jony Ive was holding Apple back with his “Looks over Function” direction

[@trashandchaos]

I mean, plenty of reasons to be impressed with the engineering here.

[@yannissotiriadis1267]

@@trashandchaos Apple has all the means for engineering, especially with those pricings.

[@ccctube5721]

The delivery and cadence of this video is so good. Alex is hilarious.

[@slunasaurusrex]

The reservoir and pump on top make it look like a supercharged musclecar with a shaker hood cutout. Or the MR Fusion on the back of the DeLorean in back to the future. So rad.

[@lendersbagels01]

I am really glad Linus was encouraging and enthusiastic after all that work.

[@iHasCaek]

linus loves jank. mutilating a mac product is the cherry on top.

[@lendersbagels01]

@@iHasCaek I’m not disagreeing

[@coconutmallman]

3:43 I can hear Tim’s screams of agony already

[@devnol]

13:13 I love how the funnel has a label that says "funnel" on it.

[@brandonkagunde4193]

i didnt expect it to work wow thank you so much bro

[@spooforbrains]

This is one of the best things you've ever built. It looks AMAZING

[@yeralma_soqan]

It looks cool. Thumbs up for Alex for doing this much clean work!

[@Cc99XYT]

Love the editing on this video.

[@radialbladeworks6183]

I legit LOVE the way that rig looks

[@MattiRedsky]

This is the absolute last place I expected to see a foundation repair reference. Kudos to the editor for that one. They got the JoJ.

[@tahiraslamm]

Alex always comes up with janky stuff and I love it

[@samuelbrucker7189]

Love the futurama ref at the end it is the best type of right

[@b16crxturbo]

The editing with Alex hammering is on point!

[@Garrettdx1988]

The editing of Alex using the power tools is perfect

[@bburron]

I’d just like to say…I really enjoyed the editing on this one. The Bruce Lee hammer hits were amazing.

[@MrBooneGames]

Wow, never thought I would hear about Saunders on here. I actually visited them around 5 or 6 years ago and still have a shirt. Crazy!

[@I3ladefist]

This project truly reminnds me the best of the best of Top Gear's challenges, and Im talking Clarkson's TG! Top Gearing the IT in best possible way, pls do more 😁

[@zkynaston]

"I'm not a machinist," Alex says as he Machines himself a water cooled Mac Studio. Amazing build!

[@thomasa5619]

Machining is a trade tho They also do electrical work and they’re not electricians

[@josephleoned]

Interesting concept, just hope I don't ever mistake it for an AC lol

[@james589]

Love these mod videos with Alex!

[@IdleDnB]

Ayyy Graphcore finally getting out there. The tech seems pretty cool, would be nice to see a video on it if it’s in the scope

[@BlakeBoy_VI]

This build is supercool! You guys should call it the Mac Studio "Hot Rod" cause it looks like one of those ole school cars with the engine exposed. If I could afford it, I would build one for myself lol

[@gameloser123]

The editing on this one was TIGHT. I appreciate the quick cuts that made this more engaging and a 17 minute rather than a 37 minute video

[@Ozaximo]

the music fits the video so much good!!!!!

[@MrHedgehog69]

I love how casual alex is talking about this god damn big challange XD nice side project thouge ;D

[@annagulaev]

I'm very glad you hotrodded it rather than doing a lesser cooler internally. Very cool project. Also, you're better at this than at reviewing things. Please do more of this kind of thing!

[@dontakeshit]

Internally would have been far more challenging. This is barely even in the same form factor anymore and over double the size. Bit of a cop out

[@zieverinkpatrick]

This is the best video in a long time. Alex did an amazingly professional job, with no usable application. But it looks great. Please make more amazing engineering things. Just great

[@craighanson4182]

Love the random build stuff

[@thevizma]

man I love alexs vibe, commenting on the lack of fan warning and hitting shit with a hammer... the best kinda engineer

[@michaeljeacock]

this looks sick. can we make external water cooling a thing? I want more mini pc's that look like coffee makers.

[@apreviousseagle836]

I'm actually tempted to buy a Mac Mini so I can do the same thing to it.

[@brendanerazo]

Anytime I encounter temp problems with the mini and the studio, (like having them in tight rackmounts) I just use a fan control software to have the fans spin up way earlier as temps ramp up.

[@MrDestroyerGameplays]

the editing on this video is hilarious, good job editor lmao

[@whatskraken3886]

it's actually insane how much better LTT projects have gotten. They used to be frustratingly janky and rushed, now they're actually pretty polished

[@ERROR-hf3wx]

Well this was Jake’s video. Linus’ style is the jank. Thats just how he goes.

[@JackTheAwesomeKnot]

I really liked the jank vids more then these polished vids

[@GFourGadget]

Absolute mad lad to watercool the Mac, this is what I expected from LTT 🌊💦💧

[@minecraftmaniac360]

I'm so glad this Alex video went straight to violence and chaos (as always)

[@JcAcosta]

I guess this is a new video editor.. The cuts a tighter than before. Great content. It's like a series of everything can be water cooled.

[@lonesock]

the Mac studio is such a simple chassis shape, would be cool to see you totally replace the aluminum with clear acrylic for full rgb goodness/annoyance. Could even have the acrylic go all the way up to enclose the res and rad and add filters :)

[@chidorirasenganz]

That sounds horrible

[@tylerkulchinsky2167]

I swear we need a weekly show with Alex janky cooling solutions. Write a theme song

[@Zidave]

I love when Alex gets to go wild in the shop!

[@sociallensman]

Sick customization 🔥🔥

[@wiggenvan]

Voltage probably read 12v for a little bit due to capacitors slowly being discharged.

[@lawrencejob]

I would really really really like to see you guys put this motherboard in a full case with full PSU and full cooling mechanism, or even rack mount it

[@GenericAnimeBoy]

I love the shot of the Mac case getting hosed down in coolant as the Tormach cuts holes in it.

[@budgetpconlineph9573]

Always a pleasure watching Alexander Polvin edits

[@jandurek]

It's a little unfortunate that it's only the M1 Max variants and you only tried a CPU test. M1 Ultra under combined CPU and GPU load eats like 200W and at that point water cooling might actually make some difference.

[@richardvalencia4512]

You should make a standard aftermarket turbo kit that includes an acrylic or glass enclosure that fits over the entire turbo kit. I realize that would ruin the thermals, but it'll look like a giant vacuum tube!

[@ichrsmas8432]

I like the editing for the hammering

[@MrTheog1989]

The background music in this slays, I never knew how much I needed to hear hall of the mountain king played on an organ! LTT you got a link to this?

[@S0K0N0MI]

I love this sunday monstertruck rally vibe. I wanna see two members of the LTT crew have a clock-off; both get the same system, but they get to tune it up however they like. Anthony vs. Linus would be a fun one.

[@braddl9442]

I imagine a water cooled Mac studio might be good for a place with hot climates. I mean there was all those warning about not playing certain game systems if the temp was over a certain amount this year. So In certain climates the water cool rig might be worth it.

[@generalwhine5350]

definitely a follow up video, Linus in Dubai with two Mac Studios and a camel.

[@michaelz3730]

Nice music, I think it fits this episode well. More please

[@EnviousGenome]

The day 3 transition with the new haircut 8:20 phenomenal.

[@AllericEnslin]

Man I wish you could send this thing back for warranty and just get the reaction of the Apple engineers when they see it

[@darin7553]

That would be really funny

[@uncIeben]

5:10 could of used an oscillating tool to separate the two

[@hendrikw4104]

*have

[@tzxazrael]

finally! a mac that i can actually be remotely interested in! nice work!

[@Rhoran]

12:08 HoH SiS reference! I love it!

[@TheKaosOfMyLife]

Hey Guys! I know you didn’t want to mess up by doing a acrylic part for the water cooling plate BUT it would have been awesome if a completely new transparent upper case enclosing all of the mac and water cooling system with the rgb lights! Maybe a part 2? :) Btw I’m a hardcore mac fan, and still kind of like your frankenMac ;) Keep up you good work :)

[@jackh4636]

I left a negative comment on your AC cooled PC a few months back because of how rushed it felt. This video couldn't be be further from that! Well produced, entertaining and equally crazy. Love it! 🙂

[@IlmarcheseJacky]

The mac studio already looked like deep thought from the hitchhikers guide. Now it does even more!

[@jtaicello]

Dang, now I wish Apple would release a chip that had a TDP of 150+ watts, insane how efficient the M1 Max is!

[@SuperSmashDolls]

M2 Ultra or whatever the higher tier is called will probably be around that hot

[@Ziegeri]

I wonder how does ARM chip scale with more power, if they do well then I wonder why can't you just overclock it?

[@Ziegeri]

@NaN Yes you do, and the stability doesnt suffer from that if you know what you are doing.

[@jdogdarkness]

With Apple SOCs coming from mobile phone line of thought, I would imagine the water cooling's effect would be very limited.

[@GeorgeHollywood]

Love it!! Reminds me of the rear of the DeLorean in Back To The Future! :)

[@GhastCraftHD]

I love the Flex Seal cap

[@lucasbim]

I wish we could see the potential of M1 family chips without the low power constraints, this looks freaking cool! I can't remember the last time I've been so pleased with my a macbook (I have the M1 Max maxed out) and I'm a developer, I will skip the M2 and probably go for M3 next year.

[@Zach.O]

Imagine being a developer on mac os