Make your M2 MacBook Air FASTER for $8?!

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It's no secret that the MacBook Air M2 has some thermal throttling issues, so today we're going to try to fix that! With just a few dollars, can thermal pads save the day? To get a thorough answer we're going to try multiple thermal pad applications to see what method works best for improving the cooling in your new M2 MacBook Air thermal throttling fix.
Time stamps
0:00 Intro
1:08 The experiment
3:06 Control test
4:07 Sponsor segment
5:03 Opening procedure
6:19 Installation
7:57 Test run 1
9:03 Test run 2&3
9:18 Test run 4 and final results
10:55 Blender test
12:34 Lessons learned
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[@MaxTechOfficial]

Great test! We used 1.5mm thermal pads for $15 which are very well rated, so I wonder if that allowed better contact with the back plate on the M2 MacBook Air which could've allowed more heat transfer. We noticed some pretty huge performance differences in our test. Nevertheless, it's awesome to see that there's an easy and simple way to handle this thermal throttling problem. Cheers!

[@supremegroove7531]

Great one Max!

[@Archenemy95]

I believe the thermal paste was also changed, so that might have a lot to do with it as well

[@lukemiani]

The .5 and 1mm definitely made good contact as when I removed them after the test, they stuck to the bottom plate rather than the heatsink. I think the differences are mainly W/mK rating as well as having placement directly over the M2. Covering as much of the heatsink as possible seemed to help dissipate heat for sure!

[@iambenmerino]

Why is there a problem if the MacBook Air throttles? It's a laptop made for light work, not heavy workloads. I'm tired of almost every reviewer bringing up this subject. Stop comparing the MacBook Air to the Pro, would you?

[@tom-hp5wb]

@@iambenmerino Because you would expect the laptop to have a sufficient cooling solution for the components?

[@lazzercat]

Linus did this with m1 air, and also first 4 run test results has different text spacing.

[@iHorus]

The base model was faster because 1.5mm thermal pad was actually making good contact between the bottom plate and the M2 cover. 1mm cheap pad still probably had some air left between the M2 and the plate, thus causing worse thermals. So I would suggest GO FOR 1.5mm thermal pad.

[@3mr132]

true and i was wondering why am I getting worse heat than no thermal pad mod. after placing my 1mm thermal pad it does make contact but not fully there is some air gaps and I might completely remove the thermal pad since the heat coming from the CPU cant radiate out of the chassis. over all go for the 1.5mm

[@booneh]

I got my M2 MacBook Air to completely shut down all cores just by putting it in the microwave for a few minutes. I can’t believe Apple considers this a pro device.

[@Doc_Sans]

Did you really put your laptop in the microwave and proceed to complain?

[@booneh]

@@Doc_Sans Just seeing if it can stand up to the rigors of my workflow. I gots to have that high performance. I also don’t think I should have to pay for it. Apple remains silent about this massive flaw.

[@helmi5045]

@@booneh Wait… you can’t put a MacBook into a microwave? PC laptops can do that for years!

[@booneh]

@@helmi5045 Design over function yet again. You should see the dongle I had to get just to have a parallel port.

[@stuartaparker]

They don't consider it a Pro device .... Pro devices have the handy Pro suffix to identify them....

[@Techtype_]

Max Tech got even better Benchmarking results with his Thermal Pad mod! He did change the Thermal Paste out for Arctic MX-4 tho, that also played a role in it.

[@sgtpepper729]

Yeah but Max Tech spent $7 more 😬

[@JackBandicootsBunker]

@@sgtpepper729 And it was worth it.

[@Bambotb]

Why aren't they putting liquid cooling

[@Techtype_]

@@Bambotb what, it's a thin af laptop not a huge desktop

[@JackBandicootsBunker]

@@Bambotb Apple Silicon doesn’t need a vapor chamber. And Apple had already experienced with liquid cooling before, go ask them and Delphi what they think of it…

[@tupublicoful]

If you want to perform experiments changing two independent variables you need to run all the combinations to reach a conclusion. 1 Small Pattern/Blue Pads, 2 Small Pattern/Silver Pads, 3 Large Pattern/Blue Tabs, 4 Large Patter/Silver Tabs. Otherwise it’s impossible to ascertain what if anything made a difference. Might have to even consider Pad Thickness another independent variable, then requiring 8 experiments.

[@waseemmalik3281]

we got a nerd here

[@slipoch6635]

I agree also I would go for the larger ssd models in both that way you will not be getting the wierd speed issues linked to the bandwidth of the hard drive.

[@rkilbrai]

So, the obvious question: why didn’t Apple do this? 1) It gets the bottom case too close (or over) the legal allowed limit? 2) It transfers the heat to other parts that will be damaged or reduced in life span, such as the batteries or other components? So, while some improvements may be gained (in the short term), could this actually be bad for the longevity of the MacBook or certain parts? It’s an honest question as mine arrives next month.

[@Hectorz111]

Option 1, regulations forbid such high temperatures in a product like this (for health and safety reasons). Linus Tech Tips made a video on this subject a year ago, which goes into full detail on these laws and the benefits of using this method.

[@RealSebus]

Its a liability matter and when you can get burned. LTT did a video about cooling MacBook Air with intel chip and they mention why there is an insulation on a bottom case instead of thermal pad

[@MoChuang343]

@@RealSebus I used to own a 2020 Intel MBA with the mod. Can confirm, under certain loads the things is literally not lap-able anymore…especially if you’re planning on having kids.

[@andyH_England]

If you do this and burn someone then in the US you would open yourself up to personal liability. It is not very sensible and probably one reason why Apple and many other OEMs are moving away from allowing mods and repairability on their ultrabooks, as people can do some stupid things.

[@ettcha]

It would be bad for your lap if you use it that way every day. The laptop doesn't even need to feel hot to the touch to burn. I got a blister from a few days of having a 'warm' MacBook on my lap during work from home 🥲. As for components, I'm not sure. In the intel days, Apple sure didn't mind letting their machines almost redline before the fans even twitched, and for all the worry it caused, it was mostly fine for years. People used to run fan control apps for fear of grilling their machines to death and to maintain boost speeds longer!

[@auistin2001]

It’s worth trying. Love this kind a video with details. Thank you and keep the good work

[@MoraFermi]

You should check if the 1mm pads were actually thick enough to contact the bottom case! Your inconsistency could be explained by simply having the extra thermal capacity in the heatsink, coupled with very thin (but still there) air gap.

[@MoonDrive_]

I’ve needed this! Always been wondering how to fix this

[@CptReflex]

I wonder if there are even greater performance or temperature improvements when more thermal pads are added to the backplate on the outside. It could possibly transfer heat through the surface below the MacBooks rather than through the gap of air created by the bottom bumpers. This would be really cool to see the results.

[@El.Duder-ino]

Well done! Indeed using high conductivity thermal pads on the whole surface of the heatsink is the key, but I am right now Chinese manufacturers are developing 1 mm thick vapor chamber which you will be able to place on the the heatsink or the one which will completely replace it when you're going to be ready to do it after warranty expiration.

[@lagpi]

Yo that second squarespace intro came outta nowhere😂 great vid this far, really liking the idea of thermal pads to 'fix' the throttling, fingers crossed it works!

[@briangentle5515]

Thanks for this interesting video. I have ordered a MBA for my wife and it should come tomorrow, so we will see if the laptop heats up significantly. I suspect that when you use it for everyday tasks, it probably won't actually be a problem. This fix is probably most useful for the pro-user, who might well have a higher spec Mac Book Pro anyway. Just as well, as I don't actually fancy opening the case up very much. I have a fan plate which I used with my old MBP/2017, so we could use that if there is any problem.

[@a9fc]

I would add a thin copper heatsink outside of the case as well. I'll be adding a stand/riser to prop it up anyway, so I'll probably add 1 or 2 rectangular heatsinks alone the riser, would be great if you could test it.

[@th0m]

Been using this technique with thermal grizzly pads on the heat pipe in my 11" air, 15" 2018, and 16" 2019. It's mostly a no-brainer as long as you adjust your use accordingly (ie don't run cinebench on your lap while wearing shorts). Since they're portables though, I skip the area directly above the cpu/gpu. The bottomcase does flex in a backpack, and I'd much rather keep additional strain due to flex isolated to the heatpipe rather than directly on the chips and logic board.

[@williamhue4937]

Finally, some good instruction on how to open up the backplate safely, thanks.

[@nicolasdaum6185]

I did not encounter a throttling issue with my MBA so far but I am getting into amateur video editing and I may experience some excessive heating. The solution looks fairly simple. Thanks for the tip. Nick

[@Steve-ts7fh]

Would you be able to do a thermal test on the GPU using the pads on each? Seeing if these will help the 10-core perform better for longer compared to the 8-core which doesn't throttle as much.

[@pauljazzman408]

Love the video. Great to do those thermal pad tests. Was the blue M2 MBA the one with more cpu/gpu cores or was it only ssd being bigger? If more cores then more heat and a burst of power then possible quicker throttling effect as some KZbinrs have shown. Could this explain the results or am I way off? Also would it better to have the MBA on a stand to get air flow underneath?

[@utubekullanicisi]

I don't know why reviewers are insistently referring to the thermal behavior of the MBA as a 'problem'. This is not a problem, it is expected behavior from a fanless laptop, and it is by design. The MacBook Air is a fanless device. The advantage you get with that is there isn't even the possibility of fan noise. The disadvantage you get is not being able to sustain the peak performance level of the chip inside it. With MacBook Pros, you do get a fan, so there is a possibility of you hearing fan noise (even though those too are basically silent (but there are still people who get annoyed by even a little bit of fan noise, or those who just don't prefer it) but the advantage you get is basically perfect performance stability. It's in the name, the MacBook 'Air' is meant to be the thinnest, lightest, most portable machine Apple can make, while the MacBook 'Pro' is meant to offer you that peak performance state at all times, silence be damned. It's up to the customer to make the decision of which device they want to go with, based on their needs and wants and priorities. This is not a problem, and it's a very elegant and logical way to offer a wide range of choice for the widest range of customers possible.

[@stuartaparker]

It's a bizarre one for sure. In Max Tech's review of "problems" with the M2 MBP, they stated one "problem" was that it hasn't been redesigned.... Not really sure how that's a problem.

[@lihharusan1]

I honestly would've preferred if they had kept the fan or some sort of proper cooling for the Macbook Air than to deal with throttling and heat, and not having to pay extra for that. The M2 seem like very capable chips, but they also generate more wattage than the M1 which means more heat. The problem is we're not exactly sure how well these laptops will perform long term because they can reach very hot (107C, 224F) temperatures, and having no fan further exacerbates this.

[@ultragoyim1270]

People love to be right even if they got their knowledge from a video. Suppliers of these videos make money, it’s a loop for those wanting an edge in conversations. I’d wager many commenters aren’t buying this I ordered the 2tb with 16gb ram 10gpu, anywhere I go it’s going to look nice, professional and it can run my photoshop needs for years..coming from a 15 MacBook 12 anything is an improvement and after years of use I want another fanless silent device

[@UTJK.]

Because there's a non expressed computing potential that with a different design probably would have been reached (maybe with a vapor chamber?). Also the computer costs more than the previous version, it is advertised to be 17% faster, so you expect it to be more powerful consistently, not just for a couple of seconds. It's a producer's claim that doesn't translate well into reality and that's the problem. Also... it's fun to experiment with these hackings.

[@AndeyKurniawan]

add furniture feet pads to tilt the laptop slightly. provide more airflow over the base. you should measure the table surface where your laptop is on. it soaks up the heat and once equal, it also degrades peformance

[@cjtech2222]

If I had to guess the blender anomaly was because those thermal pads were also on the storage chips and some of the CPUs heat transferred to those causing them to clock down

[@tomsun3159]

The mod leads to a new problem, the thermal load is better distributed (so no downclocking in short time), i leads to more thermal stress for the battery (and the temperature for the battery can get to high). The temperature of the battery is tracked in terms of warranty, but the measurements of battery temperature seems no to be used for controlling speed of CPU. If the battery temperature is also integrated into cpu speed management, it would be a good solution. At this point its more an optimization if warranty behaviour from apple is not an issue for you (like also not covering micro fissures in the display (its ALWAYS customers fault and NO warranty)

[@aykuttasdelen]

What are the temperature differences of the "ssd", "battery" and other sensors with and without thermal pad? Some users have given feedback that the heat pressure on other parts increased after the thermal pad application.

[@janeS9773]

Do enjoy your videos, not loving the sponsor breaks but easy to get around. Thanks for all you do.

[@autobahngringo]

DON'T STOP THERE!! Try copper tape on the inside of the bottom cover (spread out across entire surface) and thermal pads on the entire heatsink. Come on Luke, I know you love this kind of stuff.

[@overnightrepair1552]

I was thinking about a giant heat sink instead of a backplate, or like a vented back plate I wonder if anyone has made something like that for macbooks.

[@Supercon57]

I think it may have been better to isolate the tests more Compare the higher quality piece of 1.5 to a similarly cut piece of lower quality 1.5 to see how they differ Then see how 1.5 compares to 2 v 1 v 0.5 Then depending on which one gave the best results scale it up to cover the entire heatsink

[@estabravo]

I’ve read anything above 1mm might make it too thick to close, but the 1.5mm i have discloses a 1mm compression to .6mm ratio on the packaging. I’m assuming better contact with the case is more optimal? Any thoughts ?

[@Supercon57]

@@estabravo I'm no expert, but I'm under the impression that when using a piece too thick the heat doesn't transfer as well I'm only repeating something someone else said online though so....

[@benji_tunez]

this seems like a awesome fix. Do be careful with the placement because I saw a video that critique linus tech tips for doing a similar mod that revealed that doing this can lead the heat towards the battery, which for the uninitiated, heat + battery = boom boom

[@felixdererste11]

I was wondering if the thermal pads distribute the heat so well, doesn't the battery also get significantly warmer, which has a negative effect on life expectancy? Would it be possible for @lukemiani to make a video on how the battery temperature behaves with thermal pads? Thanks and keep on with the great videos 👍🏼

[@limtc1733]

Battery will logically drain much quicker as larger current would be required to supply the cpu for extended period of high load. Battery will heat up and hot batteries are not a good thing. This would defeat the purpose of a mba.

[@harrisonmassaro1199]

Interesting video. I will check out the performance once my m2 MBA arrives, but have been wondering if thermal pads could help aid thermal efficiency.

[@fidiak]

Thanks for great video

[@theotherphil]

To throw a spanner in the works a little….heat flows when there’s a heat gradient. You may not get better performance by covering the entire emf shield. Instead, better performance may come from covering just the die area which will allow a greater temperature gradient on the bottom case….eg, a defined hot spot allowing heat to move quicker to the colder parts of the case. This was evident in your test and is why heatsink manufacturers use a copper base with alu fins. It would be interesting to see a follow up video to confirm though.

[@s_plus_e]

I think in a near future we could possibly see the cooling mods with, maybe, copper thermal cooling system or something like so. I think, they could be popular.

[@MoChuang343]

Can you test thermal pad mod with a laptop cooling pad? I think full heat sink coverage to keep surface temps lower under normal use on the go and then letting the thing max out and hit 50C on the bottom cover while rendering on top of a cooling pad when you’re at your desk might be the best of both worlds. Kind of like that eluktronics external water cooling radiator for their new laptop but way simpler.

[@t.d.5804]

Installed the heatpads and I am using a notebook cooler. The MBA sits on a fan and has an additional fan blowing on the KBD. Now it runs, 33W power use. Topaz Video enhance is running 24/7. Without the fans it throttles to 24W or less. 30% or more computing power with heatpads AND fan. In stock condition it is slower than my M1 MacMini.

[@ytt8370]

This fix would really make a difference in long runs if there was some airflow on the bottom of the macs (either from leaving some room under them or by using a little/low revving fan). Without room for any airflow, it's just increasing thermal inertia

[@egmccann]

I was thinking the same thing. Right now he's mostly warming up the table. A stand, or one of those (not that expensive...) risers with fans built in would likely make a difference.

[@meowmeow3413]

Wait, how about put some fans inside the case so they can create airflow to help cooling the CPU? What a genius idea.

[@OShackHennessy]

@@meowmeow3413 ah, it appears we have come full circle!

[@helloken]

Luke just one point that you probably will never see...the part you pointed at is not the "palmrest" unless you rest your palms right up against the screen LOL. The palm rest is the area BELOW your keyboard in the trackpad area...where you rest your palms. Great video demonstrating a cool little cooling trick!

[@THE1BAD]

Would have loved to see if a laptop cooling pad with a fan would have increased performance even more.

[@morgan0]

i have my intel mac on a stand with a desk fan blowing on it from below, it helps a lot at reducing thermal throttling, more so when the cpu is the main heat source and less so when the gpu is. i haven’t added thermal pads/copper shims/etc inside yet.

[@nioxic77]

the black stuff is not put there as thermal insulating tape... it's to prevent electronic discharge. It can prevent the laptop components from shorting, when/if it touches the aluminium casing. it's a safety feature. this is also why most "non-apple" laptops have a little black piece of this, covering the ssd slot, ram slot etc.

[@robertkerr229]

Would like to see the benches on unmodified vs modified when using laptop cooler that pulls the heat away from the bottom cover. The thermal pads are flowing heat away from the heat sink to the bottom cover, so the next step is more quickly move it into the environment with air flow. Since there are no vents, best that can be done is airflow across the bottom.

[@chengkunwang6839]

Good test. This simple mod will help a lot of people.

[@egnerozo1160]

I was waiting for this idea… 😀

[@valentin210693]

hi 👋🏻 what is the application you're using to show the temperature in the menubar?

[@geek-channel]

I would have a concern on battery longevity when the heat is transferred to the bottom of the case. There is probably a reason why engineers did not remove the heat from the CPU to the battery via the bottom of the case. But it is really impressive to see how much performance gain you could get just f a better CPU cooling. Nice job!

[@oliversolheim4026]

it is because it is illegal to have the bottom case be over 50c because it will burn you if you leave it on your bare lap for an extended period of time

[@Dannyfr33sh]

@@oliversolheim4026this is correct

[@AlexMint]

@@oliversolheim4026 can confirm, wound up getting a refund *and* a replacement when my surface pro did that to me several years ago.

[@ethanolion]

Great test. Always have a question about the apple plue care coverage if procured?

[@matthewjones5951]

Luke, you should try pointing a usb powered fan at the keyboard deck and see how much difference it makes. I use that on my 2015 macbook pro and its surprisingly effective

[@UTJK.]

But it destroys the idea of a silent mac. I'll try with my 16" intel... I'm curious lol

[@bradmorri]

the thinner cheap pads covering the entire shield are not making full contact with the base of the case on the blue unit, you need thicker pads. Get one of the gel filler hot and cold packs that you use on sore muscles. you can start out with a frozen one if you like and you can put it under the base of the laptop. even unfrozen, the gel will absorb the heat away from the case bottom and help cool the laptop

[@Usersdfcfhb]

I wish you could do a more thoughtful thermal pad test especially on different thickness and arrangement coz I am going do the thermal pad for my MacBook Air too.

[@foxyloon]

My hypothesis? The lower performance of the Midnight Macbook Air has to do with the additional GPU cores. Since the M2 chips are SoCs, the GPU cores are on the same substrate at the CPU cores. More cores=more wattage

[@yuriorlov7916]

Luke’s firing back at max tech lol. Love it

[@MrTechcat]

sticking thermal pad on the insulator.. makes sense. :D

[@lazerbeam3928]

Two points. Although the thicker thermal pad is harder to get the rear shell back on, the physical contact between the pad and the shell will conduct the heat away better. The whole point of thermal pads and pastes is to provide a continuous media between to objects to facilitate the transfer of heat. The firmer the contact the better. Secondly, the thermal emissivity (blackbody effect) of the midnight-colored case is less than the lighter colored case. Although the difference is minute, cumulatively it shows up in your testing.

[@zhorapata9733]

Thanks for highlighting the Color issue. So silver/space grey/starlight Color Air M2 will thermal throttle less ?

[@tylerhough9124]

Thermal emissivity in this test is likely dramatically more impactful in our heads than in reality. Probably accounts for 1% or less of any single benchmark point under these conditions.

[@lazerbeam3928]

@@zhorapata9733 Don't know for sure, but with all other things being equal it may contribute to heat buildup over the long haul. However, I doubt that it will only fractionally reduce thermal dissipation that to the level that may not be measurable. Thermodynamics are a complicated and makes my head hurt.

[@lazerbeam3928]

@@tylerhough9124 I agree with you whole heartedly. I'm also curious as to how airflow is accomplished on these notebooks. It seems there are ventilation ports to exhaust hot air but I can't figure out how it takes fresh air in. I realize that without a fan or fans, it will be strictly a convection process. Putting the thermal pads may help draw away some of the heat but how does it affect airflow?

[@TrinitronX]

@@lazerbeam3928 Heat transfer in this system seems to be mostly radiation through the air and conduction through the table & case surfaces. I'd expect a minimal amount of convection from the small openings, because hot air rises while cold air must take it's place. However, that effect would probably be minimal unless a fan is added. I was wondering about the black-body effect of the color difference between the macbooks myself. It would be interesting to see a comparison of both laptop colors when using the same thickness and distribution of thermal pads. Maybe it's still a minimal effect, but it might still be visible from comparing just this difference when all other variables are held roughly equal.

[@kingievo4411]

Hi, after a period of using, usually how long should we replace and apply the new thermal pad????

[@perayogo]

I think the midnight one provide more heat with double ssd chips so the system maintains to slow down its performance sooner than the base model. Would it be?

[@gkglobalguy]

Great video Luke. Just seen the Genius Bar podcast where Sam was trying to give you a hard time. He is in danger of sounding like an old woman. You were bang on point. Keep doing what you do. It’s what we need and is very interesting. 👍

[@hawkmankt]

Nice testing.

[@thebottomband]

I rigged up an icepack/lap-pad for a MacBook Pro with only one working fan many moons ago. It really helped until I was able to fix the fan. Will Apple put a fan in the 15" Air? Will Apple re-tool these M2 Airs to add a fan and fix the SSD problem?

[@HD-kb1pg]

Adding a fan pad as well as a thermal pad might be an interesting test

[@justinrpowers]

Hi Luke, so here is my thought, if the bottom of the MacBook Air is now the heat sink, could extend the performance and benefit from the fan cooling pad underneath the laptop ?

[@Rareparrot]

Thanks for the video Luke ! In the past I have got so much great info from you , Cheers! Not in the market for a new MacBook Air. I do though have a fan-less computer, it is an old panasonic toughbook. I have had to use a laptop stand with built in fans when it gets hot (the ambient room temp) here with it. Otherwise it goes too slow. It's not fast anyway lol. Just can't see the logic of a fan-less design. Rocking now a macbook pro 2009 with 2 BIG built in fans. :)

[@fixups6536]

One of the points to keep in mind, if you don't understand the logic behind fanless, is that fans consume power! A fanless computer will have more autonomy, and for some it is an important feature. It will also be more reliable.

[@Rareparrot]

@@fixups6536 Hi - what will be more reliable exactly? A fan-less computer? So I'm writing this to you from a 2009 macbook pro with 2 original large fans as stated already. Now this computer has been reliable for about 13 years and is still working...So I can't see your point. Also, I would not like to try to do anything (a computer task) with a fanless design in a hot room that required a lot of cpu useage. We are talking about enough heat to boil water. .. as stated in lukes video. 108 deg celcius.

[@thesteve41]

Can you test raising the Macbooks off the desk slightly and pointing a fan to blow across both the top and bottom? I'm curious how much it would help if I was using the laptop docked and had a little desktop sized fan blowing on it.

[@mmontiii1850]

Which of these two is better for a university use (take notes, watching videos, using excel and other stuff)?: -MBA with 512 of SSD and 8gb of RAM - MBA with 256 gb of SSD (with the storage issue) and 16 go of RAM Considering that I would like to keep this MacBook for at least 5-6 years

[@pinkzombie]

Add external peltier thermal-electric phone cooler on M2 Air. Btw, infrared thermometer usually doesn't work correctly on metal or shiny surface. The reading on bottom case might be off.

[@andersonjosegoddeliettpena487]

hello luck from so many videos seen of the MACBOOK AIR, why not try to place a .5mm thermal pad on the opposite side (internal side) where apple engineers supposedly transfer heat to the vents near the of screen, do you think it would be a good test?

[@douwedevries2026]

I'm curious about doing this mod as well to my M1 MacBook Air. I'm wondering about the downsides of it, because I have read some thermal pads can get oily - and actually leak to the components. I could imagine that could trigger the moisture stickers so I'm a little worried about that. Do you have any tips what to look out for getting the right thermal pads and what has the experience been using them longer term?

[@eschatonhemera654]

Hey Luke, what temperature app are you using?

[@cactustweeter2890]

Luke who are you recommending this fix for? Certainly not your average MacBook Air user. Seems to me this is for someone that doesn't mind voiding the warranty, and someone whose workflow best fits on a MacBook Pro but wants to do it on the new MacBook Air.

[@dbedford1000]

Is the larger thermal pad coverage transferring heat out to the case and back to adjacent components?

[@SpaceShrimp]

the black tape is more of an EM shield than a thermal shield.. removing it might cause somme interferences issues

[@jwbonnett]

Can you measure battery temperature, and then add either kapton tape or foil tape as a heat shield?

[@JeffreyOlsson]

Awesome video.

[@MarbsMusic]

Excellent!

[@bigdraco5008]

All of a sudden the thermal pad costs 45$ now

[@microsoft.co.u]

my bad I think I accidentally ordered too many

[@martinsoppa]

Luke!!! Hows about using liquid metal thermal paste WITH the thermal pads

[@ericschraud8672]

What was the battery temp durning the padded tests? I’ve heard that heat passing through the chassis can spread more heat to the batteries and degrade them faster.

[@AppleBman]

Fabricate a custom bottom case that replaces the factory bottom that's a couple of mm thicker and has air vents. Then take that up another notch and have a bottom case with a super-thin built-in fan just to move air around inside. C'mon Luke, you can make these!

[@h4d1sby]

what about make ventilation on bottom cover. maybe drill it 2 sideways, so the air flow can happen. or maybe there will be third party cover that have a hole.

[@stuartaparker]

I'm sure I saw a reputable source on Twitter confirm that it's just an RF/EM shielding, and not a large heatsink by design (although it may help with heat dissipation clearly)

[@Wokiis]

thx for talking thermal pad thickness

[@denvera1g1]

What i like to do is use really thin thermal pads as a bridge/electrical insulator, between a very high end graphene thermal pad. Be VERY aware that graphene pads are extremely electrically conductive, so they need electrical isolation. Now where graphene comes in handy is spreading out the heat, not just transfering from one side of the pad to the other. When transfering from the CPU, to the case just below the CPU, its a bit slower than thin thermal paste(this is significnatly faster than a thermal pad, but this requires good precision as it is not electrically isolated, any shift in the graphene pad can result in a short circuit killing the device). However, when transferring from one edge of the thermal pad to the other edge, say, moving from one side of the laptop to the other side, it seems to be 3-8x faster than the aluminium used in the case. I think the pad i used was rated for over 600w/m*k (transverred on the X/Y plane not the Z plane) This is nowhere near the speed of a heat pipe or evaporation chamber, but it is far better than just letting the aluminium alone spread the heat out. If you could combine heat pipes, with these thermal pads to cover the entire bottom cover with graphene, and a traditional thermal pad to insulate everthing else electrically, you miight be able to push the M2 to 38w Edit, what i think Apple should have done for this new generation is have the SOC behind the screen, with ample heat pipes and thermal pads to spread out the heat across the whole screen so there isnt a hot spot, this would allow for larger batteries, more ports, and more storage on the base of the unit, keeping the majority of the heat away from the intentionally difficult to replace battery.

[@Fehonda.Factory]

Great！nice Idea！！

[@beyosed7936]

What if you use some king of cooling stand to cool down the backplate while using the thermal pads?

[@TheChillDeadpool]

A year later don't put the thermal pads on the heatsink instead put them on the bottom plate cover that covers well the bottom lol Secondly if you're out of the warranty you probably would have better results using higher quality thermal paste or even liquid metal if you're comfortable with doing that Use TG shield that protects the tiny little chips around the GPU or CPU just for safety and never apply it too much thermal pace or liquid metal you need to get away with the least amount but you do not need to see the processors that's to thin With liquid metal you do need to go really thin with that stuff but also making sure you do cover the processors as much as possible and on the heatsink itself but then like I said don't overdo it

[@ag4eng]

Are there any vent holes at the bottom of the M2 MB Air ? Curious if Apple intended to use the air gap for convective cooling currents from the bottom to top or side of the chassis.

[@larousse96]

hey, what's the temperature sensor app you are using?

[@bradnelson3595]

Some people say they don't like benchmarking. Pfft. I think what Luke has done here is very interesting.

[@JN-ml1qw]

Just got my MacBook Pro 14" over M2 Air, and I'm loving it!

[@jawnjinski]

have had this mod on my daily driver M1 air (im on right now) and when I play games like RuneScape or do a large file transfer, boy does she get hot. also with only 31 battery cycles im at 91% battery life .. I keep it plugged in and it will bypass the battery typically and unplug it when not in use.

[@petermcfarlane]

The heat dissipation seems better, but I wonder if Apple deliberately dismissed the thermal pad option because they didn't want to risk leg-burn and adversely affect the battery longevity through exposure to excess heat?

[@d0leo]

Here's an idea for something that I'd like to see tested: What's the ratio between CPU load and CPU temperatures. Like, sure, the CPU has to throttle under load when benchmarks are being run; the CPU is under 100% load. But what about under more 'normal' circumstances? Like, I have an ableton live project that keeps my CPU at 40% load, which activates the fans on my CPU. I'd like to know what CPU load produces temperatures of ~100 degrees, causing the throttling!

[@savageazn69]

What app do you use to monitor temperatures of the cpu and gpu in the bar up top?

[@autobahngringo]

My crystal ball says there will be made to fit thermal pad upgrade kits for the M1 and M2 MBA's - by Luke Miani?

[@Kanev05]

The starlight air you placed the pad only on half of the M2 Chip. The 4 screws indicated where the M2 chip is. That is a waste of cooling potential especially since the "heatsink" is not actually one, it's just an EMI shield on these Airs and does the minimum required work for actually heatsinking.

[@Garrett_Builds]

Were you misspeaking when saying "palm rest" and measuring above the keyboard?

[@aniketrajsingh6232]

Please try Oleophobic coating on the midnight m2 macbook pro to see if the fingerprint magnet problem is resolved, your test will be much appreciated.

[@theyaghu]

At the end is it is safe to use thermal pads ?

[@Traegorn]

"Shorten your M2 MacBook Air Lifespan by YEARS for $8" would be more accurate. This is how you cook a battery, causing it to expand, and killing the whole thing. The air gap is on purpose, to isolate the heat from the battery. Thermal pad modifications will kill so many MacBook Airs years before they would have. Do not do this to your Mac. If you don't want your computer thermal throttling, buy one with a fan -- that's literally why they still make them.

[@stokemoran]

Has a test been done using a fan based laptop cooler?

[@evindrews]

even with the throttling though, is the m2 still faster then the m1 in sustained loads?

[@iHorus]

Will it perform as a workstation if $15 notebook cooler from amazon would be added? On my gaming notebook it taking 10 degrees off easily.