The recently launched M3 MacBook Air is known for its impressive speed, but it also suffers from overheating issues, with temperatures often reaching as high as 114 degrees Celsius, and this overheating can cause severe performance degradation.
However, recent experiments by YouTuber MaxTech have uncovered a solution: modifications (expensive modifications) that can significantly improve laptop performance.By combining SVALT’s DHCR cooling base with thermal pads, MaxTech successfully Improve the performance of M3 MacBook Air by nearly 50% in certain scenarioseven surpassing the more expensive and cooler M3 MacBook Pro.
The DHCR Cooling Base is designed to simultaneously secure and cool your MacBook. It uses a “direct heatsink coupling” method where the laptop is placed vertically with the lid closed to ensure surface contact in the area where the M3 chip is located. The dock’s cooling mechanism works by cooling the external chassis, thereby maintaining a cool environment for the M3 chip inside.
MaxTech’s experiments have shown that the sustained performance of the SVALT cooling dock is significantly enhanced. In the 3DMark Wildlife benchmark, for example, the dock nearly doubled the MacBook Air’s performance, scoring 7,309 points in clamshell mode (versus 4,198 points without the dock).
The base is carved from solid aluminum to draw heat away from the MacBook’s processor. (Image source: Swart)
Additionally, MaxTech uses Thermal pad used in combination with cooling baseachieving a sustained score of 8062 points, slightly better than the MacBook Pro under similar test conditions.
These findings highlight the differences between MacBook Air and MacBook Pro cooling solutions, even though they share the same specs (e.g. M3 chip) – while the MacBook Air’s fanless cooling system results in lower sustained performance, the modifications provide a viable solution.
Users can choose to use the thermal pad alone to regain much of the lost performance, or invest in SVALT’s DHCR cooling sled for a more comprehensive cooling solution (especially if the MacBook Air is being used as a desktop replacement), however, the sled’s price Tagged with $279 Might deter some potential users.
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