Wishing for new Apple Silicon MacBook Pros
Like many folks that are developers, I'm very interested in what the new 16" MacBook Pros with Apple Silicon will be like. Right now, I'm really focusing on a few key features I've read, and seen, on the 13" MacBook Pros with M1 chips: the Display handling, and the Operating temperatures.
Right now, I've got a couple of LG 5K monitors, and my 16" MacBook Pro can drive them, but the temperature of the laptop starts to rise, and then the kernel_task rises, and the box essentially becomes unusable. I understand all the reasons for the kernel_task, and how it keeps the machine from overheating. And I've blown out my recent-vintage 16" MacBook Pro, so it's not an obvious issue, but I get it... I'm driving big 5K monitors, and that heats up the laptop.
From what I've read, the new Apple Silicon MacBook Pro can drive one 6K monitor, or two 4K monitors - just like the new Mac mini. Which is nice, and I'm just betting that the new 16" MacBook Pros will be able to drive two LG 5Ks - like the current lot can. Which will be nice. And to have no fan noise - that will be the real treat.
Which comes to the point of the thermal environment for the new laptop. I get that they need to be able to cool the components, but I'm to the point that I don't Zoom or run Google Meet on the laptop as it just makes it too hot. I can run Zoom and Meet on my iPad Pro, and it's faster, better, quieter, and I don't have to worry about a long meeting contributing to my machine slowing down.
I know it'll be the end of this year to get the new machines, but at least the new iPad Pros will be out sooner than that - and that too, will be a very nice upgrade. 🙂