Where else can one put air vents on a laptop? The sides are taken up by expansion ports and speakers. The front is blocked by the battery. The bottom is often obstructed by blankets, clothing, etc. The top is for the keyboard, trackpad, and palm rest.
Putting vents at the hinge actually makes the most sense. It guarantees ventilation ports won't be fully obstructed. The vents face away from the user, reducing fan noise. Air ducts are short, since that area is close to the CPU/GPU.
It's hard to cool a laptop that can generate 85 watts of heat. Moreso if one cares about it looking nice and being thin. You may not like the trade-offs Apple chooses, but they put a lot of thought into their industrial design.
The thinness is the critical problem, and to be honest with most consumer electronics (phones especially; please give me a larger, replaceable battery), I wish they would stop the race to the bottom and instead deliver more functional and longer-lasting productions.
I have an rMBP 15" and a 15" Lenovo Y500. The Y500 cost less than half of the rMBP for equivalent performance but the experience, battery, screen, trackpad, etc are of course much better on the Mac. But for intensive tasks, even with nearly identical internals and the same OS, the Y500 is far more pleasant to use. Say what you want about Lenovo and the terrible things they've done to their laptops in the last few years, but the Y500 is designed to expel heat in the least obtrusive manner possible and it does an amazing job.
At full bore, all cores, maybe a game, the Y500 happily pushes a lot of air out the side vent, and the keyboard, trackpad, bezels, etc., stay very cool.
With the same workload, the rMBP gets very, very hot and seems to blow a small amount of air out of the keyboard (?), occasionally burning my fingers, It's loud and very uncomfortable to use.
In a sense it definitely makes me feel like I overpaid for the extra speed, since I can't use it comfortably anyway.
My Thinkpad has air vents on the left hand side, and also on the back. Except, the ones on the back aren't blocked like they are on Macbooks, because the Thinkpads design is based on what is sensible rather than on what will make the thinnest possible computer.
"Thick and bulky, with a keyboard studded with enough auxiliary buttons to look like a space shuttle control panel, the T420 is as old-school as a laptop can be."
I mean, it's all a matter of trade-offs, as the parent says. Personally I have been using my Macbook mostly as a desktop replacement, so in hindsight I would probably trade the small form factor for better cooling and more sustained performance, for people using a laptop more "dynamically" (carrying it around daily), I can see mobility to come first.
EDIT: Have you ever owned an ultrabook or a netbook ? I went from a T61p to a Macbook Air the the increase in mobility was significant. I used it on bed, on the couch, on the train, with no discomfort at all even after hours on end, unlike the bulkier laptops I owned before.
I don't get this recent idea that a laptop needs to be as thin and light as an envelope to be "mobile". I have as much "mobility" with this Thinkpad as someone with a Macbook air. Next you'll be telling me I'm sacrificing mobility with my phone because it's twice as thick as an iPhone 6. This argument seems like it would only come from somebody who has sacrificed usability for thinness and needs to come up with a way to justify it. Does a Macbook have "increased mobility" over thicker laptops? I severely doubt it.
The Thinkpad may have more buttons than a Macbook, but I've never seen this as a disadvantage... The Thinkpad keyboard is much nicer to use than the Macbook keyboard. I've owned both. I'll admit that the Macbook keyboard looks nicer though. But that's the point isn't it. Macs are for people who care what their computers look like more than how useful they are.
>I don't get this recent idea that a laptop needs to be as thin and light as an envelope to be "mobile".
Weight is hardly a big differentiator for MacBook Pros, as I understand it. The difference in weight between the ThinkPad T420, which the grandparent mentions, and the latest 15" MacBook Pro isn't that great: they weigh 4.9 lb (2.24 kg) and 4.5 pounds (2.06 kg) respectively according to the official specs. I suppose the ThinkPad will have a slightly heavier power adapter as well.
Exactly, this idea that Apple have sacrificed things like useful ports and useful heat vents, for mobility, it's just flat out wrong. They have sacrificed those things yes, but not for mobility, for looking pretty.
As someone who's gone from boxy laptops to an Air... yes, there is a difference in "mobility". I take my Air out to a cafe or a park or whatever to get work done a LOT more than I took my old Powerbooks.
Heavier computers are something I had to make a decision to go out with. I knew I would be lugging it around on my shoulder and feeling grumpy. But the Air? It, plus a Wacom tablet next to it, takes up less room than the hardback sketchbooks I used to haul around as a matter of course. And I can sit out under a tree on a nice day and do finished, full-color art with a lot less mass than hauling a paint box around. (The fact that a full charge lasts most of a day helps a lot, too. I only take the power brick when I'm going out of town.)
Now, I will admit that I do also care about how stuff looks. I'm an artist; it's my job. But my experience is that there is something really, really different about having a laptop that does everything you need, and weighs less than a hardbound book.
Taking your point to the next logical conclusion you would be okay taking a desktop computer with twin monitors instead of s MacBook Air.
I mean be serious. Thinness and weight are critical to a non insignificant group of people. They could be people like myself who have to take his laptop to/fro work slongside gym wear and s number of books. I couldn't physically csrry s heavier laptop.
Weight may be, but thinness isn't. My X230 thinkpad is the same weight as a macbook air, but thicker. More ports, better cooling, and infinitely easier to do replace/alter anything to do with the machine.
I haven't had any of the ultra thin ultrabooks. I do have a netbook (slightly older Acer model), but the screen was too limiting on it. So now I use a Thinkpad X230. The differences between the X230 and my work laptop (HP Elitebook 8470) is night and day -- I have no problem carying the X230, but wouldn't dream of lugging around the 8470.
How did you get your T420 to have no heating issues? What processor/GPU combo do you have?
I have a T420 and have major heating issues with it playing games. I've tried everything: thinkpad fan control that turns the fan up to 7000RPM, clearing everything out with compressed air, replacing the thermal paste..
After a few years of observations, I think the problem may lie in software.. It seems like when I'm playing games and what not my CPU gets turboboosted, which stays there until it reaches about 90C, when it gets severely throttled, killing framerate and all. I use linux, so right now I have several scripts that goes and disables turbo boost. However, even at that point, it still will boost the CPU when running certain GL applications... Not sure why.
In fact, I've noticed this issue on all Sandybridge laptops I own/have encountered: the 2011 MBP, a dell inspiron... Ivy bridge computers seems to have no issue with this (W530, 2012 MBP).
My wife uses my older T420 with a dual core i7 and an nvidia workstation GPU of some sort as a Sims 3/4 machine with Windows 8 and never has heat issues. I'm currently using a W530 with Red Hat 6 for work and it gets hot occasionally but never enough to feel more than mildly uncomfortable to the touch and certainly never enough to cause any short term problems. Granted, I only ever use it for running a few VMs, not for any games.
I wonder how many of these Macbook issues stem from popularity. If you look at any vendor's forums, you will find a bunch of posts about issues that a lot of people are having. They never make news, though, because how many people own an HP 5370-2wt20 laptop? A lot of people own HP laptops, but they don't have one model that makes up a large percentage of the laptop market. Macs, on the other hand, have a single (ish) model that makes up a large percentage of the laptop market. If there is an issue that affects 1% of HP 8209-c50mg buyers versus 1% of Macbook Pro buyers, only the Macbook numbers will be large enough to make news.
I've wondered that too about other manufactures defects, that they probably suffer the same flaws with the bad ball solder on the GPUs but they didn't sell the same numbers as a MBP so it goes unnoticed.
I skipped the Nvidia option and use the onboard Intel graphics, because I don't play games on laptops. All laptops get hot when used for gaming. I have a separate desktop for gaming.
> I have a T420 and have major heating issues with it playing games.
In my experience, almost no consumer laptop is designed with a gaming thermal load in mind (aka heavy cpu + max gpu for extended periods of time). I'm not even sure it's possible in a conventional laptop case.
... I know this is completely useless advice, but don't do heavy gaming on a laptop without expecting problems. There are other form factors much better thermally suited.
tl;dr: mobility/thermal-tolerance/performance, pick two
One thing is that the T420 is not sold as a consumer laptop. Under Windows, running AutoCAD/SolidWorks will drive temperature of 90+ degrees. This laptop is suppose to be for those kind of work. Furthermore, I'm not even running heavy games. I'm running things like FTL, or older 3D games like RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, or even sometimes just watching YouTube videos at 1080p.
Regardless, thermal performance under heavy load in laptop should either be tolerated, or the manufacturers should disable higher clock speeds.
My W530 on the other hand has no issue with heat. Heavy gaming puts it to about 75-80C. It is also much bulkier in size.
Edit: my dedicated graphics is off most of the time. Even then, CPU alone can drive the temperature up through the roof.
Every heating issue I had with my T420 is solved by opening up the laptop and thoroughly cleaning with compressed air. It will stays good for a few years until the dust gathers up again.
Do you have numbers on what your computer's temperature is at when it's idling and when it's on full load (CPU maxed out)? At idle I'm coming in at around 52C with ambient temperature at around 20C. Full load I can go to 90C, when the computer will automatically downclock, which is something that's not desirable.
I have opened up my laptop more than once and cleaned all the areas i can, but I still can't seem to get the temperature to go down like others claim. At this point I'm considering replacing my fan assembly and see if I have better luck but haven't gotten around to do so.
My x220 has air vents at the back, on the left side and several at the bottom of its base. Even when it heats up the temperature stays very much controlled.
I believe it has an Nvidia card in it. While I did game on it awhile ago I haven't for several years now. Possibly I haven't pushed the hardware long enough to cause GPU thermal issues to arise.
Most laptops have the batteries on the back, making the front available for connectors. Most laptops have ventilation on a side, and some complement it with bottom holes.
Also, Apple could place their CPU/GPU wherever they wanted.
Thanks for pointing this out; I used the original EeePC for a long time but could only remember that I had had a laptop where the heat exhausted through the keyboard, not which model. Interesting but once it really started to kick up, this may not actually be a good option.
That laptop is twice as thick as a rMBP and puts out less than half as much heat. Even if Apple put vents in those places, it wouldn't cool adequately; the vent area would be half that of the Dell. To get the same temperatures, airflow would have to be 4x faster than in the Dell. And as I said before, vents on the bottom increase the risk of overheating when used on a bed or carpet.
Critics hold Apple to a higher standard than other companies, and the media reports Apple's failings more than other companies. There are tons of examples: iPhone 6 bending (it's just as sturdy as other phones), solder separation issues (rare; limited to a few first-gen models), overheating (again, rare and usually first-gen models). Other manufacturers have similar issues, but you never hear about them because they don't get eyeballs. Few care if some model of HP laptop overheats.
In general, Apple makes quality hardware. If it were otherwise, they wouldn't be able to charge so much.
Edit: I have no idea why this comment has been downvoted. Anyone want to clue me in?
"In general, Apple makes quality hardware. If it were otherwise, they wouldn't be able to charge so much."
My experience of Apple hardware, from owning it myself and from seeing how it fares for those around me who also use it, is that it's pretty, but poorly designed, lacking in features, and very unreliable.
They are able to charge so much because they market it well. Also, OSX is a decent OS in comparison to Windows, for those who can't be bothered to learn Linux.
I administer about 40 servers under linux (well mostly with Chef and docker), I used to use linux on my main computer for 6 years (debian, gentoo and ubuntu). I have a freebsd server at home that I use for fun. And yet despite all that, my main computer for work nowadays is a mbp retina because I like OS X as an OS and as a GUI (despite some of it's bugs and annoyances). So I don't really agree with you.
In term of hardware, I've had a few lemons and I've complained loudly but under Applecare, Apple replaced the mbp retina I had that failed 3 times with a new model (which runs perfectly fin) so I can't really complain.
I've also had very long lived devices from Apple, my first ibook lasted 4-5 years until my parents sat on it, my wife's old powerbook lasted 6 years until it was stolen, my first generation iphone still works perfectly fine...
One thing I did learn though is never to buy a first generation model from Apple, they tend to be unreliable (at least in my anecdotical experience)
I don't really think that "learning Linux" makes it a better OS. Investing your time into Linux, maybe, but some of us want our OS to be time savers, not a time sinks.
I hate laptops with vents on the bottom. I can't put it on my lap without constantly thinking did my leg obstructed the hole, I can't put it on the bed because the vents will be clogged. The only place where laptops with vents on the bottom works well is the desk.
Is that "reality distortion field" jab pointed at me? The best laptop in my life is/was my trusty Thinkpad w520. No vents at the bottom, no overheating problems (two previous laptops were HP EliteBooks - a toy computers compared to Lenovo). Now I'm working on MacBook Pro, and yes, it's slicker than w520, but it have problems with heat.
I had not noticed that but it is true! Does anyone know if the case acts as a good heatsink? I always assumed that was why they went with aluminium, other than it looking great.
Putting vents at the hinge actually makes the most sense. It guarantees ventilation ports won't be fully obstructed. The vents face away from the user, reducing fan noise. Air ducts are short, since that area is close to the CPU/GPU.
It's hard to cool a laptop that can generate 85 watts of heat. Moreso if one cares about it looking nice and being thin. You may not like the trade-offs Apple chooses, but they put a lot of thought into their industrial design.