Apple’s MacBook Pro Update: Fixes Throttling, Leaves Issues

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Extra! Extra! Hot off the presses! MacBook Pro too hot to trot! Consumer demand cooling faster than it’s processors! Total meltdown! Read all about it!

That was the news last week. The new MacBook Pro with the most expensive i9 processor was overheating, throttling, and performing worse than the i7 model from last year. However, this week, we’ve got something new. Apple’s MacBook Pro wasn’t overheating solely due to hardware design flaws. Apple issued a software-based patch this week, and MacBook Pro owners with the Intel Core i9 processor have found that their laptops are much faster now. They’re now reaching Apple’s promised load clock speeds, showing a marked performance boost over the previous generation.

But are they fast enough?

The Patch

Apple’s patch worked. Before the patch, Dave Lee was only able to see speeds of 2.2 GHz on the i9. Apple’s advertised base clock speed for the Intel Core i9 MacBook Pro is 2.9 GHz, which it can now reach.

Exporting an edited video takes some time, as the machine has to process your changes and encode them into a format. It’s a great measure of the real-world performance of a machine, however, it’s not an indicator of overall performance. Not only does it only show the performance for rendering video, a moot point for someone who wants performance for building an Android app, it also can be influenced by the software’s design. Lee used Premiere Pro, which Adobe designed for Windows with gaming-focused Nvidia graphics cards, not macOS, with Apple’s workstation-class AMD graphics cards. So, while we can’t really compare performance between the MacBooks and the Windows-based gaming laptop included in the chart above, we can accurately determine the performance improvements among the MacBooks.

In Dave Lee’s testing, the slowest MacBook Pro was the 2018 MacBook Pro i9 before the patch, slower than even last year’s i7 MacBook Pro. The fastest, however, was the 2018 MacBook Pro i9 after the patch. This makes the i9 MacBook Pro after Apple’s patch is applied faster than the same laptop in the freezer. This is interesting, and proves that Apple’s issue wasn’t solely related to overheating, but also due to a bug.

What Happened?

The problem was thermal throttling. As I explain more in depth in my first article on the subject, processors generate more heat when they run faster, and computer processor speed is measured by “Clock Speed” in GHz. To dissipate heat, computers need to create airflow around the processors. It seemed obvious, the MacBook Pro was overheating because it wasn’t designed to handle the extraordinary heat of Intel’s new 6-core Core i9 processors. It’s too slim, and its fans are too slow and too quiet. But the answer was more complicated than that.

“Following extensive performance testing under numerous workloads, we’ve identified that there is a missing digital key in the firmware that impacts the thermal management system and could drive clock speeds down under heavy thermal loads on the new MacBook Pro”

“A bug fix is included in today’s macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 Supplemental Update and is recommended. We apologize to any customer who has experienced less than optimal performance on their new systems.”

– From Apple’s Statement

 

How did Apple Fix It?

A Reddit user had theorized that Apple’s throttling was due to a software bug before Apple released their fix. The bug, they claimed, was not due to the processor overheating due to the poor design of the MacBook Pro, but the voltage regulator module (VRM). The component in charge of providing electricity to the processor “believed” it was reaching its thermal threshold (overheating). It would then cut power to the CPU, slowing it down considerably. The poster created a fix that would change these values, allowing the VRM to provide more power. Apple’s fix, they claim, does this at a lower level, and, while slightly slower than their fix, Apple’s fix is safer to implement.

Basically put, the processor itself wasn’t overheating. The VRM “thought” it was overheating, and throttled the CPU in order to cool down. Apple has fixed that bug, working with Dave Lee, who first discovered and proved the issue on YouTube. Together, they were able to prove that the 2018 MacBook Pro no longer throttles the CPU.

Apple vs The Competition

After Apple’s patch, Lee saw easily measured performance increases for the 2018 MacBook Pro. The new MacBook Pro with an Intel Core i9 processor became the fastest MacBook Pro ever. However, even after the patch, it was still the slowest i9 laptop that Lee tested. Apple was able to fix the software bug that caused the throttling issue. The 2018 MacBook Pro is still the slowest Intel Core i9 laptop due to Apple’s hardware design. That can never be fixed, and as long as Apple favors form over function, no Apple product will ever perform as well as a Windows PC counterpart.

Gaming Performance

In the above chart, you can see that the 2018 i9 MacBook Pro runs at an average of 2.9 GHz. This is measured with the Intel Power Gadget, a tool that gives you low-level information about your processor. If you have an Intel Core processor newer than the first generation, you can download the gadget and give it a try*. The fastest machine has a clock speed of 4.8 GHz, crushing Apple’s 2.9 GHz clock speed. This is because the design of this laptop, the Asus G703 pictured above, is made for high performance. The MacBook Pro is not made for high performance, it’s made to be thin.

Another top performer in that chart is the Alienware 17 R4. It’s slower than the Asus G703, but it’s thinner and much quieter. This was a laptop designed for gaming and specifically virtual reality. In order to be as “invisible” to the user as possible, Dell had to make their Alienware 17 R4 a quiet machine. The end result is a surprisingly thin laptop for its power, but one that’s quiet too. It’s only 2dB louder than the 2018 MacBook Pro, but runs at 4.3GHz. If you’re looking for performance, portability, and a quiet machine, the Alienware 17 R4 is a better choice than the MacBook Pro.

Design and Power

However, if you’re looking for thinness and a sleek design, the MacBook Pro stands out among its much faster competition. The Asus G703, Acer Helios 500, and Alienware 17 R4 are all much faster than the 2018 MacBook Pro. However, they’re also much thicker, having been designed to dissipate heat. Apple would never design a laptop as large and thick as these, and they’d never settle for large, visible vents. However, they’re not the only company dedicated to this thin design, and, despite others copying Apple’s style, Apple still comes in last. The Zenbook Pro and Dell XPS 15 both have a clock speed of 3.0 GHz, 0.1GHz faster than Apple’s MacBook Pro, but that doesn’t come without trade-offs.

The Asus Zenbook Pro above is incredibly thin, beautiful, and even features unique elements, like the ScreenPad, a second screen in the touch pad. Though it’s much slower than the Asus G703, it tied it in loudness. This is because, to reach that 3.0 GHz average clock rate, this ultra-thin laptop had to work extra hard to keep cool. It might be slightly faster than the MacBook Pro, but it’s much louder.

The Dell XPS 15 is another example of a thin laptop. This would compete with the MacBook Pro in the “slim and quiet professional laptop” category. It, too, had a clock speed of 3.0 GHz, performing slightly better than the 2018 MacBook Pro, but it, too, is much louder, coming in at 48 dB. Slim yet powerful devices require loud fans to keep cool.

It’s worth noting that clock speed is not the only measure of performance. The MacBook Pro may make up for its 0.1 GHz difference through other optimizations.

Apple’s Design Considerations

Apple refuses to make a loud, thick laptop. They even forgot that workstations can be large, thick, and loud when designing the 2013 Mac Pro, which has been unpopular as a result, and is now slower than the latest iMac Pro, even after updates. Apple’s addiction to design, thinness, and silence has lead to machines with crippled performance, but owners may find them more pleasant to use. The MacBook Pro managed 2.9 GHz while also being the quietest laptop Dave Lee tested, coming in at just 43 dB. While this was only 2 dB quieter than one of the faster gaming laptops, the MacBook Pro is remarkably thinner. Apple achieves this silence through well designed thermal management systems and processor throttling.

A MacBook Pro won’t give you the same performance of other laptops, despite being the best mobile computer Apple will sell you, but it will be the quietest you can use. For some Apple users, that’s more important than performance. However, for most professionals, it’s not very important.

Apple’s Pro Future

If you care more about slimness and lightness than performance, an iPad Pro is likely the better mobile tool for your needs. However, for those who need a portable powerhouse, like app developers, or photo or video editors who need performance away from home, slimness and lightness are important, but not the most important things. Apple tries to strike a balance between slimness, lightness, and performance, but of these three, the most important item is performance. Otherwise, an iPad or a 12″ MacBook would be better options.

Apple has begun to realize they’ve failed the professional community. That’s why they released Metal for the Mac, to improve the performance of graphics programs. It’s why Apple released the iMac Pro as well. This was in response to their lacking Mac hardware. The MacBook Pro feels more like a consumer-level machine than a professional one, lacking the ports professionals want to use.

Many software development offices use the Mac Mini as a Mac server or an iOS app build machine. Apple has not updated the Mac Mini in four years. My office recently had to buy a computer for Android builds, and I pushed them to buy us a PC (which I put Ubuntu on) instead of a Mac Mini. It performs much better than our Mac Minis. Another option would have been the 2013 Mac Pro, but this is also outdated and overpriced. You can’t upgrade this Mac Pro to keep it relevant either.

The 2019 Mac Pro: Hope?

Apple will release a new Mac Pro next year, which they promise to be more modular and reliable for professionals. I’m still using a 2010 MacBook Pro at home, because, frankly, there hasn’t been a Mac in years that has met my needs. I’m hoping the new Mac Pro fits this bill, but unless it’s like the old Mac Pro, a tower with serviceable and upgradable parts, I think I’ll pass. Apple seems to be slowly realizing that professionals are abandoning the Mac, which would hurt Apple’s entire ecosystem, because if developers aren’t making iOS, macOS, and tvOS apps, no one will buy Apple’s hardware.

Professional software like Adobe Premiere runs considerably better on PCs than Macs. Autodesk is dropping Mac support for some of its applications. Apple has no solutions like Microsoft’s all-in-one design powerhouse, the Surface Studio. Developers, designers, video editors, and photographers have expressed disappointment over Apple’s “pro” offerings. If Apple doesn’t make drastic changes, increasing performance and usability instead of making machines smaller, quieter, and with fewer ports, then they’re going to lose many users.

Fangirl though I may be, I myself have been considering building a Hackintosh or a PC. I’m not a canary in the coal mine, a wishy-washy user who could abandon a platform quickly, I’m a miner who has ignored the dead canaries before me for too long. Apple’s losing dedicated users, and they should be working harder to retain us.

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Sources

• Hackintosher
• Chris Jenkins, MacRumors
• Jordan Kahn, 9to5Mac
• Joe Rossignol, MacRumors
• Stephen Silver, AppleInsider

 

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* A warning to anyone with a first generation Intel Core processor, this will not work on your machine. The installer will prevent you from installing it, but if you think you’re clever, break out the Terminal, and attempt to install it yourself anyway (as I did), you may find your machine doesn’t boot up anymore. You’ll have to restore your machine from a backup. Don’t attempt this. It relies on a kernel extension that simply isn’t compatible with your processor.