MacBook Pro 15 (2018) – Beware the Core i9 | Hacker News Reader

MacBook Pro 15 (2018) – Beware the Core i9

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65 pointsusaphp16 comments

This is unacceptable, sure, other Core i9 throttle (like the XPS 15), but not this aggressively. What is even the point of offering this if it can't keep it at even base clock?

Is this the fault of thinness, aluminium chassi or something else?

It still provides a performance benefit for peaky workloads. Want to speed up your local compile? This will probably be faster than the i7 - it'll take 15 seconds instead of 17 seconds. But what do people expect? Don't do hour long renders on your laptop.

So basically, professionals are using their professional-grade laptop wrong.

As a 2013 MBP user before getting a Lenovo I was tempted by the 6 cores until I saw this. Although fridges are on special at the moment mmm...

I really hope this isn’t really a cooling limitation but instead something that Apple can fix via a firmware update, otherwise it puts their hardware construction (that many consider a bastion of quality) into question.

"bastion of quality" maybe 5 years ago but I seem to hear nonstop how cheap these things are churning out in the newer models. Not based on my personal experience (spent a bit of time servicing recent models and they felt like plastic all over) but I guess the ultrabook workhorse product competition has grown.

Uh, very obviously a cooling limitation. You only do thermal throttling if the CPU would otherwise overheat. What would they fix in firmware, exactly? It's not like you can permit the CPU to overheat, and it's not like you can run the fans faster than their maximum speed.

Undervolting is a possibility, you can change the duration of the boost clocks, fan curves, etc. Theres a lot you can do software wise.

A withering takedown, presented dispassionately

I thought it was fine.

I thought it was a refreshing change from the over hyping, screaming in my face, style that is common on youtube reviews (incl. Linus tech tips).

The issue he raise is really serious. As a 2016 MBP user, I was slightly tempted, but what is shown here is that it's completely unusable. Thanks for saving a lot of money!

I felt it was a reasonable and genuine evaluation by an interested party

I believe being dispassionate requires being reasonable and genuine.

That’s why I personally like his style. He does not get overly dramatic and simply presents his opinion. I much rather prefer this over fake emotions of people like unbox therapy or Linus tech tips

Unbox Therapy, can't stand that guy

More discussion at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17554902 , which is a later post, but the same topic.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com