The Apple MacBook Pro: A Tale of Underwhelming Performance

As someone who has always been willing to pay Apple's premium prices, I recently found myself frustrated with the company's recent update to its MacBook lineup. The new 8th gen CPUs on offer were a welcome change, but it seemed that not enough was done to address some of the more pressing issues that had been plaguing Apple devices for years. Specifically, the thermal throttling problem that plagued the 7th gen CPUs.

When I recently purchased the latest MacBook Pro with an i9 processor, I couldn't help but feel a sense of disappointment. The $10,000 price tag was certainly eye-catching, and it's no secret that this device is one of Apple's most expensive offerings. However, as many are now discovering, the regular configurations aren't far behind in terms of cost. While $4 terabytes of storage may make the price seem absurd, the base models are still pricey.

But what really sets my teeth on edge is the CPU itself. The i9 processor in this device is a powerhouse when it comes to multi-core applications. It's clear that Apple has been holding onto older technology for far too long. When I used Adobe Premiere to render videos, I was shocked at how much power the i9 processor could unleash - especially when compared to the same application on a Windows laptop. However, as soon as I started seeing the effects of thermal throttling in action, it became clear that something was seriously wrong.

The problem lies not with the CPU itself, but with the thermal solution within the MacBook Pro's chassis. When I looked at renders of the device running Adobe Premiere, I noticed a spiky line for the clock frequency that would be much flatter and higher on a properly cooled device. The temperatures were also noticeably lower on the Windows laptop compared to the MacBook Pro. But when it came down to it, this i9 processor in my MacBook couldn't even maintain its base clock speed of 2.9 gigahertz - let alone turbos or other performance enhancements.

The situation is made all the more frustrating by the fact that this unlocked, overclockable chip has so much potential for power and performance. However, because of the thermal solution within the device, it's all just a waste. I've seen similar issues in older MacBooks from 2018 with i9 processors, which were somehow managed to run slower than expected despite having more powerful hardware.

Power throttling and thermal throttling are hardly unique to Apple devices, but this degree of thermal throttling is simply unacceptable. It's not just a matter of some minor inconvenience - it can make all the difference in performance-critical applications. For professionals who rely on high core counts and clock speeds for their work or personal projects, this kind of performance degradation is a major issue.

Many people purchasing these devices will never even know that they're experiencing throttling to such a degree. But as someone who values multi-core performance, it's hard not to see the problem with Apple's approach. It's not just about speed; it's also about reliability and longevity. When you pay top dollar for an Apple device, you expect it to deliver on its promises - not hold back due to thermal limitations.

One of the most disturbing aspects of this situation is that professionals are now looking at these laptops as a viable option. They're drawn to the i9 or i7 processors because they offer a level of performance and power that's hard to find elsewhere. But when you know that your device is throttling like this, it makes all the sense in the world to consider alternative options - even if they may not be as sleek or stylish.

As someone who has always been willing to pay Apple's premium prices, I'm disappointed by the company's lack of attention to thermal issues. It's clear that there are some fundamental problems with their design approach that need to be addressed. Until then, it's hard to see how Apple can justify charging top dollar for a device that underperforms in such critical areas.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enI recently put out a video about how Apple was really late in updating their MacBook lineup.They were still running the 7th gen CPUs.It was bothering me, and then a few days later,they came out with the 8th gen CPUs on their MacBooks.And that's what we have here: an i9 and an i7.I purchased the i9; the i7 is my colleague's.This is a device that is very expensive.Not unexpectedly so; it is an Apple product. I'm used to paying their premiums, but it is an expensive product.Now a lot of people are looking at this thing with like the $10,000 price tag,it's become a meme I'm sure at this point.If you focus on the storage and you crank this thing up with 4 terabytes,then yeah, the price tag is absolutely insane.But the regular configurations are expensive but, just - they're not unexpectedly, so.OK. I'm gonna start off this video with what the big change for this year is:The CPU.The i9 in particular is a very powerful CPU. When it comes to multi-core applications, this thing's a beast.The problem though is that this chassis, the MacBook Pro, cannot cool the i9 properly.When you look at renders - and I'm using Adobe Premiere - after a few seconds,we're starting to see some very serious throttling on a properly cooled device.That spiky line for the clock frequency would be much flatter and would be a higher clock speed.So here's a Windows laptop.The temperatures are a little bit lower and it runs at a higher frequency.This i9, in this MacBook, can't even maintain the base clock speed; forget about turbos and all that stuff -it can't even maintain the 2.9 gigahertz base clock, which is absurd.This CPU is an unlocked, overclockable chip.But all of that CPU potential is wasted inside this chassis, or more the thermal solution that's inside here.If you look at the render times, it's really pronounced.The MacBook is gonna inherently be slower. That's normal;Adobe Premiere isn't as well optimized for macOS as it is for Windows, but that has nothing to do with Apple.The 2018 MacBook with the i9 is way slower than it should be.And when I ran the same render with the i9 in the freezer - look at the difference in render time - it's crazy.Power throttling and thermal throttling isn't anything new; we've seen them in Macbooks for years,and we've seen it in lots of devices, including Windows devices. But, like, this degree of thermal throttling is...It's not acceptable.This is something that Apple shouldn't put out on the market and just blindly sell to peoplebecause a lot of people that purchase this device will never know that their laptop is throttling to this degree.I value multi-core performance because a lot of the apps that I use for workand the apps that I used to make YouTube videos are -they benefit from high core count and from high clock speeds.And when you have throttling like this, it just doesn't make sense.See, a lot of professionals are looking at these laptops as an option.Like, they're looking at the i9 or maybe the i7.They're like - \"Hmm, maybe I'll get this.\"Maybe, you know, partially because of the brand; partially, because, you knowthey have a track record of making professional hardware.But this type of thermal throttling really affects the end-user.And doesn't matter what you're using it for - like if you're a Final Cut user or Adobe Premiere,or if you're using it for software development, or calculations like fluid dynamics,it doesn't matter what you're doing with your device -if you have any kind of like extended computational work that uses the CPU- and that's probably why you're looking at these devices in the first place -it's gonna throttle, and that's unacceptable to me.Because when you have options like 32 gigs of ram and up to 4 terabytes of super fast storage,that's not consumer-grade hardware.That's some really high level stuff that professionals are looking at,and they also need CPUs that don't throttle,or at least don't throttle to this degree.OK, enough about the CPUs,the GPUs they've included are a small upgrade from the previous generation.They're calling them the Radeon Pro 560X -it's still based on Polaris, like the Radeon Pro 460 and the 560, but clocked a little bit faster.In short, native gaming on the MacBook Pro still isn't great.You'll have to run Boot Camp or run an external GPU. The native Fortnight client runs OK on this -You can hit 60 frames per second if you lower the graphics quality a little bit,but the frame rates can get a little bit spiky.Alright, so other features they have this year - the screen has been updated to a True Tone display,so it uses ambient sensors to kind of see what your surrounding color temperature is like,and it'll adjust the temperature on the screen to make it easier on your eyes.It's not like a game-changing feature, but it is nice to have. Other changes - the keyboard.So this is now the third generation of the butterfly switches. It's not for everyone, but like most keyboards,I think you can get used to it if you type on it for long enough.There's now a membrane, like, a silicon membrane underneath each key, and I think it something that'sgonna help with the durability issues that the butterfly switches have had over the past couple of years.I don't think it changes the typing experience very much. Like people are saying that it's quieter.Like, it is, but it's barely noticeable to me.So if you didn't like the keyboard from the previous generation,you probably won't like this one either.Now inside, the internals haven't changed very much. It now runs up to 32 gigs of ram,and this is DDR4 ram, so it's a little bit more power-hungry,and to compensate for that, they're actually using bigger batteries.Slightly bigger, but it is bigger. But battery life feels unchanged -I'm getting the same 8 hours from this device compared to the previous generation.So, I think it's seriously just to compensate for the higher voltage memory.The drive is crazy fast - it's literally the fastest drive I've seen in a laptop today.It's really impressive.But, the overall product, like the 15-inch 2018, MacBook Pro...My overall thoughts on it are that I'm disappointed. If it weren't for the thermal issues,this would be my laptop of choice.I don't mind the performance hit when I switch over to macOS, like, I just prefer that ecosystem.I like the way that the hardware looks, I like macOS, I enjoy Apple products.But, this year - the thermal throttling is just a little bit too severe.See, if they're gonna use the whole, like, MacBook \"Pro\" thing,it shouldn't just be a product that, you know,\"Let's charge the most amount of money we can because it's a 'pro' product.\"Like, it should be built around the needs of professionals, and I don't think it is.OK, hope you guys enjoyed this video. Thumbs if you liked it; subs if you loved it. See you guys next time.\n"