{"video_id":"947op8yKJRY","title":"Macs are SLOWER than PCs. Here’s why.","channel":"Linus Tech Tips","show":"Linus Tech Tips","published_at":"2019-05-06T14:53:45Z","duration_s":630,"segments":[{"start_s":0.37,"end_s":6.37,"text":"PC fanboys love to complain that Macs are just so much more expensive than a PC.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":7.09,"end_s":13.49,"text":"But as we've demonstrated a handful of times in the past, in many cases it's actually just as","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":13.49,"end_s":21.09,"text":"expensive to custom build a PC with the same specs and features as a given Mac. The problem though","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":21.09,"end_s":28.93,"text":"is that Macs often don't perform as you would expect given their specifications. So today's video","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":28.93,"end_s":44.83,"text":"is a deep dive into what's going on and why. Now as you probably already know Apple designs their","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":44.83,"end_s":51.55,"text":"own computers and when I say designs I mean designs. They're slim, they're lightweight, and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":51.55,"end_s":58.8,"text":"they've got specs that make your eyes light up and go ooh. But in the pursuit of sex appeal they often","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":58.8,"end_s":67.12,"text":"don't do those sometimes very impressive specs justice. The reason? Thermals. Now this is a little","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":67.12,"end_s":67.58,"text":"bit strange, but I'm not going to go into too much detail about that. The reason is that the Macs","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":67.58,"end_s":68.08,"text":"are just so much more expensive than a PC, and they're just so much more expensive than a PC.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":68.08,"end_s":68.58,"text":"I'm not going to go into too much detail about that. The reason? Thermals. Now this is a little bit strange","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":68.58,"end_s":74.5,"text":"for reasons that we'll get into more later, but watch this. I can fire up quite literally any","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":74.5,"end_s":81.94,"text":"stress test. This is prime 95 right here. And within moments I will have temperatures rapidly","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":81.94,"end_s":88.18,"text":"approaching a hundred degrees. The point at which most Intel CPUs will throttle back their clock","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":88.18,"end_s":95.92,"text":"speeds in order to protect themselves from damage. How can they get away with this? Well Apple's done","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":95.92,"end_s":97.48,"text":"a little bit of trickery here and adjusts their clock speed to the clock speed that they're","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":97.48,"end_s":103.18,"text":"used to and adjusted the voltage and fan curves in macOS so that they can hit a higher thermal","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":103.18,"end_s":110.18,"text":"threshold without throttling too far below Intel's advertised base clock. But even at room","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":110.18,"end_s":117.66,"text":"temperature, it's on a knife's edge. And in boot camp, those tweaks get thrown out the Windows,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":117.66,"end_s":122.7,"text":"pun intended, which means the voltages are higher and the threshold for throttling triggers","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":122.7,"end_s":127.0,"text":"sooner, making for a sluggish mess of an experience overall.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":127.0,"end_s":132.12,"text":"This actually made waves back when the 2018 MacBook Pro launched, because Apple accidentally","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":132.12,"end_s":138.84,"text":"didn't have those tweaks enabled in macOS, meaning that the Core i9 equipped model throttled well","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":138.84,"end_s":148.32,"text":"below base clock at 100 degrees. Now they promptly fixed it, but is it fixed, or is it just software","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":148.32,"end_s":155.39,"text":"trickery to mask a bad design? To find out, we designed a little test. We compared the MacBook Pro","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":157.07,"end_s":160.31,"text":"mini running the blender classroom rendering test,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":160.31,"end_s":163.91,"text":"using their stock cooling solutions at room temperature","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":163.91,"end_s":166.53,"text":"against the exact same two machines","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":166.53,"end_s":169.73,"text":"inside a custom chill box of our own creation","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":169.73,"end_s":172.97,"text":"that we held well below ambient temperatures.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":172.97,"end_s":176.19,"text":"And what's obvious from our test is that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":176.19,"end_s":179.03,"text":"in Apple's pursuit of sex appeal,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":179.03,"end_s":181.71,"text":"they're leaving a significant amount of performance","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":181.71,"end_s":183.93,"text":"on the table for their users.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":183.93,"end_s":186.41,"text":"Now the obvious retort might be,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":186.41,"end_s":190.09,"text":"yeah, but that's a totally unrealistic scenario.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":190.09,"end_s":193.87,"text":"Would a laptop PC achieve these results?","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":193.87,"end_s":198.33,"text":"And in fairness, the answer in many cases is no.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":198.33,"end_s":200.53,"text":"Most notebooks, PC and Mac alike","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":200.53,"end_s":203.55,"text":"with Intel HK series chips thermal throttle,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":203.55,"end_s":207.69,"text":"but many of them to a lesser degree.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":207.69,"end_s":210.17,"text":"Part of the problem boils down to Intel's delays","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":210.17,"end_s":212.37,"text":"in getting their 10 nanometer production going.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":212.37,"end_s":215.31,"text":"And this is compounded by their recent pattern","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":215.31,"end_s":217.27,"text":"of releasing processors","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":217.27,"end_s":218.73,"text":"with TDPs.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":218.73,"end_s":220.67,"text":"So this is the amount of heat","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":220.67,"end_s":222.47,"text":"that they're supposed to output","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":222.47,"end_s":226.49,"text":"that are spec'd much lower than they actually should be.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":226.49,"end_s":227.33,"text":"They've even done this","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":227.33,"end_s":229.51,"text":"with some of their desktop processors.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":229.51,"end_s":231.91,"text":"Essentially what they're doing right now then","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":231.91,"end_s":234.51,"text":"is stuffing more and more cores","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":234.51,"end_s":237.27,"text":"into the same package size as before,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":237.27,"end_s":240.37,"text":"but with the same transistor size,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":240.37,"end_s":243.29,"text":"meaning that they're generating more heat.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":243.29,"end_s":246.07,"text":"That means that the only way for a manufacturer","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":246.07,"end_s":246.95,"text":"to rein in these chips,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":246.95,"end_s":249.65,"text":"is to test them themselves,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":249.65,"end_s":252.09,"text":"then overbuild their cooling solution,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":252.09,"end_s":255.41,"text":"which clearly can actually be done.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":255.41,"end_s":258.35,"text":"It's just that Apple isn't doing it.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":258.35,"end_s":260.63,"text":"And the thing is that even if you don't care","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":260.63,"end_s":262.75,"text":"about getting every last drop of performance","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":262.75,"end_s":263.87,"text":"out of your computer,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":263.87,"end_s":266.39,"text":"this creates other problems too.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":266.39,"end_s":269.83,"text":"A computer, any computer for a fact","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":269.83,"end_s":272.23,"text":"will fail more quickly when subjected","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":272.23,"end_s":275.61,"text":"to higher operating temperatures over its lifetime.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":275.61,"end_s":276.91,"text":"And this can come about","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":276.91,"end_s":279.11,"text":"in a whole host of different ways.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":279.11,"end_s":281.73,"text":"Just ask Lewis Rossman or for that matter,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":281.73,"end_s":285.15,"text":"anyone who's owned a 2011 or 2012 MacBook Pro","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":285.15,"end_s":287.17,"text":"with a dedicated GPU.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":287.17,"end_s":290.11,"text":"Not only is heat bad for the chips themselves,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":290.11,"end_s":291.49,"text":"the ones producing it,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":291.49,"end_s":294.13,"text":"it's actually also unhealthy for the board","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":294.13,"end_s":295.59,"text":"that they're attached to.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":295.59,"end_s":300.59,"text":"Hotspots on a PCB can and will cause flexing and warping","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":301.01,"end_s":304.41,"text":"as the materials repeatedly expand and contract,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":304.41,"end_s":306.81,"text":"which can in turn lead to BGA components,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":306.91,"end_s":308.67,"text":"breaking away from their solder pads.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":308.67,"end_s":310.41,"text":"And that's to say nothing of the health","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":310.41,"end_s":312.57,"text":"of any surface mount components nearby,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":312.57,"end_s":315.21,"text":"like capacitors or resistors.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":315.21,"end_s":319.17,"text":"All of which would require either a time consuming repair,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":319.17,"end_s":321.25,"text":"or if you go the official route,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":321.25,"end_s":325.77,"text":"a costly and wasteful replacement of the entire board.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":325.77,"end_s":327.65,"text":"So then what gives?","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":327.65,"end_s":330.19,"text":"Why would Apple do this to their hardware?","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":330.19,"end_s":332.25,"text":"Well, when it comes to the performance question,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":332.25,"end_s":335.91,"text":"it seems to be because for a large enough proportion","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":335.91,"end_s":336.91,"text":"of their customers,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":336.91,"end_s":340.39,"text":"the looks and the status symbol of owning the machine","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":340.39,"end_s":341.67,"text":"are just more important","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":341.67,"end_s":343.97,"text":"than whether it's actually quick off the line.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":343.97,"end_s":345.29,"text":"Although on that note,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":345.29,"end_s":347.55,"text":"one innovation in recent CPU designs","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":347.55,"end_s":350.03,"text":"that has masked Apple's negligence","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":350.03,"end_s":352.21,"text":"is the advent of Turbo Boost,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":352.21,"end_s":353.99,"text":"Intel's name for a technology","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":353.99,"end_s":357.73,"text":"that dramatically boosts the clock speed of a CPU temporarily","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":357.73,"end_s":359.65,"text":"during short bursts of activity,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":359.65,"end_s":363.39,"text":"like while loading a webpage or launching an application.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":363.39,"end_s":366.91,"text":"Turbo Boost allows machines like their 2015 MacBook","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":366.91,"end_s":370.37,"text":"to actually feel pretty snappy in day-to-day use,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":370.37,"end_s":373.33,"text":"but require literal water cooling","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":373.33,"end_s":376.67,"text":"to reach peak performance in heavy workloads.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":376.67,"end_s":379.54,"text":"As for the reliability issues,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":379.54,"end_s":382.78,"text":"honestly, my best guess is that they just don't care.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":382.78,"end_s":384.66,"text":"I'm sure like any insurance company,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":384.66,"end_s":388.12,"text":"they've done the analysis of their failure rates over time","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":388.12,"end_s":390.34,"text":"to ensure that AppleCare customers","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":390.34,"end_s":392.74,"text":"are covered by the policy that they bought.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":392.74,"end_s":395.5,"text":"And then as for the ones who didn't buy AppleCare,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":395.5,"end_s":396.34,"text":"huh.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":396.34,"end_s":397.18,"text":"Guess you should have bought AppleCare.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":397.18,"end_s":399.7,"text":"It's not like you can take your business somewhere else","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":399.7,"end_s":401.26,"text":"if you want macOS.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":401.26,"end_s":403.06,"text":"The real head scratcher here for me though,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":403.06,"end_s":405.86,"text":"is that Apple considers it okay","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":405.86,"end_s":408.58,"text":"for even their professional grade computers","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":408.58,"end_s":410.58,"text":"to throttle like this,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":410.58,"end_s":413.74,"text":"but not for their flagship iPhone.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":413.74,"end_s":417.68,"text":"You can run games or benchmarks all day long on this thing","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":417.68,"end_s":420.84,"text":"and never lose any performance to heat.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":420.84,"end_s":423.24,"text":"Compare that to competing Android handsets","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":423.24,"end_s":426.54,"text":"and you've got yourself actually a very compelling reason","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":426.54,"end_s":428.2,"text":"to buy an iPhone.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":428.2,"end_s":440.31,"text":"So why this difference in philosophy?","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":440.31,"end_s":442.0,"text":"Oh, sorry.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":442.0,"end_s":444.24,"text":"Oh, you were waiting for an answer.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":444.24,"end_s":446.14,"text":"I actually don't have one.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":446.14,"end_s":448.62,"text":"But what I will do is I'm gonna put that on my list","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":448.62,"end_s":451.14,"text":"of things to ask my good friend, Tim Apple,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":451.14,"end_s":454.53,"text":"if he ever agrees to sit down for an interview with me.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":454.53,"end_s":457.23,"text":"Although I sincerely doubt that's ever going to happen","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":457.23,"end_s":459.17,"text":"because I'm going on the record now","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":459.17,"end_s":461.97,"text":"saying that my next question then will be,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":461.97,"end_s":463.57,"text":"why do you advertise your products","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":463.57,"end_s":465.85,"text":"in ways that you know for a fact are misleading?","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":465.85,"end_s":468.87,"text":"The 2018 MacBook Pro's product page","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":468.87,"end_s":470.85,"text":"is a great example of this.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":470.85,"end_s":475.85,"text":"So you can see 4.8 gigahertz touted as the CPU speed upfront.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":477.35,"end_s":480.31,"text":"But you probably won't notice that further down,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":480.31,"end_s":483.39,"text":"the base clock that this machine struggles to maintain","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":483.39,"end_s":486.47,"text":"by the way, is just 2.9 gigahertz,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":486.47,"end_s":489.37,"text":"a difference of almost 40%.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":489.37,"end_s":492.61,"text":"That performance disparity is gonna take the MacBook Pro","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":492.61,"end_s":495.85,"text":"from feeling quick and snappy while surfing the web","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":495.85,"end_s":498.31,"text":"to feeling sluggish and unresponsive","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":498.31,"end_s":501.47,"text":"the moment that you start a render and it stops boosting.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":501.47,"end_s":504.57,"text":"And that's not even considering the dedicated GPU.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":504.57,"end_s":507.85,"text":"You run both the CPU and the GPU simultaneously,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":507.85,"end_s":511.09,"text":"like in a game or a hardware assisted video export,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":511.09,"end_s":513.37,"text":"and you're in for a pretty bad time.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":513.37,"end_s":515.95,"text":"One of the most frustrating aspects of all of this","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":515.95,"end_s":520.01,"text":"is that they're blatantly doing it on purpose.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":520.01,"end_s":522.71,"text":"In our recent video where we used liquid metal","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":522.71,"end_s":525.35,"text":"thermal interface material on the MacBook Pro,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":525.35,"end_s":528.95,"text":"we found that even with better cooling,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":528.95,"end_s":531.47,"text":"temperatures were the same.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":531.47,"end_s":535.31,"text":"So Apple took advantage of the extra thermal headroom","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":535.31,"end_s":538.61,"text":"by keeping the fans low for as long as possible,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":538.61,"end_s":542.07,"text":"instead of attempting to boost the CPU's performance","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":542.07,"end_s":543.23,"text":"for longer.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":543.23,"end_s":544.39,"text":"I mean, I get it.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":544.39,"end_s":547.45,"text":"Nobody wants their fans to ramp up like a jet engine","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":547.45,"end_s":550.53,"text":"just because they loaded a big file in Photoshop","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":550.53,"end_s":554.17,"text":"that made the CPU work for five seconds.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":554.17,"end_s":555.17,"text":"But if we're running","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":555.17,"end_s":558.51,"text":"an all core load, we're hitting 90 plus degrees","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":558.51,"end_s":560.11,"text":"for more than that,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":560.11,"end_s":563.65,"text":"the system needs to kick its fans into overdrive","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":563.65,"end_s":565.73,"text":"in order to protect itself.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":565.73,"end_s":568.67,"text":"As for why Apple doesn't just equip its machines","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":568.67,"end_s":570.57,"text":"with processors that are more suited","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":570.57,"end_s":572.67,"text":"to the form factors that they target.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":572.67,"end_s":576.87,"text":"Remember guys, a slower CPU that doesn't throttle","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":576.87,"end_s":580.56,"text":"is not slower than a faster one that does.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":580.56,"end_s":582.5,"text":"We're not sure why they don't do that.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":582.5,"end_s":584.7,"text":"The only answer we can come up with is,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":585.26,"end_s":589.22,"text":"is that Apple is targeting the less tech savvy market","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":589.22,"end_s":592.9,"text":"with their promises of magical, high performance,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":592.9,"end_s":595.8,"text":"thin design, lightweight and low noise,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":595.8,"end_s":597.86,"text":"all with stellar battery life.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":597.86,"end_s":600.98,"text":"But you simply can't avoid the laws of physics","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":600.98,"end_s":604.87,"text":"and there is nothing magical about what they're doing.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":604.87,"end_s":605.99,"text":"So thanks for watching guys.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":605.99,"end_s":608.15,"text":"If you disliked this video, you know what to do.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":608.15,"end_s":610.87,"text":"But if you liked it, hit like, get subscribed","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":610.87,"end_s":613.33,"text":"or maybe consider subscribing to our YouTube channel.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":613.33,"end_s":614.61,"text":"We'll see you in the next video.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":614.61,"end_s":615.45,"text":"Bye.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":615.49,"end_s":616.79,"text":"Also consider checking out where to buy the stuff","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":616.79,"end_s":619.27,"text":"we featured at the link in the video description.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":619.27,"end_s":621.27,"text":"To be clear, it's not a terrible machine,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":621.27,"end_s":622.65,"text":"just thermal throttles.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":622.65,"end_s":624.17,"text":"Also down there is our merch store,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":624.17,"end_s":625.93,"text":"which has cool shirts like this one","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":625.93,"end_s":628.69,"text":"and our community forum, which you should totally join.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0}],"full_text":"PC fanboys love to complain that Macs are just so much more expensive than a PC. But as we've demonstrated a handful of times in the past, in many cases it's actually just as expensive to custom build a PC with the same specs and features as a given Mac. The problem though is that Macs often don't perform as you would expect given their specifications. So today's video is a deep dive into what's going on and why. Now as you probably already know Apple designs their own computers and when I say designs I mean designs. They're slim, they're lightweight, and they've got specs that make your eyes light up and go ooh. But in the pursuit of sex appeal they often don't do those sometimes very impressive specs justice. The reason? Thermals. Now this is a little bit strange, but I'm not going to go into too much detail about that. The reason is that the Macs are just so much more expensive than a PC, and they're just so much more expensive than a PC. I'm not going to go into too much detail about that. The reason? Thermals. Now this is a little bit strange for reasons that we'll get into more later, but watch this. I can fire up quite literally any stress test. This is prime 95 right here. And within moments I will have temperatures rapidly approaching a hundred degrees. The point at which most Intel CPUs will throttle back their clock speeds in order to protect themselves from damage. How can they get away with this? Well Apple's done a little bit of trickery here and adjusts their clock speed to the clock speed that they're used to and adjusted the voltage and fan curves in macOS so that they can hit a higher thermal threshold without throttling too far below Intel's advertised base clock. But even at room temperature, it's on a knife's edge. And in boot camp, those tweaks get thrown out the Windows, pun intended, which means the voltages are higher and the threshold for throttling triggers sooner, making for a sluggish mess of an experience overall. This actually made waves back when the 2018 MacBook Pro launched, because Apple accidentally didn't have those tweaks enabled in macOS, meaning that the Core i9 equipped model throttled well below base clock at 100 degrees. Now they promptly fixed it, but is it fixed, or is it just software trickery to mask a bad design? To find out, we designed a little test. We compared the MacBook Pro mini running the blender classroom rendering test, using their stock cooling solutions at room temperature against the exact same two machines inside a custom chill box of our own creation that we held well below ambient temperatures. And what's obvious from our test is that in Apple's pursuit of sex appeal, they're leaving a significant amount of performance on the table for their users. Now the obvious retort might be, yeah, but that's a totally unrealistic scenario. Would a laptop PC achieve these results? And in fairness, the answer in many cases is no. Most notebooks, PC and Mac alike with Intel HK series chips thermal throttle, but many of them to a lesser degree. Part of the problem boils down to Intel's delays in getting their 10 nanometer production going. And this is compounded by their recent pattern of releasing processors with TDPs. So this is the amount of heat that they're supposed to output that are spec'd much lower than they actually should be. They've even done this with some of their desktop processors. Essentially what they're doing right now then is stuffing more and more cores into the same package size as before, but with the same transistor size, meaning that they're generating more heat. That means that the only way for a manufacturer to rein in these chips, is to test them themselves, then overbuild their cooling solution, which clearly can actually be done. It's just that Apple isn't doing it. And the thing is that even if you don't care about getting every last drop of performance out of your computer, this creates other problems too. A computer, any computer for a fact will fail more quickly when subjected to higher operating temperatures over its lifetime. And this can come about in a whole host of different ways. Just ask Lewis Rossman or for that matter, anyone who's owned a 2011 or 2012 MacBook Pro with a dedicated GPU. Not only is heat bad for the chips themselves, the ones producing it, it's actually also unhealthy for the board that they're attached to. Hotspots on a PCB can and will cause flexing and warping as the materials repeatedly expand and contract, which can in turn lead to BGA components, breaking away from their solder pads. And that's to say nothing of the health of any surface mount components nearby, like capacitors or resistors. All of which would require either a time consuming repair, or if you go the official route, a costly and wasteful replacement of the entire board. So then what gives? Why would Apple do this to their hardware? Well, when it comes to the performance question, it seems to be because for a large enough proportion of their customers, the looks and the status symbol of owning the machine are just more important than whether it's actually quick off the line. Although on that note, one innovation in recent CPU designs that has masked Apple's negligence is the advent of Turbo Boost, Intel's name for a technology that dramatically boosts the clock speed of a CPU temporarily during short bursts of activity, like while loading a webpage or launching an application. Turbo Boost allows machines like their 2015 MacBook to actually feel pretty snappy in day-to-day use, but require literal water cooling to reach peak performance in heavy workloads. As for the reliability issues, honestly, my best guess is that they just don't care. I'm sure like any insurance company, they've done the analysis of their failure rates over time to ensure that AppleCare customers are covered by the policy that they bought. And then as for the ones who didn't buy AppleCare, huh. Guess you should have bought AppleCare. It's not like you can take your business somewhere else if you want macOS. The real head scratcher here for me though, is that Apple considers it okay for even their professional grade computers to throttle like this, but not for their flagship iPhone. You can run games or benchmarks all day long on this thing and never lose any performance to heat. Compare that to competing Android handsets and you've got yourself actually a very compelling reason to buy an iPhone. So why this difference in philosophy? Oh, sorry. Oh, you were waiting for an answer. I actually don't have one. But what I will do is I'm gonna put that on my list of things to ask my good friend, Tim Apple, if he ever agrees to sit down for an interview with me. Although I sincerely doubt that's ever going to happen because I'm going on the record now saying that my next question then will be, why do you advertise your products in ways that you know for a fact are misleading? The 2018 MacBook Pro's product page is a great example of this. So you can see 4.8 gigahertz touted as the CPU speed upfront. But you probably won't notice that further down, the base clock that this machine struggles to maintain by the way, is just 2.9 gigahertz, a difference of almost 40%. That performance disparity is gonna take the MacBook Pro from feeling quick and snappy while surfing the web to feeling sluggish and unresponsive the moment that you start a render and it stops boosting. And that's not even considering the dedicated GPU. You run both the CPU and the GPU simultaneously, like in a game or a hardware assisted video export, and you're in for a pretty bad time. One of the most frustrating aspects of all of this is that they're blatantly doing it on purpose. In our recent video where we used liquid metal thermal interface material on the MacBook Pro, we found that even with better cooling, temperatures were the same. So Apple took advantage of the extra thermal headroom by keeping the fans low for as long as possible, instead of attempting to boost the CPU's performance for longer. I mean, I get it. Nobody wants their fans to ramp up like a jet engine just because they loaded a big file in Photoshop that made the CPU work for five seconds. But if we're running an all core load, we're hitting 90 plus degrees for more than that, the system needs to kick its fans into overdrive in order to protect itself. As for why Apple doesn't just equip its machines with processors that are more suited to the form factors that they target. Remember guys, a slower CPU that doesn't throttle is not slower than a faster one that does. We're not sure why they don't do that. The only answer we can come up with is, is that Apple is targeting the less tech savvy market with their promises of magical, high performance, thin design, lightweight and low noise, all with stellar battery life. But you simply can't avoid the laws of physics and there is nothing magical about what they're doing. So thanks for watching guys. If you disliked this video, you know what to do. But if you liked it, hit like, get subscribed or maybe consider subscribing to our YouTube channel. We'll see you in the next video. Bye. Also consider checking out where to buy the stuff we featured at the link in the video description. To be clear, it's not a terrible machine, just thermal throttles. Also down there is our merch store, which has cool shirts like this one and our community forum, which you should totally join."}