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Portables (Apple) Hardware

Fanless AirJet Cooler Experiment Boosts MacBook Air To Match MacBook Pro's Performance (tomshardware.com) 31

Posted by BeauHD from the would-you-look-at-that dept.
Anton Shilov reports via Tom's Hardware: Engineers from Frore Systems have integrated the company's innovative solid-state AirJet cooling system, which provides impressive cooling capabilities despite a lack of moving parts, into an M2-based Apple MacBook Air. With proper cooling, the relatively inexpensive laptop matched the performance of a more expensive MacBook Pro based on the same processor. The lack of a fan is probably one of the main advantages of Apple's MacBook Air over its more performant siblings, but it also puts the laptop at a disadvantage. Fanless cooling doesn't have moving parts (which is a plus), but it also cannot properly cool down Apple's M1 or M2 processor under high loads, which is why a 13-inch MacBook Air powered by M1 or M2 system-on-chip is slower than 13-inch MacBook Pro based on the same SoC. However, making a MacBook Air run as fast as a 13-inch MacBook Pro is now possible. A video posted to YouTube by PC World shows how the AirJet system works. They also released a recent demo showing off the strength of the AirJet technology.
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Fanless AirJet Cooler Experiment Boosts MacBook Air To Match MacBook Pro's Performance More

Fanless AirJet Cooler Experiment Boosts MacBook Air To Match MacBook Pro's Performance

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  • This seems to indicate they're not "binning" aggressively, and there's headroom left in the chips aside from the thermal considerations. that's not a huge surprise, it just means they've gotten the yield high enough it's not worth binning.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Bert64 ( 520050 )

      Doesn't indicate anything of the sort, the pro models are not clocked any higher it's just that the air has to throttle itself because it only has passive cooling.

      What this does mean is that the performance of the air varies significantly depending on the ambient conditions where it's used. Use it in a hot room and it will perform slowly, sit right next to an AC vent and it's faster.

    • All M3 chips have the exact same range of 10 clock speeds, chosen by the OS if not much performance is needed to keep power use down, and limited by current temperature. The Proâ(TM)s have fans, the Air doesnâ(TM)t, so it reduces clock speed after being heavily used for a while. This is a fan that keeps the temperature down, thatâ(TM)s all.

  • Repeat after me: (Score:5, Informative)

    by newcastlejon ( 1483695 ) on Tuesday November 28, 2023 @08:43PM (#64039833)

    Solid-state does not mean "no moving parts". Bad, bad summary writer apparently didn't even watch the video...

    This thing basically works in a similar way to piezoelectric aquarium air pumps: there's a membrane that vibrates and some kind of check valve to force air to move in one direction only. What is quite clever is the jet impingement thing. I assume that it reduces the thickness of the boundary layer to allow better heat transfer; I think Sandia labs used the same concept but in a different way and for a different type of cooler.

    On the other hand, I'm not convinced by the dust mitigation. This thing seems like it would be very sensitive to dust, which means it needs much better filtration that traditional coolers. The company says there's a filter on the device itself, which is all well and good, but if needs to filter more and smaller dust particles it will clog more quickly (on top of being very small, looking at the video) and I don't see that working too well when you have to take the computer apart to clean it.

    Also to go out on a limb here, I have the feeling that dogs and teenagers will absolutely hate these.

    Very interesting concept (like those genuinely solid-state dehumidifiers for electrical cabinets) but I suspect it's not going to find many applications in cooling computers. I'm curious if it only works in a small range of atmospheric pressure; though if you take a MacBook to the top of Everest you'd probably be grateful for a little extra heat.

    • > the jet impingement thing. I assume that it reduces the thickness of the boundary layer

      Probably, though the illustration reminded me of a Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube - not sure if that's the heat transfer principle but it sounds that way. After removing the heat from the chip surface, that is.

      Maybe they can replace their vibrating membranes with MEMS devices witth sub-micron gaps to make it more solid state?

      Work wirh BIOS vendors to occasionally kick the MEMS into reverse and eject a poof of nasty dust o

      • > the jet impingement thing. I assume that it reduces the thickness of the boundary layer

        Probably, though the illustration reminded me of a Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube - not sure if that's the heat transfer principle but it sounds that way. After removing the heat from the chip surface, that is.

        You could be right, but I was thinking more along the lines of thinning the insulating layer of air between the heat source and the air in the device. I don't think this is the same as a vortex tube; remember that gases act more and more like viscous fluids the smaller you go.

        Maybe they can replace their vibrating membranes with MEMS devices witth sub-micron gaps to make it more solid state?

        Being "solid-state" is not really a question of scale; it's not even a clearly defined term now that such things as MEMS exist. A transformer in an electrical substation has no moving parts. Is it solid-state? Obviously not. Personally

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by hawk ( 1151 )

        >Probably, though the illustration reminded me of a Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube

        nah.

        It's actually a maxwellian gate . . .

        hawk

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by iamacat ( 583406 )

      Well, there are Peltier plates with no moving parts, no idea if they can be made to work for laptops, at least while connected to power.

      • Peltier cooling has been tried and found to be a non-starter. The problem is that they only move the thing that needs to be cooled a few millimetres; one is still left with the task of actually getting rid of the heat, which falls back to traditional heatsinks + fans. I saw people experimenting with such things - along with actual, honest-to-goodness evaporative coolers, i.e. miniature refrigerators - back in the early days of YouTube. The reason we don't see them now is that heatpipes were so much better.

        P

      • For cooling, Peltier elements are not super efficient. They get only used in niche applications, like hotel room fridges, or small fridges you might put in a car or so.
        What I always wondered if it would make sense to use then as cooler, but in the way that they generate electricity and power the fans or something like that.

    • The ultrasonic aspect was one I picked up immediately as well, a lot of people, and even more so pets, are quite sensitive to ultrasonic vibrations. The insidious thing with adults is that while they can't directly perceive it they can still be affected by it and feel quite nauseous after awhile.

      • I'd wonder about resonant effects. I imagine the ultrasonic vibrations would have a pretty easy time finding something to vibrate at some fraction of their frequency in a laptop.

        • Yup. Coil whine is already bad enough for some devices, now imagine that multiplied enormously with something that's completely built around the issue.

      • Sounds good! Ultrasonic, I mean! That would prevent my little cat to walk over my keyboard. Last days she switched of my laptop 2 times.

    • I'd like to see a system where the external airflow is isolated from the internal airflow so you could flush the system with water without getting chips & connectors wet. Trying to get sticky dust off old fans is really annoying.

    • Solid-state does not mean "no moving parts".

      What it means is "based only on semiconductors" which is not the case here, therefore it is still not solid state no matter how many times they claim it in their marketing material. An ionic fan might be solid state. This is just micromechanical. They should be content with that, it sounds futuristic enough, instead of lying constantly.

      • It is not a lie if they are convinced their terminology is correct.
        For me it is solid state enough.
        They explain it in the video why call it solid state. Was convincing enough to me, and why would any one care anyway?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

      Solid state means silicon rather than a vacuum tube. Everything since then is made up, including the clumsy half definition the guy in the video gives.

      The video notably doesn't mention any numbers, but if their website is to be believed it actually is quieter and more efficient than a conventional fan. Probably doesn't work as well with cat hair in it though.

    • Whatever happened to the "Butterfly Fan"? Those things had similar big-effects on cooling Ye Olde MAC SE's. Same idea, piezo-electric vibrators, this time on 2 super light and rigid paddles in a V-config. Result was a PERFECT fit into the cooling vent chimney under the Mac's handle, and bigly improving airflow. No speed improvements back then, just cooler case temps.

    • I think you watched the wrong video or did not pay attention.
      They perfectly well showed how dust resilient the devices are.

  • Remember to watch the video with FreeTube

  • Shouldn't advertising and other paid-for crap content be marked accordingly?

    Tried to watch the video with the slurring Indian salesman talking about their "multiphysics system", sounds about as true as good news from Russia.

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