After Toronto-based YouTuber, David Lee, released his video detailing thermal throttling in Apple’s 2018 MacBook Pro with Core i9, the internet was up in arms over the laptop’s performance under heavy loads.
But just now, Apple has issued a statement to multiple media outlets, apologizing for the issue, which was related to a “missing digital key in the firmware that impacts the thermal management system,” in these latest 2018 MacBook Pro models.
To address the issue, a software fix is now available, which Apple says will make their laptops perform as advertised.
Apple told TechCrunch the following:
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. Customers can expect the new 15-inch MacBook Pro to be up to 70% faster, and the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar to be up to 2X faster, as shown in the performance results on our website.
Lee told TechCrunch both Apple and Adobe quickly reached out to him after he posted his video on YouTube.
“It was impressive to see how quickly they worked with the community find out what was going on,” said Lee, adding “The first step was to try to replicate this, to find out what was causing it. When they figured that out, I think they tried to figure out how to resolve it.”
The refreshed MacBook Pro was announced 12 days ago, which included new Intel CPUs and a redesigned keyboard.
If you purchased the latest 2018 MacBook Pro, hit up software updates to install this supplemental update for your laptop.
Update: The update is now available for all 2018 MacBook Pro models (13-inch, 15-inch; Core i7, Core i9)–click here to download it.
The macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 Supplemental Update improves the stability and reliability of MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (2018) computers and is recommended for all users.
