Apple M1 MacBook Air vs M1 MacBook Pro: Temps Measured Under Heavy Load

Cinebench macbook air macbook pro

YouTube channel Heads of Technology continue to share their live hands-on with all of Apple’s M1 Macs, which includes the 13-inch MacBook Air and Pro, plus Mac mini.

After running a Cinebench benchmark (runs 10 minutes straight, simulating an export operation) on both the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro (8GB RAM on each), both laptops started to increase in temperature. The 13-inch MacBook Pro beat the MacBook Air, with a score that was 15% faster.

What about heat about running Cinebench? Using a thermal imaging camera, Heads of Technology shared the heat distribution on the bottom of each laptop. The following temperatures were taken after a short cooling period (5 minutes or so from their video) after Cinebench had completed.

You can see the M1 MacBook Air has a temperature of 37.4C, with heat concentrated in the upper middle back area, favouring the upper left, looking at the laptop from the bottom:

2020 M1 macbook air heat

The M1 MacBook Pro had a slightly lower temperature of 36C, with heat concentrated along the centre and slightly more towards the upper right compared to the left. The MacBook Pro has a fan to dissipate heat, while the MacBook Air does not:

2020 M1 macbook pro

So there you have it. If you were curious about the heat profiles of the M1 13-inch MacBook Air and MacBook Pro after running an exhaustive export, this should give you a good idea of what to expect.

These temperatures are really low compared to non-M1 2020 MacBook Air units, which many customers have been complaining about overheating earlier this year, with temps up to 80C and fans spinning at 2-3000 RPM. Now, you have a fan-less M1 MacBook Air that can much, much cooler, similar to the temperature of the human body.

Want more M1 MacBook Air temperatures? Check out this other video below:

YouTube video

You can click here to buy the M1 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro from Apple.ca.

P.S. - Like our news? Support the site with a coffee/beer. Or shop with our Amazon link. We use affiliate links when possible--thank you for supporting independent media.