One major advantage for productivity buffs wanting the 13-inch or 15-inch M3 MacBook Air as their daily driver was that they could attach two external monitors instead of one, but that is only possible when any one of these models was being used in clamshell mode, or in other words, with the lid closed. However, a recent stress test shows that you can lose nearly half of the portable Mac’s original performance in this mode, which will make everyone wonder if the trade-off is worth the extra monitor support.
With the lid opened, the M3 MacBook Air can lose around 30 percent, making it significantly better than when it is used in clamshell mode
During a number of 3DMark Wild Life Extreme Stress Test runs that were run for 20 minutes, the YouTube channel Max Tech discovered that the M3 MacBook Air loses a ton of performance with its lid closed. In the first run, the latest machine starts out strong, obtaining a score of 8,083 points, but it gradually starts to lose performance because the fan-less solution cannot keep up with the heat dissipation, bringing that score down to 5,916 points.
The YouTube channel previously posted the temperatures of the M3 SoC when the same test was running, with the Apple Silicon reaching a worrisome 114 degrees Celsius on the CPU and 102.9 degrees Celcius on the GPU. For three generations now, Apple has employed a thin heatsink to help transfer heat, but as you can see, it is barely doing the job. In clamshell mode, things get even worse for the M3 MacBook Air, as this model loses nearly half of its performance, posting a score of 4,198.
It is possible that with the lid opened, the M3 MacBook Air can get some cool air on the keyboard tech, which helps in heat transfer, but in clamshell mode, that air path is now completely blocked, resulting in the additional performance loss. Assuming a regular user can determine that this is why the M3 MacBook Air is getting slower, they will either swap out their purchase with the M3 MacBook Pro, which actually sports an active cooling fan or resort to using a single external monitor setup.
The two things that Apple did right with the M3 MacBook Air were to use two NAND flash chips for the 256GB model, resulting in faster SSD speeds than the M2 version, and make the battery easier to remove by using no adhesive to keep the multiple cells in place. Apart from that, these stress tests show that there is ample room for improvement, and we sincerely hope that Apple can add a single fan to the cooling solution to the M4 version.
Brendan Martin is a tech enthusiast with a deep understanding of the latest technological innovations. He explores the intersection of science and technology, providing readers with insights into the digital revolution. When not immersed in the world of gadgets and code, Brendan enjoys experimenting with DIY tech projects.
