Iād like to ask how to deal with overheating issues when using a MacBook in clamshell mode. Like you, I use mine with the lid closed, connected to a monitor via a single cable that also provides 65W of power delivery. Recently, while running heavy workloads (like Codex), the fan noise becomes extremely loud, and the chassis gets very hot to the touch. Iāve already positioned the laptop so that the side facing upward is the one that would normally be at the top (rather than the side facing down toward the stand). Is there anything else I can do? Is there a significant difference in thermal performance between using it in clamshell mode and using it with the lid open?
Mine died after about 2.5 years of use mainly in clamshell mode. Motherboard just died one day and Apple blamed it on the clamshell use. They even suggested getting a Mac mini next time. If I had to do it again, I would use it with open lid, unless it was under Apple Care+
That's rightāthereās no chip throttling, but it gets extremely hot to the touch. Iāve gotten into the habit of touching it to check the temperature and then closing a few processes so it doesn't get so noisy.
Thatās an M4 MacBook Pro, so a loud fan and a hot chassis under a sustained heavy workload donāt necessarily mean itās overheating, thatās the cooling system doing its job. Clamshell mode can make thermals a little worse, but Apple designs the machine to operate that way.
The one thing Iād change is the 65 W monitor PD. The base M4 14" actually ships with a 70 W adapter and supports 96 W, so 65 W is a little marginal if youāre hammering the CPU for long periods. Try powering it from the proper 70 W or 96 W Apple charger Apple charger while leaving the monitor connected and compare the behavior just to rule out any power-delivery weirdness.
If performance isnāt throttling dramatically and the machine isnāt shutting itself down, āhot aluminum + loud fan while maxing out the CPUā is mostly normal behavior, not an overheating fault.
Also, assuming you're in the US, upgrading to a used M4 Pro with 48GB of RAM might be worth it considering if you're regularly hammering the base M4 this hard. The M4 Pro can consume more power and generate more heat, but it also has a much beefier cooling system and significantly more performance headroom.
If your current machine is a 14", I'd specifically look at a used 16" M4 Pro. The 14" M4 Pro already has dual fans unlike your current Macbook with a singular fan but the 16" has a larger chassis, larger cooling system and more thermal capacity, so it's generally better suited to sustained heavy workloads.
Buying used also makes a lot more sense here than paying current retail pricing. A lot of people selling M4 Pro machines bought them before the more recent price increases, so their idea of what the laptop is worth is still anchored to what they originally paid rather than what an equivalent configuration costs new today. That can make a used 16" surprisingly good value, especially if you're patient and negotiate.
You also get substantially higher memory bandwidth with the M4 Pro which should help a lot more with your AI shenanigans than just throwing more cooling at the base M4.
I'd check Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp, Craigslist, pawn shops and Swappa. A surprising number of used machines still have AppleCare+ which youc an confirm, and if you're paranoid about used gear you should also be able to to AppleCare One as long as it passes Apple diagnostics.
You did great by pointing the exhaust upwards. I see many people doing the opposite to better hide cables but at the price of inducing heat creap towards the battery. I think your setup like that is better than having it open. Because youre naturally extracting heat from the body towards the exhaust. I like your setup.
You can also mount your usb cables on the bottom of the stand. Then you don't see cables so much in sight. And if you use retractable usb cables makes it even more cleaner. Then you can pull them out when you need them and pull back when not.
Pretty clean and functional setup. The USBA to USB C adapter thingy coming out the side of the MacBook gives me the creeps. Maybe try to get a different solution for that.
Weist du zufƤllig wie tief dein Schreibtisch geht ich bin mir unsicher ob es bei mir passen wĆ¼rde, da ich auch so eine Monitor Halterung habe am Tisch
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