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I am moving away from Apple hardware. My Late 2012 Mac Book Pro Retina laptop is all but dead, it has many dead pixels and because of the poor cooling and is NOT a joy to use anymore. I will be moving back to Windows for local development and Linux on servers..
Read the full article here: https://fearby.com/article/i-am-moving-away-from-apple-hardware/
My Late 2012 Mac Book Pro Retina laptop is all but dead, it has many dead pixels and because of the poor cooling and is NOT a joy to use anymore. It does not “JUST WORK” and personally, I do not think “thinner” laptops can handle Australian summers as its hardware cooling it inadequate above 40c air temperatures.
My laptop processor would spend more time thermal throttling (at 104c) in Web Browsers and text editors that at normal speeds. Opening up productivity apps like Photoshop or Premiere Pro would send the laptop into meltdown.
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Frequent high temps were common.
Attempted Fixes
Warning Disclaimer: My laptop is out of warranty and I know my way around the inside of a computer hardware without zapping it. Do not attempt to open your laptop unless you know what you are doing, have backed up your data and are prepared to brick your computer.
The stock thermal paste was crusty after 5 years. The plastic CPU/GPU cover was visibly cooked.
I ordered some new Thermal grizzly thermal paste, I had some older silicone paste on hand just in case.
After many reapplications of the Thermal Grizzly, the older silicone paste seemed to work the better???
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After a few months, all of the fixes above did not seem to work. OSX Mojave would spin up the CPU and GPU into a frenzy overloading the single heat pipe within minutes.
Time to try some more drastic cooling modifications?
I tried improving the efficiency of the single (copper) heat pipe that is shared between an Intel i7 2.6 GHz and an Nvidia Video Card by removing the black paint by stripping the paint with acetone.
I manually removed paint from in between the heat sink fins with a LED to reveal the metal.
I reinstalled the heat pipe with high hopes? That looks nice 🙂
I removed the old thermal paste and added new paste. First I tried Thermal Grizzly Cryonaut. I re-applied the paste three separate times as each application was not that much better than the old crusty stock paste from Apple. Did I have a bad batch of Thermal Grizzly?, It seemed thick and not very viscous. I ended up using an old tube of silicone paste (the white stuff) as my Arctic Silver was too old to try and I did not want to order more.
With the silicone paste applied and the paint removed temperatures were about 15c lower at max, I still had frequent thermal throttling but at least I had a reserve buffer.
This was all before the Aussie Heatwaves and high temperatures soon returned.
Is there still room for improvement?
How heat pipes work
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Heat pipes have an evaporating (hot part) and condensing zone (cool part) on the heat pipe. I noticed Apple’s “stock” condensing fins were small, would improving this zone help?. Time to improve the condensers zones by adding larger copper heat sinks to the bare side of the heat pipe.
I purchased a few copper Xeon/Sun server sized heat sinks and thermal epoxied them to the condensing end of the heat pipe. Yes, they would protrude out the bottom of the case but #Meh. I can fix that by extending the base of the laptop down and making it thicker (old school style).
The server heat sinks arrived
I cut the heat sinks in half.
I packed the fins with paper before cutting to ensure the cut did not damage the fins.
After cutting, I wiped the copper heat sinks with vinegar to restore the surface to a nice copper shine.
I tested the heat sink idea with silicone paste first
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Temps were 25c lower, Now it’s time to use Arctic Silver Thermal Epoxy
I applied the Thermal Epoxy to the heat pipe (I temporary had foil strips above the fans so I did not block them while the epoxy dried.
I then stuck the heat sink’s to the heat pipe (with Arctic Silver Thermal Epoxy).
I toyed with a clear case but decided against it for static electricity and stability reasons.
I purchased a second Mac Book base for so I could cut holes for the heat sinks to protrude and use the original base to hide the modification.
I made a 30 mm base wall to so I could use it as a wall between the laptop base and the new 30mm lower base.
I added some 5-volt and 12 -volt fans inside the new extended 30mm base.
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Finished Product
A normal looking Mac Book except for the 30mm lower base and internal 5V or 12V fans.
External power plugs on the left side, I will add lights at a later stage.
Are the temps lower?
Videos
Video: Mac Book Pro cooling mod, I can now watch 1080p videos without maxing the CPU
Video: Mac Book Pro cooling mod with external powered 5v or 12v fans
Conclusion
50c lower temps are nicer at idle but in Premiere Pro (exporting video) the laptop was still thermal throttling like mad and temps were terrible (100+). Lets not get started when I start some development VM’s
Conclusion 2 weeks later
This is still not a joy to use. I don’t think I have the right to expect a 5-year-old laptop to keep up running a CPU/GPU intensive OS and applications.
Time to buy a new computer, Apple still makes thin and over heating laptops by the looks of it?
Maybe I need to buy a fridge to stick a computer in a fridge to use these days?
YouTube users indicate Apple has a problem with heat.
What computer do I get next?
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Not an Apple made one. I will be moving back to Windows for local development and Linux on servers
Dell Alienware has many heat pipes.
Acer Predator 500
I read a few reviews (e.g this one from Ultra book reviews) and Acer have good cooling.
MSI GT Series laptops look the best if cooling is important.
Or should I build a custom desktop with way more cores
CPU: Threadripper 2950X 16C 32T
SSD: M.2 SSD: Samsung 970 PRO 512GB
MOBO: Asus Zenith Extreme
Power: Corsair RM1000x 1000W
MEM: Quad 3600 Mhz
GPU: AMD Radeon VII Navi 3980
Thanks for reading.
v1.3 Added videos
v1.2 Updated alt tag descriptions
v1.1 Added “I will be moving back to Windows for local development and Linux on servers”
1.0 Initial Draft
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This is a quick post to see if OSX Mojave runs slower on a Mid 2014 Mac Book Pro than High Sierra
Read more here: https://fearby.com/article/is-osx-mojave-on-a-2014-macbook-pro-slower-or-faster-than-high-sierra/
This post will explain why I will never buy a new Apple Laptop until they fix the hardware cooling issues.
This post will explain why I will never buy a new Apple Laptop until they fix the hardware cooling issues.
Background
I used to work in retail selling computers and I would go to great lengths to open a desktop computer chassis and talk someone out of buying a cheaper/slower computer (usually when it had a Cyrix Media GX processor in it). I would do myself out of higher commission and burn time educating customers. I have blogged about what to look for when buying a computer (here).
2012
In 2012 I bought my first Apple Mac computer to write iOS apps (write your first OSX app). I would call myself an Apple fanboy (previously being a PC fanboy for 15 years). I have never rebuilt my OSX system in 6 years buy would rebuild Windows every 6 months. Some Apple things I like.
2017
My Mid 2012 Mac Book Pro i7 processor overheats like crazy. I have blogged about my Mid 2012 MPB overheating issues (read here). I have even gone and installed third party software to control the speeds of my Mac’s fans (read here).
Inside my Mid 2012 Mac Book Pro (heatsink and fans at the top)
Stupidly thin heatsink (IMHO).
Complete heatsink (CPU and GPU plate)
I am certain this Mac Book heatsink is too small for the processor and graphics card.
As I type this my Mac Book Pro is Thermal throttling (slowing down the CPU) while typing a blog post (not gaming).
My only option is to crank up the fans to 100% and overrise Apple silence first mantra.
I am currently sitting here at Winter with my MBP 2012 MBP i7 fans running at 100% to try (try) and prevent thermal throtelling killing my productivity. https://t.co/IM6IlnmjC7
— Simon Fearby (Aussie DevSecOps) (@FearbySoftware) July 18, 2018
Intel Power Gadget showing thermal throttling (CPU dropping t0 almost 1Ghz to drop temps).
Move forward to 2018
Today I learned that Apple is putting an Intel i9 Procesor into a laptop, great? Hold onto your cash, that thing will run very hot and will never operate at its maximum potential.
Reviews are scathing.
I tweeted..
What a joke, why is @Apple putting an Intel i9 into a stupidly thin Mac Book Pro, my i7 can barely keep cool https://t.co/IM6IlnmjC7
— Simon Fearby (Aussie DevSecOps) (@FearbySoftware) July 13, 2018
Apple’s Website: https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/
What a waste of a good processor.
Below you will see the fallout on YouTube from Apple putting an i9 Processor in the latest 15″ Mac Book Pros.
Dave Lee posted “MacBook Pro 15 (2018) – Beware the Core i9”
TechLinked posted “2018 Macbook ALREADY Overheating?”
AppleInsider – 2018 MacBook Pro i9 Thermal Throttling CONFIRMED!
Best of all, Louis Rossmann summed up the Apple situation perfectly.
Update 25th July
Apple is doubling down on the lack of cooling (calling it a “missing digital key”).
I will #BoycottAppleProMachines
That’s all.
Revision History
v1.4 Added update 25th July 2018 Missing Digital Key
v1.3 Gizmodo link
v1.2 Test new db server
v1.1 Added Apple Insider video
v1.0 Initial Post
This guide will show you how to install Windows 10 Pro alongside an OSX partition with Apple Boot Camp.
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I have a number of guides on moving away from CPanel, Setting up VM’s on UpCloud, AWS, Vultr or Digital Ocean along with installing and managing WordPress from the command line. I use OSX to develop and occasionally need to use Windows to achieve some development tasks, this is how you can install Windows on an Apple PC.
Apple Boot Camp
Apple Bootcamp software can be found here: https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201468
Bootcamp Steps.
You can download a Windows 10 ISO here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/software-download/windows10
You will need to plug in a 16GB or larger USB key to use as an install medium.
Download Boot Camp
Download AppBoot Camp here: https://support.apple.com/en-au/boot-camp
Start Apple Boot Camp, click Continue, Tick all options, select the Windows 10 ISO file (beware Bootcamp will select the first ISO file it finds, ensure your USB is selected, Click Continue (tip: You may need to er format and prepare the USB key 10 times, Apple Bootcamp is not the most reliable program), It may take 6 hours to copy files pre Window Setup).
Choose your Windows partition size (at least 200GB is ideas)
When the Bootcamp Wizard is complete you can reboot into Windows (automatic at the end of the wizard)
Enter the desired details in each step (e.g Local, Windows Key, Windows Version, Partition and Country etc)
Loads more steps like Keyboard Layout, Domain, Microsoft Account, Password and Cortana and Privacy etc.
Windows is now installed, Apple Bootcamp will set up appropriate drivers for your Mac,
While this is happening I will install Google Chrome Canary.
Bootcamp has now finished setting up drivers.
Windows 10 Start menu (I prefer OSX’s simplicity)
You can set up your prefered Startup disk in the Apple System Preferences or press the Option key on startup and choose a partition to boot.
Update: Open a Windows 10 Boot Camp Installation on OSX in Parallels (like a VM)
Read this guide will show you how you can open a Windows 10 Boot Camp Installation on OSX in Parallels (like a VM).
I hope this guide helps someone.
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Revision History
v1.1 Added Open Bootcams as VM
v1.0 Initial post
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Ok, you have an Apple or Android device and want to develop mobile/tablet apps. The first thing you will need is an Apple computer, Apple Developer Subscriptions to develop Apple apps and a Google developer subscription for Android along with some software. You can develop on Windows but it requires emulating the Mac OSX and it is not recommended. I started developing on a $699 Mac Mini computer running the Apple OSX Operating system.
This guide covers Apple app development steps now, I will be adding Android and Windows Phone building steps soon..
Before you begin I will assume..
1. Apple Developer Setup
1.01 Login to the Apple Developer Portal.
1.02 Use your paid apple developer subscription to login.
1.03 Developer Subscription Options
The Apple developer portal is quite busy at first sight.
1.04 Clicking the Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles above will load this screen.
1.05 App submission workflow
Apple have detailed guides on how you develop apps and submit them to the stores. If in doubt ask on the Apple developer forums.
1.06 Creating certificates for your development environment.
Apple have very robust security around apps and distribution. On Windows desktops you can make a program, upload it and have very little restrictions on putting malicious code in your app. Apple on the other hand do not allow you to put an app on your iPhone that you develop yourself unless you go through many hoops to first link your machine to a development account, application and development account/team. Follow the steps below to setup a brand new development machine to develop and distribute apps to a number of test devices locally.
1.07 Open XCode and go to XCode menu, Preferences and Accounts and click the + and Add Apple ID.
1.08 Sign in with your Apple developer account.
1.09 You will notice one or more Team names (depending on your account), Select the first team account in the bottom right list and click View Details.
1.10 Clicking Create on each of the Signing Identities will run a series of scripts to setup encryption keys and sync them with Apple.
1.11 Click Create next to all of the items except Developer ID Application and Developer ID Installer is what we need to make mobile and mac desktop apps. Developer ID signing identities are required for apps that are to be published outside of the Apple Desktop Gatekeeper protections.
1.12 OK, what happened above? Xcode created a bunch of certificates that are linked to your machine, apple servers and your development account. The certificates will last for 1 year only; you will need to refresh them in 11 months time. You can view these certificates by opening the Apple Keychain Access program.
Certificates found under the My Certificates group.
1.13 There are more certificates found under the Certificates group.
1.14 Although not mandatory I would highlight the new certificates and back them up. Select the certificates (shift click) and go to the Keychain Access File menu then click Export Items.
1.15 Click Save and enter a strong password (write the password down).
1.16 Also backup the newly created My Certificates too.
1.17 Now put these files somewhere safe away from your main development machine just incase you need to reactivate the certificates on a different machine
1.18 Now we can log back into https://developer.apple.com and open Certificates, Identifiers and Profiles and click on All under Certificates. You will see the certificates that XCode created for you.
1.19 But first we need to add some real test devices (iPhone’s and iPad’s) to the list of approved devices). Open the Devices area of your developer portal.
1.20 Every Apple device has a unique UDID inside it and we need to find it and add it to the list of known/approved devices we want to test apps on. We can only add 100 devices a year so don’t go nuts adding devices of mates.
http://whatsmyudid.com/ is a great site that explains how you can find the UDID using iTunes or via the web.
To add your first test device plug it into iTunes and open the devices page and mouse click on the serial number.
1.21 When you see the UDID appear press CMD+C to copy the UDID to the clipboard.
1.22 Now go back to the Apple Developer Portal, open Certificates, Identifiers and Profiles, open Devices select iPhone (or your device type) and click the + and enter your device description and UDID. Be descriptive “Simon’s iPhone 6 Plus” and not just “iPhone”.
1.23 Click Continue above then Register.
Add more test devices now (this will save regenerating certificates later).
1.24 Now we can create an Application ID. Open Identifiers then click App IDs.
1.25 Your first App certificate should be a Wildcard App certificate. A wildcard certificate allows you to build many different test apps using the one certificate (the downside is a wildcard app cannot receive push notifications and some other functions). A wildcard allows you to quickly mock up a new app and build it in seconds.
Enter “App Wildcard” in the name, select Wildcard App ID radio button, and “com.yourcompany.*” (change your company name to your company name) in the Wildcard App ID.
1.26 No need to select any of the extra options provided.
1.27 Submit the App ID.
1.28 You can read more on the extra services here and here.
1.29 Now you can create dedicated App IDs for known apps that you want to build with additional services. Choose a good name and use the “com.yourcomany.yourapp” App ID.
1.30 You can choose more app services for dedicated App IDs. Below are the ones I prefer as standard.
1.31 Confirm your App ID and submit it.
1.32 Now the final step of creating development certificates to allow us to put the apps on devices.
Open the Development node under Provisioning Profiles.
1.33 Click iOS App Development (note we are selecting development and not distribution, we will return here to create a distribution certificate when we are ready to publish to the app store)
1.34 Choose your desired App ID to build a provisioning profile for (wildcard or dedicated)
1.35 Select the Certificate (or teams) to use.
1.36 Select the devices you wish to be able to run the app.
1.37 Review and click generate.
1.38 There is no need to download these as Xcode can do this.
Create as many App IDs as you like now.
1.39 Open XCode and return the file XCode then Preferences menu then Accounts tab. Xcode should auto refresh and sync down your App IDs.
fyi: There are errors in my graphic below (all names appear the same but the list will be the same as you created them.
1.40 Now the fun part, go to http://coronalabs.com and signup and download the editor.
Corona comes with loads of demo projects and you can open a project and view it in the simulator and or build it straight away,
1.41 I opened the Button Events demo and instantly went to Corona’s File, Build then iOS menu. Select a certificate that you want to use to build the app. A device can have hundreds of apps on it that were built with the Wildcard certificate or one app per dedicated app certificate.
1.42 Corona saves an app file on the desktop (if that is where you saved to). Open Xcode and click Window then Devices menu
1.43 Plug in your device and it should appear in Xcode’s list of devices. Simply drag the app to your device to upload it to your device.
1.44 You can see the compiled app on the desktop and the uploaded app on the device.
1.55 You can see the simulated app on the desktop and the real app on the device. Congratulations.
2. Android device setup.
2.01 You will need to install the Apple Java Runtime to be able to build Android apps on Corona.
2.02 Optional: Install the Android Developer Studio ( also requires JDK7 ). The full blown Android Developer Studio allows you to run older versions of Android in simulators.
2.02.01 Open the Android Developer Studio app.
2.02.02 Click Next.
2.02.03 If you do not have JSK installed goto the next step to download it.
2.02.04 Goto Oracle and download the latest JDK7 and install it (or skip to 2.02.05)
2.02.05 If you just installed JDK click Previous then Next to detect the JDK location.
2.02.06 Select Custom and click Next
2.02.07 Choose your Theme and click Next
2.02.08 Tick the optional “Android Virtual Device – (1 GB)” and click next.
2.02.09 Select the recommended ram settings for the virtual device.
2.02.10 Wait for the components to download.
2.02.11 take note of the virtual device name and click Finish.
2.02.12 Android Studio software options.
2.02.13 I searched in the Android Developer Guides and Using the Android Emulator guide to see where the Simulator was (no luck). I had to create a blank project to see where the virtual Android simulator was installed.
2.02.14 Manually starting the Android Emulator.
2.02.15 Listing Connected Development Devices.
You may have troubles actually getting files onto your Android 4.x or 5.x devices as some distributions of Android block USB mode. You may need to enable running of apps from unknown sources (Settings -> Security).
2.02.16 How to copy new apps to the device via Command Line (if you do not want to use vendor software to transfer files)
To be continued (Android guide is under construction).
3. Windows phone setup
Guide not available yet.
4. Where to now?
Review the Corona API documentation, hang about the forums, follow Corona on social media, watch the Corona Geeks video cast..
Install the Corona Editor into the Sublime Text Editor (guide here)
Now Code 🙂
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