Apple launched its most powerful MacBook Pro laptops to date last week, including 15 inch models with support for up an Intel Core i9 processor and AMD Radeon Pro discrete graphics.

Unsurprisingly, a top-of-the-line model scores really, really well in benchmarks, and Laptop Magazine reports it has one of the fastest SSDs shipping in any laptop.

But YouTube Dave Lee discovered that when you push the laptop to its limits… it slows down considerably. It looks like the MacBook Pro might not be able to keep the system cool enough for the Core i9 to run at full speed for an extended period. So while some tasks are super-fast, others (like heavy-duty video rendering jobs) can take longer on the new MacBook Pro than on older models.

Whoops?

On the bright side, the laptop is super fast if you stick it in a freezer while rendering videos. So that’s always an option.

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2 replies on “Lilbits 320: Apple’s new MacBook Pro is fast… except when it’s not”

  1. Thinner is not always better. I’ll take a few mm of extra thickness and a few grams of extra weight if I can utilize my processor to its fullest potential.

  2. Pathetic…thermal throttling because they couldn’t figure out to utilize the i9 to its fullest potential.

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