Any current Apple laptops NOT temperature-limited?
Does Apple make a laptop Mac that doesn't essentially brick itself at 82°F?
I live in desert Arizona, where it's not unusual to keep your summer thermostat in the low 80s because of the low humidity. And, of course, laptops also get used outside, in vehicles, and in other outdoor places.
The most recent three MacBook Pros I have owned have all entered "stupid mode" when ambient exceeds about 81° or so. Kernel Task immediately expands to occupy all the CPUs (as specifically designed in the OS to keep the machine from overheating), making the computer about as responsive as a Quadra on dialup. You type a line of text, and then wait 20-30 seconds for the line simply to appear on your own screen. It takes 15 seconds just to place a text cursor! Disgusting.
This behavior drove me absolutely bats* when I was doing outdoor tower work for a wireless networking company, and the computer would effectively seize up at critical junctures right after I started a task. (It took me most of a year to figure out that the behavior was temperature-related, as none of the diagnostics I ran back at the office would ever fail because it was back indoors.)
I've tried a "cooling fan pad," but they don't work, as they don't actually cool the ambient air — they just provide more air at the same temperature. I've even looked for computer base pads that actively refrigerate, but nobody makes one. To make my computer usable I've had to resort to setting it on "blue ice" packs and rotating them as they melt.
I'm struck by the irony that Apple, which touts itself as being a "green" company, puts out computers that work only when provided with air conditioning beyond what the human occupants need or want. And "A/C energy conservation" is going to be getting worse in the near future, not better… and then what is going to happen to Apple laptop sales when people discover this failure mode?
My current MPB (2015) is getting long in the tooth. But I'l be hanged if I'm going to buy a new machine that pinwheels and spins and goes autistic at normal regional summer temperatures like my last three have.
Do I have any choice in the current laptop line, or do I break a 35-year loyalty streak and go for a ruggedized Windows box?
MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.13