fans on the old 13 and 17 inch macbook pro
i saw a picture of a 17 inch macbook pro, it had 2 fans, and ive opened up a 13 inch macbook pro, it only had 1 fan. so why did the 17 inch macbook pro have 2 fans
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 14.6
These are not arbitrary choices.
A whole lot of Engineering goes into figuring out how these Macs are expected to perform, and how much heat they might generate under varying work-loads. Additional calculations include how long lasting various fans are, how much battery is used to spin the fan, how to measure the actual temperatures inside the Mac, how to adjust and measure fan RPM to attain required cooling levels.
Only then are decisions taken on exactly what combination of which fans and ducts and cooling rails should be used to optimize internal temperatures for reasonable cooling and longevity.
When the fans in a MacBook Pro spin up into the audible range, it is only after many measurements of actual heating. The fans are actually REDUCED in speed from their fail-safe maximum speed to the exact measured speeds required.
