I’d bet if you looked at manuals they’d say “use on a hard flat surface.” Apple refers to them as “portables” rather than “laptops” for this exact reason, so when customers talk about a machine getting hot on their lap, the response can be “use it on a table or a desk to allow proper airflow.
Apple refers to them as “portables” rather than “laptops” for this exact reason
They may use the term somewhere when they want to collectively refer to MacBooks and iPads, but they absolutely use the term “laptop.” Big letters at the top of the comparison chart on the MacBook Pro page: “Which laptop is right for you?” The tag line for the M1 MacBook Air: “The most affordable Mac laptop to get things done on the go.” The MacBook Air line, incidentally, no longer has vents at all.
I’d bet if you looked at manuals they’d say “use on a hard flat surface.” Apple refers to them as “portables” rather than “laptops” for this exact reason, so when customers talk about a machine getting hot on their lap, the response can be “use it on a table or a desk to allow proper airflow.
They may use the term somewhere when they want to collectively refer to MacBooks and iPads, but they absolutely use the term “laptop.” Big letters at the top of the comparison chart on the MacBook Pro page: “Which laptop is right for you?” The tag line for the M1 MacBook Air: “The most affordable Mac laptop to get things done on the go.” The MacBook Air line, incidentally, no longer has vents at all.
Huh, marketing changed that since I worked there.
MacBooks don’t have any vents on the bottom, so it seems it would actually be safe to use them on your lap.
no that’s the thing it still need the airflow for convection cooling
Ah, that’s a good point. Hadn’t thought of it.
The aluminum body is in part a giant heat sink, including the bottom case.