M4 MacBook Air Utilizes All Six Efficiency Cores Instead Of The Performance Ones In Heavy Workloads To Improve Battery Life, Showing Major Constrast With Earlier M3 Version – Wccftech
Apple has officially released the 13-inch and 15-inch M4 MacBook Air models in the U.S. and other major markets, so it was a sure bet that those who got hold of these portable Macs would be tinkering to see what changes the company made. On paper, the only noteworthy specification difference is the switch from M3 to M4, but according to one YouTuber, Apple has completely altered the way these MacBook Air models behave when running taxing workloads. In one test, the machine utilizes the efficiency cores instead of the performance ones, resulting in multiple benefits.When running Lightroom Classic to edit images, YouTuber Vadim Yuryev, who runs the channel Max Tech, discovered that the M4 MacBook Air takes advantage of only the six efficiency cores. In contrast, the performance cores were barely touched. Keep in mind that Adobe’s image editing software is extremely CPU-intensive, which makes this behavior all the more surprising because it was always assumed that the performance cores would be responsible for tackling these sorts of tasks.While no explanation is provided as to why just the efficiency cores are being used, the M4 MacBook Air’s behavior is incredibly different compared to the M3 MacBook Air, where only the latter’s performance cores were being utilized when running Lightroom Classic. Perhaps Apple had intentionally forced the M4’s Neural Engine to recognize which applications can be handled by the efficiency cores without hampering the program’s performance or user experience.Since Vadim has only shared two images showing the two chipset’s behaviors when under load, it is difficult to ascertain how well Lightroom Classic runs when only the efficiency cores are leveraged. However, assuming the application runs well, this approach is highly beneficial because it will lead to not just better battery life but also better temperatures, minimizing the chances of thermal throttling.Woah!! Apple’s M4 MacBook Air is pushing this CPU workload to all 6 of the Efficiency cores while the 4 Perfomance cores are barely being used. (Left photo)Compare that to the M3 (right) where the 4 Perfomance cores are seeing a lot more use.Photo editing in Lightroom Classic pic.twitter.com/y17D8G0ypB— Vadim Yuryev (@VadimYuryev) March 13, 2025Since the M4 MacBook Air does not feature an active cooling solution and only relies on one large heatsink to dissipate hot air, transferring the processing load to the six efficiency cores might have been deliberate. We will continue to investigate if the same behavior is exhibited when running other intensive applications, and we will be back with more findings. For now, if you wish to experience this level of performance yourself, Amazon is running an attractive deal where buyers get a $50 discount coupon on various 13-inch and 15-inch M4 MacBook Air models, so do not miss out on this offer.News Source: Vadim YuryevSome posts on wccftech.com may contain affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC
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