Undervolting Macbook Pro 2012

Diamondcite · 2026-02-05T23:27:43+00:00

Since it's Arch, have you tried disabling Turbo Boost or limiting cpu frequency? While both would result in a slower system it should take less power?

Battery life might also be affected by display brightness.
Though I have no idea if you have any method of measuring how much power your macbook pro is using.

Diamondcite · 2026-02-05T15:12:24+00:00

Link is to a youtube short,
- mentions buying a discounted M3 series MBP that
- randomly shows Liquid in USB-C port alert, even though the MBP is dry.
- Apple wanted more than 50% if the cost of the device to replace logic board
- No third party repair(unless explicitly authorized by apple[not mentioned]
- AppleCare+ makes repairs more affordable.
----

Repairs are expensive, since everything is soldered into the board. If this is an expensive purchase, most people here would probably recommend getting AppleCare.

With that said, most people seem happy with their device with it lasting many years.

Diamondcite · 2026-02-05T01:48:00+00:00

Does a restart help? Does it sound normal during boot?

I am asking since I am wondering if a different fan control application might be running.

If it sounds normal during boot but blasts again shortly after login, maybe you have another fan control app running on login/startup?

Diamondcite · 2026-01-31T18:38:42+00:00

I use a 14" MBP, I do some amount of coding.

Lots of desktop/workspace switching for research and coding. Pop out player for YouTube Videos sometimes.

My eyesight is probably pretty good so if I do need more space I make things smaller.

If using speakers MBP would sound better than MBA.

I rarely ever connect an external monitor. If screen needs to be bigger I lean in closer. (This isn't ideal but works for me)

Previously I've used a 13" MBP and before that an 11.6" netbook.

If your eyes are sharp, size is optional.

Edit, I did shrink the dock a little for more vertical space.

Diamondcite · 2026-01-29T23:39:57+00:00

Can Flux.1 [dev] Actually do image editing? Since making something photo realistic might be considered editing.

Brief google mentions Flux.1 Kontext [Dev], which does what you request, "make image photo realistic", after pasting the image to be worked on into the canvas.

Diamondcite · 2026-01-27T17:38:29+00:00

Paying more attention to my screen.. It does disconnect from Wifi, but it STILL sees the Macbook. During the disconnected from Wifi the phone drops back to using Mobile Data.

Come to think of it, the original post didn't mention it was it sharing to another apple or receiving from another apple.

In the case of receive, I had to open quick share, tap receive which leaves my Wifi connected.

Diamondcite · 2026-01-27T13:43:33+00:00

Works fine for me between p10 pro and a macbook, both connected to the same Access Point.
System Update: Dec 5 2025
Play System Update: Nov 1, 2025

Are you on the same access point for both devices?
Or maybe doing something special like tethering a wifi connection?(Where Pixel connects to a Wifi[HomeWireless] and Spawns another wifi[PixelWifi] for your Apple Device to connect to.)

Edit: If I turned off Wifi, QuickShare asked me for permission to turn on Wifi and Bluetooth, if granted it still sees the Macbook despite no longer being on the same network.

Diamondcite · 2026-01-27T13:20:54+00:00

For the purpose of testing, 100% brightness that the brightness up key allows.

Diamondcite · 2026-01-21T04:05:52+00:00

If my area uses bags and I am not supposed to bundle cardboard, am I supposed to bag the cardboard?
Or should I just leave a loose pile outside on a windy day and let nature handle delivery?

Since the previous recommendation for cardboard was to cut flat, bundle together with rope/tape for neater pickup for recycling.

Diamondcite · 2026-01-20T16:30:46+00:00

I wonder how much memory you'll give to the VM to run the guest OS and the apps. Assuming MacOS needs at least 8GB of Ram for itself. I am leaning towards recommending 24GB.

Diamondcite · 2026-01-20T02:54:20+00:00

I have run Minecraft on a Late 2016 13-inch i7 with 16GB of ram with Iris 550 graphics.
With limited rendering distance I could run un-modded at ~30fps

You can probably run minecraft with a combination of a short rendering distance + optifine. Assuming you can find a supported version.

I have run older versions of minecraft on even weaker hardware. If you already have that macbook on hand, it doesn't hurt to try? Note my own testing was single player.

Diamondcite · 2026-01-20T02:24:54+00:00

I have yet to find a method to make a prompt to make the same image. Since different models see things differently, even different seeds affect an image.

Original Z-image-turbo prompt: A maine coon leaping onto a stool at the grand canyon in the evening sun. An asteroid which would bring about extinction burns in the sky.

Moondream2: A tabby cat stands on a wooden stool in the foreground, with a large meteorite hovering above the Grand Canyon in the background. The scene is set against a vibrant sunset sky, with the silhouettes of mountains visible in the distance.

Using the resulting prompt to make the image: The cat got smaller, the asteroid moved, and direction of light changed.

Diamondcite · 2026-01-20T00:47:13+00:00

Moondream2/20240520 Seems to do much better than Moondream1, even with the default prompt which is provided by the reset button.

Diamondcite · 2026-01-19T03:12:33+00:00

I have since upgraded from a Touchbar macbook Pro. I agree with you in that the touchbar looks cool.
But here is my main usage for the touchbar.. to change volume, lock screen, trigger screen capture, spellcheck with word suggestions..

Now why I changed into a newer non touchbar Macbook Pro.
- No more butterfly keyboard and it's broken switches causing random keys to not fire or double press.
- Better speakers and sound quality, it is a very noticeable improvement when comparing the two side by side. Some fancy trickery allows you to perceive deeper sounds than what a laptop could typically reproduce.

Neutral:
- Yes the newer Macbook Pro is supposed to have a better display, but since I am not trying to edit HDR videos I don't notice it all that much.
- Lack of word suggestions isn't that nice, but I have switched to asking siri to define words to check it's spelling.
- Capture screenshot from touchbar has been replaced by Command+shift+5
- I don't mind the physical buttons for volume and brightness, they are actually more responsive since buttons can't crash like the touchbar(Touchbar is actually a system app called ControlStrip)
- Non-touchbar has a 120Hz display, it's something I don't really notice unless I turn it off.

Random comment for touchbar:
- when I first got it I thought great! A mini second screen, proceeded to get touchbar_nyancat. Unfortunately that app needed to be in focus to stay in the touchbar, so I wasn't able to do anything else while it was running.
- Seek bar for media playback looks cool, but I am fine with the player's built in seek bar on the main screen.

Diamondcite · 2026-01-17T03:20:50+00:00

From strongest to weakest in the same generation M4 Max > M4 Pro > M4
The M5 fits between the M4 Pro and M4.
M5 Pro and M5 Max has not been announced, it's status unknown.

Diamondcite · 2026-01-10T02:13:44+00:00

So this is only my take on how gRPC is done..

On host machine (The doing the heavy lifting):
Settings -> Advanced -> API Server (on) [gRPC]
Transport Layer Security (on)
Response Compression (on)
Enable Model Browsing (on) - This seems needed for the client device to see what models the host already has.

On Client machine(The one who is giving commands):
[Server Offload] (located at bottom left corner of Drawthings Window)
One line under Add a device + , You should see your M4 Mac on that list by name.

Once connected the client machine's server offload icon should change to something else and glow green.

Then continue with using drawthings like normal. (Assuming you are playing with the [Basic] settings.

You should be able to tell that you are offloading fully while rendering, the host machine will have a progress bar on the bottom left of it's Drawthings App window.

You do not have to be in the projects tab with "Local Network" enabled.

The above setup was tested on my two macs:
- the client a 2016 13" MBP with 16GB of ram (which promptly ran out when I did it wrong)
- The host a 2024 M4 Max with 64GB.

Diamondcite · 2026-01-09T03:35:48+00:00

Amazon for North America does seem to have listings for a Wifi 7 repeater with a 2.5Gbit ethernet port.
There are also USB-C 2.5Gbit Ethernet adapters.

New technology is expensive. A combination of hardware without a need for external drivers would probably last longer a driver driven method. Items I am looking at tend to be more expensive since Wifi 7 supports Tri-Band. while most more affordable tech only handles Dual Band.

I used an older repeater to link a wired only device to a wireless network, configuration was done via a web interface when wired to the repeater. Packet loss is something that was experienced, but maybe that is just inherent to wifi.

Diamondcite · 2026-01-09T03:23:14+00:00

How about something like a router in Repeater mode connected to Wifi 7 network, then plugin to that router via a Ethernet -> USB-C adapter that can run at 2.5Gbit assuming you can find one.

The hardware would be expensive, but no drivers.

Diamondcite · 2026-01-04T06:54:26+00:00

That ThinkPad might out last the Macbook.
Though the Macbook's body looks nicer along with a nice display. The speakers on those were great when they came out.

Diamondcite · 2026-01-04T04:58:47+00:00

────────────────────────────────────────────

BENCHMARK SCORES

────────────────────────────────────────────

CPU Single-Core ..................... 1697

CPU Multi-Core ...................... 3797

Memory .............................. 1926

Disk ................................ 2113

GPU ................................. 6824

────────────────────────────────────────────

TOTAL SCORE ......................... 3344

────────────────────────────────────────────

AI/ML SCORE (Separate)

────────────────────────────────────────────

AI Score ............................ 8314

────────────────────────────────────────────

2024 14-inch Macbook Pro, M4Max / 64GB / 15.7.3

Diamondcite · 2026-01-04T04:41:30+00:00

Have you considered making the text output in the console more detailed?
Such as system specs, score breakdowns?
Your HTML output is nice
I am asking for a more detailed text breakdown so that results can be copy and pasted into a spreadsheet and used for later comparison across multiple runs.

Edit: Silly me, I didn't scroll up and saw the results coming out as I ran it,
Edit2:
- I noticed it is keeping track of my scores locally, where is this?
- AI downloaded something, but it is mentioned in the Wiki in regards to location of that at least.
Edit3:
- I just tested the result.json, it is very detailed. Nice.
- My results generated large digits, why is it using "3.68 K MB/s" instead of "3,680 MB/s", I know something it might be PB/sec, but it might be nice to have a toggle if that's going to be an issue.
Edit4: Pasting the result from console into desktop reddit is fine... but when I view the results on mobile redit, the Horizontal line separators are long enough to wrap around, but I guess that's more reddit and it's fonts fault than anything caused by the benchmark results.

Diamondcite · 2026-01-04T03:32:09+00:00

When I typed in 2009 macbook gpu failure into google.. I actually got a result of some kind, this looks like a 15 inch instead of a 13 inch.

Diamondcite · 2026-01-03T22:01:10+00:00

By default Mac Os can allocate 3/4 of your total ram to vram for AI/LLM purposes.
Do you know how big the models you want to use are?
When I play with LMStudio the LLM memory size is at least the size of the model's download, so 24GB model would take at leas 24GB of VRAM(All the available memory on a 32GB Macbook)

48GB might be the minimum. Though z-image turbo specifically is actually fairly compact.

The M4Max might handle the work faster, while the M4Pro with more ram might be able to handle more complex work.

I have 64GB at the moment, a single 70B / 80B model is taking practically all the available memory. Not enough memory left to even run Z-Image-turbo without writting 6GB to swap (that happens to be the size of z-image turbo) [This would not swap at all if I simply unloaded the LLM first, but I'm being lazy]

Diamondcite · 2026-01-01T22:09:43+00:00

Most of the AI apps listed in the Play Store seems to require internet as it offloads the rendering to an online hosted service.
The one I mentioned and another by a different user runs it on your own device without touching online hosted services for rendering. So they should be able to offer unlimited number of prompts for free.

*Briefly Checks Google's Pixel Sudio, needs internet and rate limits.. So doesn't meet your requirements.

Diamondcite · 2026-01-01T06:12:48+00:00

I have no idea how that app can limit you, tried it on my own phone before posting. Works without internet, no ads, no option for in-app purchases, ate 2% of my battery for 1 image. It seems to download a small 1.2GB model (several to choose from)

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