> On the downside, it elevated the temperature of the backside aluminum to a high enough temperature to be able to cause burns (something like 80-90C). Not a huge issue if you always use it on a table or something
The bottom doesn't get that hot (90C would cause serious problems) but the additional heat is a downside to consider. Too many people are missing the point that Apple deliberately chose not to create a thermal bridge between the CPU and the case for this reason.
Apple made the right choice. The Air is designed for minimum size, maximum portability, and fanless operation. If you have use cases that benefit from extended 100% CPU load, get a larger MacBook Pro that has a cooling solution designed to sustain these thermal loads.
The bottom doesn't get that hot (90C would cause serious problems) but the additional heat is a downside to consider. Too many people are missing the point that Apple deliberately chose not to create a thermal bridge between the CPU and the case for this reason.
Apple made the right choice. The Air is designed for minimum size, maximum portability, and fanless operation. If you have use cases that benefit from extended 100% CPU load, get a larger MacBook Pro that has a cooling solution designed to sustain these thermal loads.