This company just put the air in Apple’s MacBook Air

Silicon Valley startup Frore Systems recently demonstrated the capabilities of its solid-state active cooling technology by custom-retrofitting an Apple MacBook Air.

The demonstration featured three of the company's thin, piezoelectric AirJet Mini chips surgically integrated into a 15-inch MacBook Air, a device that typically relies entirely on passive cooling. Under sustained processing workloads, such as extensive 3D rendering and gaming benchmarks, the modified laptop successfully avoided thermal throttling and maintained steady processing speeds. Conversely, the unmodified, fanless version of the laptop suffered significant performance drops, lower frame rates, and visible stuttering as internal temperatures rose during the same tests.

Although the experimental setup proved that the cooling chips can match the performance of traditional laptop fans in a much thinner profile, the demonstration highlighted several hurdles for consumer adoption. To accommodate the AirJets within the exceptionally slim chassis, engineers had to shave down physical components and temporarily remove essential parts like speakers and wireless antennas. Furthermore, the test raised concerns about power efficiency, as the cooling system drew measurable energy directly from the laptop's battery during intensive tasks. While Frore envisions its silent cooling technology eventually replacing noisy fans in future ultra-thin notebooks, gaming consoles, and cameras, the company still needs to convince major hardware manufacturers to design systems around its hardware.