The Zefyr Pro from Moshi is one of the prettiest laptop coolers on the market. Designed for the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 15 and 17-inch models, it’s one of the more expensive laptop coolers, too, at a staggering $80. I bought it because my previous cooler — an Akasa 15 inch Classic Cooler — was starting to look like a battered old griddle. Not to mention it wasn’t particularly portable, being a single large rectangle of thick corrugated metal. So, after a trip overseas last month where the temperatures were high and my MacBook suffered, I returned home convinced I should find a Mac-centric replacement.
The Zefyr Pro is aesthetically close to unibody MacBooks, with its minimalist industrial design and sleek brushed-aluminum body. It’s smaller than a typical laptop cooler, too; while most coolers consist of a base-plate with roughly the same footprint as the laptops they’re designed to accommodate, the Zefyr Pro is only 10 centimeters deep, but its aluminum fins provide acres of surface area to aide in heat dissipation (first by conduction, then by radiation).

The Zefyr Pro is squarely aimed at MacBook Air and Pro owners; in its ‘folded’ mode the device perfectly fits the MacBook Air, while extendable ‘wings’ slide out to easily accommodate the wider 15 and 17-inch MacBook Pro’s.
My old Akasa had two large (and silent) USB powered fans, while the Zefyr Pro has only one, but that single fan is positioned in what is seemingly just the right spot on the underside of my MacBook Pro to get airflow where it’s most needed.

Moshi brags about a special “high-thermal conduction interface compound” on the Zefyr Pro that provides a heat-hungry contact between the Zefyr and the underside of the MacBook. It sounds impressive, until you realize this “high-thermal conduction interface compound” amounts to a slightly rubbery 8x5cm grey pad in the middle of the Zefyr. I don’t know if it’s as effective as Moshi claims, but if it is, I wonder why the entire contact surface of the Zefyr isn’t coated with that material? If it were, surely the Zefyr would do an even better job of conducting heat away from the MacBook?

The "High-thermal conduction interface compound" is that dull grey rectangle in the center
All I can tell you is that, by bringing my MacBook Pro’s operating temperature down an average of 8-12º, my Zefyr Pro manages about the same practical cooling my old Akasa did, but in a device a little under half the size. My Akasa cost me about $20 three years ago. The Zefyr cost me over $80. I’m not feeling very good about this.
The single fan is reasonably quiet, though not as silent as the old Akasa (and that thing had two fans!). It’s a small point to make, but I wish there were a hardware switch for turning the fan on and off (which I could do on the old Akasa). Currently, the fan is powered-up the moment the Zefyr’s USB cable is plugged-in to my MacBook. Call me picky, but I don’t think a hardware switch on the USB dongle would be so hard to do, right? At $80, this is an expensive heat-sink. I’d expect a little more attention to detail.

Because the Zefyr Pro is so diminutive, it raises the MacBook slightly at the back. If you’re working on your lap you might not notice much of a difference, but on a desk those few degrees make a surprising difference — and for the better. Typing is genuinely more comfortable.
Slip Slidin’ Away
But here is where my final gripe lies. The Zefyr has very little friction between itself and the underside of the MacBook. Not even that 8x5cm “conduction interface compound” is rubbery enough to prevent slippage. As you type, the vibrations and downward pressure of your fingers on the keys encourage the MacBook to ‘slide’ across and down the Zefyr’s smooth surface toward you.

This is particularly noticeable if you are working on a desk or other smooth surface, though you might not experience it as much if the machine is resting in your lap. Over time, quite without realizing it, your MacBook eventually slides so far forward that the Zefyr is only partially covered by the MacBook, so presumably doing a far less efficient job of cooling it. I feel this could be easily solved if the top edges of the Zefyr’s ‘wings’ were rubber instead of hard, frictionless plastic. Again, it’s attention to detail I think Moshi should have made to justify that $80 price tag.
Overall though, this is a reasonably effective piece of kit I’d recommend to anyone who wants to keep their MacBook Air/Pro cool and remain stylish, without sacrificing portability. If you don’t think style and portability are worth the larger part of a hundred dollars, I’d find it hard to argue with you. It does what it’s supposed to do, but the Zefyr Pro simply isn’t worth its current price tag.
{"source":"https:\/\/gigaom.com\/2009\/08\/03\/zefyr-pro-keeps-your-macbook-cool\/wijax\/49e8740702c6da9341d50357217fb629","varname":"wijax_2fb88a024e494c50c061e4a3192daf56","title_element":"header","title_class":"widget-title","title_before":"%3Cheader%20class%3D%22widget-title%22%3E","title_after":"%3C%2Fheader%3E"}