(2019) 16" is HOT & NOISY with an external monitor! :(

[jaduffy007]

I can hear the 5500 rpm vacuum cleaner through my headphones

I think the real lesson here is Apple using discrete GPUs is a disaster. If I stick to Mac, there's no way I'll ever get a Mac with a dGPU. I miss my 2013 13" MBP

Amen...Never again will I buy a MBP with a dGPU.

 

[dooyou]

Amen...Never again will I buy a MBP with a dGPU.

Then you don't seem to need one.

 

[arche3]

Nice. Can you share the laptop lid open readings of Radeon wattage. Also what are the fan speeds?

For me with 5500 I am getting 9 W\1900 RPM with one 4K monitor in clamshell mode. Need to see if that shoots up if I add second monitor to 18 W\3000 RPM (currently this the reading I see with Laptop lid open and connected to 4K).
[automerge]1595131513[/automerge]


Can you please post the radeon\Fan reading for single monitor in clamshell mode with 5600? I am seeing 9W with my 5500 in clamshell for single 4k Monitor.....wanted to see the power consumption of 5600....

single 5k with macbook open. I took the 29 monitor off the setup. too many screens. lol

 

[Achever]

single 5k with macbook open. I took the 29 monitor off the setup. too many screens. lol

Just curious... do u got the i9 2.3 or 2.4Ghz version?

 

[arche3]

Just curious... do u got the i9 2.3 or 2.4Ghz version?

2.4 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9

 

[chaiboy09]

single 5k with macbook open. I took the 29 monitor off the setup. too many screens. lol

Thanks so much. So surely 50% less power consumption than 5500M.

 

[Achever]

2.4 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9

Thx!
Ur screenshot is also saying „System Total: 25W“
What is consuming so much power?

 

[arche3]

Thx!
Ur screenshot is also saying „System Total: 25W“
What is consuming so much power?

nothing was running. except Chrome.

 

[Kogut]

Okay..
So what can we do with this mess?
1. Wait for fix?
2. Make an appointment with apple genius and let them try to fix (but we know they aren't able to do it), try to replacement (but we know that all 5300/5500 models are affected), ask for replacement for 5600M? Does anybody knows if it is possible at all?
At the moment I detached my MBP from external display because I got tired of gpu and sleep problems.

 

[DaveXX]

There is no way to let apple replace it - at least here. They say its inside the specified range.
If its a driver issue they can't fix it. If the design of the heatpipe is the problem they can't fix it... so the only hope would be for a better driver...

 

[Achever]

nothing was running. except Chrome.

But shouldn’t that be reflected in a higher cpu power consumption?
I am just confused how the numbers add up. Maybe it’s just a fluke with asynchronous sensor updates

 

[arche3]

But shouldn’t that be reflected in a higher cpu power consumption?
I am just confused how the numbers add up. Maybe it’s just a fluke with asynchronous sensor updates

Now I have another thing to worry about. Ha ha.

 

[dervyj]

I'm not sure if it's helpful at all, but I'm seeing significant improvement (at least so far) when using a fresh/clean install of MacOS Big Sur Beta 2. I was previously using Catalina and experiencing the same problem discussed in this thread. I also had issues when upgrading to Big Sur Beta 2 from a previous Catalina install.

My config:

• MBP 16,1 (2019 16") - i9 2.3/64GB/Radeon 5500m 8GB
• Running in clamshell mode
• Caldigit TS3+ dock
• Dual Dell U2718Q monitors
  • One connected via dock's built in DisplayPort
  • One connected the dock's Thunderbolt port via USB-C to DisplayPort adapter

Word of warning, make a full Time Machine backup before playing with SwitchResX. My monitor settings were trashed to the point of needing to reinstall - black bars around the screen that required fiddling with display settings every time I docked.

 

[donperi]

I'm not sure if it's helpful at all, but I'm seeing significant improvement (at least so far) when using a fresh/clean install of MacOS Big Sur Beta 2. I was previously using Catalina and experiencing the same problem discussed in this thread. I also had issues when upgrading to Big Sur Beta 2 from a previous Catalina install.

My config:

• MBP 16,1 (2019 16") - i9 2.3/64GB/Radeon 5500m 8GB
• Running in clamshell mode
• Caldigit TS3+ dock
• Dual Dell U2718Q monitors
  • One connected via dock's built in DisplayPort
  • One connected the dock's Thunderbolt port via USB-C to DisplayPort adapter

View attachment 935475
View attachment 935478
Word of warning, make a full Time Machine backup before playing with SwitchResX. My monitor settings were trashed to the point of needing to reinstall - black bars around the screen that required fiddling with display settings every time I docked.

What is the result with using the lid open + 1 external monitor?

 

[dervyj]

What is the result with using the lid open + 1 external monitor?

High (19.43 watts). Doesn't seem to make any meaningful difference if the monitor is connected through the dock or with the USB-C adapter connected right to the computer.

 

[thedocbwarren]

Sorry but it feels like we've beaten this thread to death, and then some. I think we won't see any change here4 for the foreseeable future. As it stands we have some basic options to mitigate the heat/fans if it's an issue for the individual person.

My solution for performace and heat will be eGPU. Fans are fine for me.

 

[Norbert Mikołajczyk]

I'm not sure if it's helpful at all, but I'm seeing significant improvement (at least so far) when using a fresh/clean install of MacOS Big Sur Beta 2. I was previously using Catalina and experiencing the same problem discussed in this thread. I also had issues when upgrading to Big Sur Beta 2 from a previous Catalina install.

My config:

• MBP 16,1 (2019 16") - i9 2.3/64GB/Radeon 5500m 8GB
• Running in clamshell mode
• Caldigit TS3+ dock
• Dual Dell U2718Q monitors
  • One connected via dock's built in DisplayPort
  • One connected the dock's Thunderbolt port via USB-C to DisplayPort adapter

View attachment 935475
View attachment 935478
Word of warning, make a full Time Machine backup before playing with SwitchResX. My monitor settings were trashed to the point of needing to reinstall - black bars around the screen that required fiddling with display settings every time I docked.

Sounds promising, maybe they are working on it, hopefully 🤞

 

[Kogut]

I did some test today with my monitors from work, two 27 WQHD. In clamshell mode the watt usage was 18-19W but when I change resolution in both monitors to 1080p it drops to 5W.

 

[Bsye]

Hi,
I got in touch with the engineers at Apple and they confirmed that there’s an issue. I will investigate the problem with them during the next days and I will report what happen.

EDIT: I already told them everything that we said on this thread. I said that the previous two technicians disappeared and never replied to me. The one who is currently following my report is a very nice guy, and always replied to me instantly. I think that whenever you don’t get the answer that you are expecting from Apple, you have to retry multiply times, and in the end maybe you get to something

 

[dooyou]

I got in touch with the engineers at Apple and they confirmed that there’s an issue. I will investigate the problem with them during the next days and I will report what happen.

I can give you the answer right away, because we already had this 20 times during the 100 pages: Expected Behavior ...

Apart from that, what does engineer mean here? Are we talking about someone on the phone who has to unwind his program or someone who knows really something about hard- and software and is allowed to do something? Because I don't think so.

 

[kilihn]

Is there any possibility of a fix if there is an update with a possible refresh soon with 10th gen processors? might look into returning the one thats coming in the mail today

 

[dooyou]

Is there any possibility of a fix if there is an update with a possible refresh soon with 10th gen processors?

In my opinion thats the only possible way for a „fix“. If you can call it that.

But that the mbp 16 will still see the 10th generation, I would not regard as secured.

 

[Corncab44]

Since I posted a lot in this thread, figure I'd update. I ended up deciding to return both my i7/5300m and my i9 2.3 5500m 8GB. For starters, I don't really need the 5500m, but it was included in the base higher end model, then the 8GB (which I certainly don't need lol) was only $100 more. My i7 had terrible battery life for some reason, but it may be been a dud — it was refurbished.

I'm going to give it one more go with an i.9 2.4 with 5300m graphics, along with the 32GB of ram and 1TB of storage. That works out to the same price as the i9 2.3/5500m.

I've played around with Turbo Boost Switcher and Volta, and find Volta may be a better long term solution. Especially with the i.9, it gives it more space to run in bursts. Anecdotally, I've noticed turning Turbo Booster off can lead to a small bit of lag in some circumstances. I also find the processor actually sticks up to that ceiling of 2.3 or 2.6 or whatever it is vs going up and down as needed. The i7, with higher base clock speed, may actually be better if you're running TBS, though I haven't confirmed that aside from running a few benchmarks (I find geekbench is pretty irrelevant to my workflow).

My hope is that the better binning on the 2.4 i9 will allow me to run it at a reasonable wattage — not totally crippled to make up for the GPU drawing so much power, but lower than it seems to drift up to drawing with little perceptible performance increase. I don't like to pin all my hopes on a piece of software that doesn't seem to get regular support (Volta), but it works for me now when I have to have the laptop screen open as well as an external monitor. Anecdotally, I've also noticed the 5300m draws slightly less power than the 5500m in certain contexts, but again, not scientific.

Should have it by next week, will report back. Thanks everyone for the support here, hopefully this gets fixed in a more concrete fashion at some point, but it doesn't seem likely in the near term.

 

[kilihn]

In my opinion thats the only possible way for a „fix“. If you can call it that.

But that the mbp 16 will still see the 10th generation, I would not regard as secured.

Yeah hence the italics, I wouldnt be surprised if apple skips this year an waits for WWDC 2021 to announce a "refresh" with ARM but you never know with Apple lol

 

[Bsye]

I can give you the answer right away, because we already had this 20 times during the 100 pages: Expected Behavior ...

Apart from that, what does engineer mean here? Are we talking about someone on the phone who has to unwind his program or someone who knows really something about hard- and software and is allowed to do something? Because I don't think so.

I'm Italian, so probably I won't get the same answer right away. I recorded a bunch of logs with a technician over the phone and he sent everything to the engineering department and they confirmed the issue.

I read all 115 pages of this thread before even starting discussing about the problem, so I know exactly that a lot of people already got an answer from Apple.

The answer they gave me is that this is not suppose to happen and that they will replace my laptop if that fix it. I told them that I already demonstrated at a Genius Bar that the same thing happens with all the others Macbook pro 16, with various cables and monitors.

I also showed them that I am unable to work, because after an hour of two of continuous use, my macbook starts being unresponsive because of the kernel_tasks process, spawning even at 0% CPU usage, and at 70° celsius.

I'm not concerned about the longevity of the laptop, battery swelling or other problems. I'm concerned about not being able to work continuously because my macbook overheats and slows down. I work as a programmer, but in September when university restarts I'll need to use a lot more resources, as I am a Product Design student.

EDIT: One last thing. I don't want to be fooled by some mediocre engineers who says that everything is right when clearly is not. There's no way that a gpu needs to be at full clocks to run an external monitor, and even if it needs, I expect to see a a different power consumption based on the current resolution on the external monitor. Less pixels = less power = less power consumption.