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(2019) 16" is HOT & NOISY with an external monitor! :(
- Thread starter Appledoesnotlisten
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First of all create ticket in Feedback Assistant. The best would be when monitor is connected and the cpu is idling to the repots show high fan speed with no real load on the machine.
Can someone test out running netflix on the 5600, and tell me if it's choppy? (without an external monitor)
seems fine for me playing netflix. so its using the intel GPU with laptop open no external monitor
chrome or safari? I've just confirmed the problem does not exist for safari, only chrome.
Chrome has a bad issue with hardware acceleration on the 16. I don't use it but some things are untested and only work in chrome (bad development basically.) It's documented as a defect but I don't think anyone in the trio can agree who is at fault (AMD / Google / Apple)
Hi dapa0s,
This is a subjective question. My 2019 16" MacBook Pro (CTO from May 2020) does not feel any physically warmer than the 2015 15" MacBook Pro it replaced. The noise levels are about the same when the fans are at full speed, and the 16" seems to kick he fans up to speed less often. I have not experienced (yet at least) anything that I would describe as throttling on my new MBP, but I have seen the CPU temp as reported by iStatMenus (App store version) to hit 100C, at which point the fans kick in full-blast, and then drop it back down to ~64C pretty quickly, rinse and repeat... I did not run iStatMenus on my older MBP, so I am not sure if it hit those same temps or not. Regardless, I have not seen my new MBP slow down because of heat, and the parts of the MB that I touch are never more than warm. The spot between the touchbar and the screen does get pretty hot, but then again, it got just as hot in the same place on the 2015 model.
If you are sensitive to fan noise or plan on using an external display, you may want to consider the 2020 13" MacBook Pro. If you need the performance of the 16", well you don't really have an option. Some folks here have reported better temps and performance with the $700 5600 Pro Upgrade.
Good luck!
Rich S.
I cant say for the 2015, but I couldn't stand my 2014 and this model is far better.
However as said it does get hot.
I am quite sound sensitive and tbh it is annoying to me. I had the iMac Pro and loved that for the lack of fan noise but wasn't very portable.
really the conclusion I tend to come to is use a desktop at the desk, and a laptop for lighter work. The fans won't be an issue then.
Otherwise it is bearable but when they are constantly on as in my case, it can get wearing [I push my CPU / GPU a lot].
Also an egpu does help as mentioned elsewhere, to take some load off the internal gpu's but did my nut in when moving between Bootcamp and Mac OS all the time [which I do a lot].
So I would go for :
EGPU + MBP awesome set up if in macOS only and is a one cable solution for a desk.
Mobile - see below
and then I hear the fans ramp up just now so forget all this - I am on Safari right now, this single Macrumors tab open and nothing else and the fans are going and it is getting hot on my lap.
Unbelievable.........
That is very subjective. I have the i9 2.3/5500 8gb/32 gig ram using it open on a stand with an external 4K monitor. I get the same basic measurements that everyone is reporting not using clamshell, but overall I don't find it particularly noisy. If I am doing something intensive the fans do fire up, but no more so than my 2016 15" used to do (though they are louder under extreme load).
I can live with it as is, but am considering either using 2 monitors and running it in clamshell mode or adding an eGPU (rationalized so I can game of course). If I do go the 2 monitor/clamshell route I'll need to pick up a webcam. Any recommendations on a webcam from those of you using clamshell mode?
100% right - it is subjective.
Mine bothers me, but my girlfriend doesn't understand what the issue is.
I’ve read that that the BlackMagic eGPU currently on the market (non pro) could handle one 5k display via TB3 and the 2560x1440 via HDMI.
But if I then connect the third 2560x1440 to the Mac directly, it will activate Radeon with 18+ watts and essentially nothing changes? Is that correct? Or can this ”beast” run even one basic external display without excessive wattage?
I’m pondering my options. I might still prefer to have just one Mac, normally docked, sometimes lapped. I used to have iMac + MacBook, but there’s always some sync issues to deal with and two computers to maintain.
I know I’d take a performance hit if I sell the 16” while it’s relatively new and buy the 13” instead, but would it solve the idle external monitor fan noise issues?
This is the setup:
LG Ultrafine 5k via TB3
2560x1440 via HDMI
2560x1440 via HDMI
Any guesses: Would the 13” be able to drive these without a problem, and without fan noise, if nothing special is going on? I can take fan noise with heavy use, but with basic web browsing it’s a bit too much.
I know I’d take a performance hit if I sell the 16” while it’s relatively new and buy the 13” instead, but would it solve the idle external monitor fan noise issues?
This is the setup:
LG Ultrafine 5k via TB3
2560x1440 via HDMI
2560x1440 via HDMI
Any guesses: Would the 13” be able to drive these without a problem, and without fan noise, if nothing special is going on? I can take fan noise with heavy use, but with basic web browsing it’s a bit too much.
seriously..? yet another reason to hold out for ARM : )
I'll move this to another thread:
Netflix on chrome choppiness on 16" 5600m macbook pro
Can someone try chrome with Netflix and let me know if there are seeing some choppiness? (on the 5600m, no external monitor) I do not see this issue in safari and want to verify. I saw no issues with chrome and Netflix on the 5500m.
forums.macrumors.com
As others have said here, this is a subjective decision. There are millions of happy Mac owners who don't pay close attention to heat and fan noise, who've never heard of iStat Menus, who don't think about wattage and temperatures, none of it.
But I bet many of those millions would care about the resale value of their Macs, or the potential risk of hardware failure down the road, and for that, heat and fan usage matters. Continuous heat will wear down components, and increased fan usage will circulate more dust, etc.
If you have one of these 16" MBPs (sans 5600 GPU models) perpetually connected to an external monitor, years down the road, the "true age" of your Mac will be older than one that wasn't perpetually connected to an external monitor. (Kind of like how you hear about people having a "biological age" older than their "chronological age", if they've abused drugs, slept little, ate poorly, etc.) Whether a prospective buyer will be able to figure this out is probably not likely, but it's something to keep in mind. Even if you don't want to sell your Mac down the road, you're just increasing risk of hardware failing on you.
So, will it be 'unbearable' to you? Maybe not. But could it have a practical consequence for you down the road? Quite possibly. This is why I want Apple and/or AMD to do something about this issue, or at least acknowledge it.
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Just tried the same configuration (2 external monitors: 43" Samsung Ultrawide Display Port + 27" Samsung HDMI) on my girlfriend work MBP 16, 2.3Ghz CPU, 1Tb SSD, Radeon 5500m 4Gb and 16Gb RAM and the fans are much quieter (around 3000rpm) than my previous config that I returned (2.4CPU, 4Tb SSD, Radeon 5500 8Gb, 64Gb RAM) with the same setup (it was running at full blast all the time, ~5000rpm).
Correct. Do not connect any external displays directly to the MBP or you will see about 18W power draw for the dGPU minimum with the lid open.
If you have problems with chrome i would advise you test out Edge Chromium. It supports everything chrome supports as well but runs better on my mac. If an extenion is not available in edge extensions just download from chrome extesions (all chrome extensions are fully supported)
I use Firefox personally and don’t have the major issues with chrome. Actually to be fair the defect I mentioned above happens in any chromium browser. So I can kind of understand why AMD / Apple / Google all point the finger.
It’s a problem with the AMD graphics acceleration they use in chromium with the 5x00 chipsets on the 16.
Does not occur in Safari nor Firefox.
It’s a problem with the AMD graphics acceleration they use in chromium with the 5x00 chipsets on the 16.
Does not occur in Safari nor Firefox.
Chrome has actually problems with memory management.
Since a while microsoft is working on chromium together with google devs. Chromium is open source and is the base of a few browser (e.g. vivaldi as well). Microsoft did a few improvements in memory management and performance but google had problems to implement them in their current version of chrome. So the current microsoft implementation is better from chromium.
I was invited to use Safari 14 for MacOS Catalina but it still has no VP9 Codec and the extensions i need are still not converted.