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

[apr]

Kernal task wasn't at a high percentage (I think it was around 20%)

If you have high wired gigabit network activity, the TB3 chip is overheating and the kernel task tries to kick up the fan. This is a known design flaw in macbooks and seems never will be fixed. This happens for me 100% of time if copying large files/time machine backup/photos icloud sync etc. It was worse on my old mb 15. Suprised when I first encountered this "feature", never happend on dell laptops for me (my dell's had dedicated rj45 ports)

With almost the same setup as yours my machine started this morning a time machine backup (still in progress): max fan cpu: 4000 rpm, 97 C !!!, kernel task 10-20%, after a while settled down: <2500 RPM, 68 C, bonus: heavy ssd coil whine.
All this with open lid + LG5K, turbo boost enabled, within one hour my macbook will slowly overheats and fan will go over 3000 RPM for the rest of day

 

[dnieuwoudt]

Having experienced the issue for a while, with any scenario including more than one monitor (external+internal, or two external in clamshell) this morning, with both a LG Ultrafine 5K and a 4K plugged into the left TB ports, laptop closed, it is reporting low (normal) wattage on Radeon high side. Weirdly, I normally do not get picture on both monitors if connected to the same side, but somehow this approach works now... I would be very interested in hearing if anyone else found the same.

 

[Ivan Annovazzi]

It's unbelievable what we are experiencing here. I am not able to use my new LG UL850-W 4k HDR monitor because it will compromise my laptop hardware.
As many others here, I have tried all the possibilities on my MBP equipped with a 4GB AMD 5500m dGPU.
It seems pretty clear we only need a driver fix because we can experience lower wattage on Win10 with BootCamp.

This is my working machine, I have no time to waste, I spent a lot to get this 32GB model, I can't tolerate Apple is ignoring the issue; we are not talking about a small defect, we are talking about not being able to have a properly working machine with basically any external monitor.

Given they advertise it to be able to run 4 4K monitors, I think it's simply a joke what we are facing here.

Let's make sure they hear our voice, this is unacceptable.

 

[adgoodma]

I got my i7 5600M model today. After install latest version of iStat Menu, it shows only one temperature sensor for the SSD. Not sure why. Emailed technical support.

did you get an answer?> i have the same issue

 

[king11527]

did you get an answer?> i have the same issue

No response so far. I am not a paid user for iStat Menu, maybe they don't care. If you bought it, maybe they will listen to you.

 

[rioriojc]

So you're saying - when you restart the machine, the fans come on and stay on, even when you don't start anything? If that's the case, start Activity Monitor, go to CPU, and sort by CPU % - to try and find out what's causing that.

As far as processes to look for, it depends what you have installed / running, but look for what's consuming a high CPU percentage in Activity Monitor.

I'm using two 4k LG monitors (with a CalDigit TS3+ dock) and my laptop in clamshell mode. Both monitors at 3360x1890 - and the machine is silent with Safari, even with running a ubuntu VM in Parallels. Anyway, I opened Logic up, ran a small project with 4 VSTs (a Keyscape piano, emotional Violin/Viola/Cello), and playing 12 bars on cycle repeat for the past 15-20 min (non are frozen/bounced), and just two strips with stock reverb/eq -

The fans sounded as soon as I opened Logic, and I'm guessing are now around 1-2 levels bellow max volume..probably high 3000-low to mid 4000 rpm if I had to guess (I deleted iStat and don't want to get drawn back in to stat watching)).

To be honest, I think this performance on a laptop of this size / spec is great.

Heres my activity monitor during cycle repeat if you want to compare:

View attachment 955557

It is hit or miss...2/3rds of the time the fans come on at midspeed (2-4k) at startup. AS SOON as I open Logic, regardless of the project, they ramp up to 4.5-full speed and the machine becomes warm/very warm to the touch. Yes, the machine is fast. But this is not ideal behavior at all.

 

[alsid02]

After like 2 months of no problems, sadly I hit some weird potentially major issues yesterday. I had a 4k display connected in clamshell mode, and noticed some blue blurry lines on just one chrome window. I closed chrome and the lines disappeared, but the machine just turned off after a minute. I could not turn the machine back on, no matter what I tried. Tried PRAM reset, tried holding the power button, nothing.

Today, I tried PRAM reset again and it worked. No idea whats going on. Also my battery health is at like 96% after only two months of normal use. Is that expected?

My machine is 2.4GHz, 5600M

 

[srnbrn]

No response so far. I am not a paid user for iStat Menu, maybe they don't care. If you bought it, maybe they will listen to you.

Ruby gem alternatives to iStat Menu: Chris911/iStats GitHub repo

It runs on command line and is an open source project.

 

[thedocbwarren]

To be honest that all sounds like different things to me. The Chrome issue is a known issue for accelerated video. The battery issue is one discussed before and probably is not actually the real number. Not turning back on, no idea.

also, for some reason I read this as blue berry lines.

After like 2 months of no problems, sadly I hit some weird potentially major issues yesterday. I had a 4k display connected in clamshell mode, and noticed some blue blurry lines on just one chrome window. I closed chrome and the lines disappeared, but the machine just turned off after a minute. I could not turn the machine back on, no matter what I tried. Tried PRAM reset, tried holding the power button, nothing.

Today, I tried PRAM reset again and it worked. No idea whats going on. Also my battery health is at like 96% after only two months of normal use. Is that expected?

My machine is 2.4GHz, 5600M

 

[furfoot]

My results and theory:

17W usage with 1080p @ 144hz, 120hz, 100hz
5W usage with 1080p @ 60hz, 50hz

I have some experience with settings up custom timings for monitors with CRU on windows so I thought I'd give SwitcherResX a try on Mac and for some reason my monitors EDID is reporting two seperate 120hz timings at 1080p. The second one set my usage to 5W.

It seems to be linked to the total "pixel clock", here are the two 120hz timings for comparison:

17W

5W

 

[rdy2go]

For the first time today I work entire day on MBP 16 without external monitor (for a change). What a shocking difference - totally quiet under my workloads, fans never exceeding 2000 rpm!
So it's not a question of CPU usage or my workload specifics!
Just another proof of how badly it's been designed/implemented by Apple...

 

[Alex W.]

Has anyone tried to get in touch with upper Apple executive, mailed them or do we have any offical response?

Or should we start a class action.?

 

[Ivan Annovazzi]

My results and theory:

17W usage with 1080p @ 144hz, 120hz, 100hz
5W usage with 1080p @ 60hz, 50hz

I have some experience with settings up custom timings for monitors with CRU on windows so I thought I'd give SwitcherResX a try on Mac and for some reason my monitors EDID is reporting two seperate 120hz timings at 1080p. The second one set my usage to 5W.

It seems to be linked to the total "pixel clock", here are the two 120hz timings for comparison:

17W
View attachment 957307

5W
View attachment 957308

Can you please give some more explanation on how to achieve that?

 

[applesed]

just a question on the 5600 is anyone else's kernel task process running at 3-8% constantly?

 

[DesertNomad]

For the first time today I work entire day on MBP 16 without external monitor (for a change). What a shocking difference - totally quiet under my workloads, fans never exceeding 2000 rpm!
So it's not a question of CPU usage or my workload specifics!
Just another proof of how badly it's been designed/implemented by Apple...

Which GPU do you have?

 

[ThatOneAwkwardGuy]

If you have high wired gigabit network activity, the TB3 chip is overheating and the kernel task tries to kick up the fan. This is a known design flaw in macbooks and seems never will be fixed. This happens for me 100% of time if copying large files/time machine backup/photos icloud sync etc. It was worse on my old mb 15. Suprised when I first encountered this "feature", never happend on dell laptops for me (my dell's had dedicated rj45 ports)

With almost the same setup as yours my machine started this morning a time machine backup (still in progress): max fan cpu: 4000 rpm, 97 C !!!, kernel task 10-20%, after a while settled down: <2500 RPM, 68 C, bonus: heavy ssd coil whine.
All this with open lid + LG5K, turbo boost enabled, within one hour my macbook will slowly overheats and fan will go over 3000 RPM for the rest of day

Laptop was completely unplugged from everything, no wires at all and still got throttled lol. this is depressing.

 

[ThatOneAwkwardGuy]

You’re still under warranty, right? That sounds like a defect. What happened before that, what took it there? I’ve seen this 1 or 3 times on a hot (ambient temp) day, when the cooling system ran out of capacity, I was purposefully stressing the laptop hard. It never happened in other scenarios, even before I bought the eGPU. I bought it to make the office quiet, and for extra performance with multiple displays.

Do you also see kernel_task consuming all of the CPU when that happens, in Activity Monitor > CPU > View > All Processes? That’s what throttling looks like, along with 1 GHz limit.

Apple Support will probably ask you to clean-install, and if that doesn‘t help, bring it for a repair. If this happens all by itself after a clean install, it indeed could be a bad thermal paste somewhere or a blocked air channel, but I would not even consider opening the Mac during warranty / AppleCare.

I had been watching youtube videos for like an hour at that point so as far as im aware there was nothing to ramp to get my CPU to start throttling. Also, this was in a room in the evening with the fan on, so it was definitely room at least room temperature.

I don't recall exactly what kernel task was, but it was definitely less than 20%, not like the 500-600+ you expect to see when being throttled. Therefore this was likely more a CPU throttle than Kernel task kicking in.

 

[king11527]

Ruby gem alternatives to iStat Menu: Chris911/iStats GitHub repo

It runs on command line and is an open source project.

Thanks! Temp Monitor worked, also, patched version of iStat Menu worked.

 

[mercurymane]

Hello all, I've been keeping up with this thread since March when I was trying out a Dell U2720Q with my MBP. I ended up returning that monitor due to the same issues all of you have been having. Recently, I tried out a different monitor with much better results. Do note that I am using this only in clamshell mode.

Specs: 2019 16" Macbook Pro, 2.3 GHz, 32 GB RAM, 5500M 8 GB
Monitor: ASUS PA278QV
Cable: USB-C to Displayport (by Uni)
Resolution: 2K native

*If you do go with this monitor, you will have to run this at the monitor's native resolution and set the refresh rate to 75 Hz*

These results are with one Youtube tab in the background (for music) and another with this forum. Current temperature in my city is 82 F.

Internal temps: 133 F
Radeon High End: 5 W

Of course this isn't a solution, but I thought I'd share my results just in case anyone really needs an external monitor while working at home.

Cheers!

Also, here is a link to the Stats app I'm using: https://github.com/exelban/stats

 

[eric-louvin]

Has anyone tried to get in touch with upper Apple executive, mailed them or do we have any offical response?

Or should we start a class action.?

I'm ready for a class action !
I hate Apple, I Hate the way they ignore us and this problem !

 

[rioriojc]

I'm ready for a class action !
I hate Apple, I Hate the way they ignore us and this problem !

Apple is acutely aware of this issue and are taking zero action. A family member works at their corporate campus and hooked me up with their big discount on the machine (which also means Im stuck with it for a year). I brought this issue to his attention and he asked engineer friends and store managers and they all just live with it. Its pretty shocking this made it to production IMO. I've already convinced a few friends to hold off on purchasing new machines until this is remedied.

 

[adib]

I received a base 16" today and am disappointed because it get's as hot as my 2017 with an external 4K monitor.

Is anybody else experiencing the same issue? I always work with external monitors and running on high resolution and this heating performance is upsetting. It's not cooler than the 2017 version in this respects.

Likewise with my mid-range 2018 15" with two external HD monitors. Gets hot and slowed down by kernel_task. Compounded by the 30ºC room temperature.

Fortunately a simple laptop cooler solves the issue – a laptop "base" with powered fans made the laptop relatively cool and speedy again.

 

[adib]

Apple is acutely aware of this issue and are taking zero action.

Switching processor architecture is "zero action" ?

 

[rioriojc]

Switching processor architecture is "zero action" ?

I meant for people who own the existing architecture. A fix for this would be nice...

 

[09872738]

... hold off on purchasing new machines until this is remedied.

I‘m in the same cohort as your friends... I intended to get this machine, the overheating issues keep me from buying. I‘ll see what ASi brings to the table, otherwise... hm. 17“ Dell, unfortunately