Hm. One layer wasn't enough for me to touch the backplate. As I said, the TB3 chips are insulated with those black stickers. So the Thermal pads are crippled by this stupid stickers Apple put on them
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(2019) 16" is HOT & NOISY with an external monitor! :(
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Hm. One layer wasn't enough for me to touch the backplate. As I said, the TB3 chips are insulated with those black stickers. So the Thermal pads are crippled by this stupid stickers Apple put on them
@IceStormNG I'm thinking about doing this mod, but I have a question. How hard is to remove those pads in case I need to send the computer to Apple? and will it leave any residue so Apple can see something was applied over the chips and reject to service the laptop?
Removing is as easy as applying. They just slightly sticky to the VRMs but there's no adhesive/glue. They might leave some silicone residue depending on which pads you used and how hot they ran. Nothing you can't wipe off with some isopropanol (or rubbing alcohol).
Just make sure you don't damage anything when opening the case. Actually the hardest part of this mod is opening and closing the case properly (thank you Apple
).5600M would be a kill for my needs, actually if I think better even 5300/5500 is an overkill. I'm a digital marketer so a lot of tabs opened, excel/word files, so I'm eating a lot of ram (12-14gb on average on my PC). The 13-inch (2020) does not have this problem with the external monitors?
I exported some 4K videos from Final Cut to verify that the VRM throttle is gone. The bottom plate got 49°C hot. that's enough to burn human skin. So if you do this mod, don't render 4K videos on your laps
Yikes! I don't think we should be jumping through hoops this much to get a silent working setup with a Macbook Pro. I decided to return mine :/
To have a single computer that you can use on the go or on a desk with multiple screens depending on the situation?
To have a single computer that you can use on the go or on a desk with multiple screens depending on the situation?
I would've done the same but it's way for that. Apple refuses to take it back as it's "working as designed".
My 4 year old 2016 MacBook Pro 15 inch (first generation Touch Bar) completely dead this week, a week after I got the new MacBook Pro 16 up and running. The 15 inch was also mostly working with external monitors with lid open (GPU power ~10W with external monitor). The batteries was swelled and replaced about 2 years ago along with the keyboard while it was still in Apple Care period. The battery swelled again two months ago (back cover not flat) and that made me decide to get the new 16 inch MacBook Pro. I found the back cover of the dead 15 inch was resumed to the original position indicating the battery shrank back. So I guess likely a battery issue again. I sent the dead machine to an Apple repair center, will see how they say.
The battery swelling is likely related to the fact that most of the time battery is running fully charged because apple give very little control over battery management (even the latest automatic management). I just found recently this small free utility app AlDente 1.2 from GitHub that can manually set the percentage of battery to be charged, and now I set my new laptop to charge to a maximum of 75% of full capacity. I wish this will help to preserve the battery life and prevent swelling. I think those work plugin with external monitors most of the time should also consider to install this little app.
Again, I feel lucky found this thread so that I can swap my original order of 5500M configuration to a 5600M configuration within the Apple return window. I am happy with my i7/5600M. It runs most time cool with external monitors. I also purchased Turbo Boost Switcher Pro and set it to turn off turbo boost when fan speed above 3.5k, as I found when dropbox sync a lot of files, it use 200% CPU and make the machine hot. Disable turbo solve this issue.
The battery swelling is likely related to the fact that most of the time battery is running fully charged because apple give very little control over battery management (even the latest automatic management). I just found recently this small free utility app AlDente 1.2 from GitHub that can manually set the percentage of battery to be charged, and now I set my new laptop to charge to a maximum of 75% of full capacity. I wish this will help to preserve the battery life and prevent swelling. I think those work plugin with external monitors most of the time should also consider to install this little app.
Again, I feel lucky found this thread so that I can swap my original order of 5500M configuration to a 5600M configuration within the Apple return window. I am happy with my i7/5600M. It runs most time cool with external monitors. I also purchased Turbo Boost Switcher Pro and set it to turn off turbo boost when fan speed above 3.5k, as I found when dropbox sync a lot of files, it use 200% CPU and make the machine hot. Disable turbo solve this issue.
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To me, it depends on the percentage of time used. If you're moving it around a lot, and using it without the external screens a lot, then it could make sense. If you're at 90% with the lid closed... the drawbacks of a laptop compared to a desktop outweigh the benefits. One cannot expect a laptop to be a workhorse like a Mac Pro or an iMac Pro. It's not meant to be driven that hard all day, and its components will suffer from the heat.
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But the Macbook Pro 16" has more than enough power to replace a desktop in many cases, and Apple is promoting it in the product page.
When I see it can support up to two 6K displays, I think it should have no problem only running two 1080p monitors on closed lid. But the reality is that it makes the dGPU draws the full 18W, enough to be hot and noisy even just by watching a video.
The most frustrating part is how apparently using two 3008x1692 on closed lid uses only 7W while pushing ~300% more pixels than with two 1080p.
I know there are a lot of variables for tweaking the display timings (looking at SwitchResX config) but I still think AMD developers should have been able to use the "low-clock-mode" of the dGPU in more combinations of monitors.
When I see it can support up to two 6K displays, I think it should have no problem only running two 1080p monitors on closed lid. But the reality is that it makes the dGPU draws the full 18W, enough to be hot and noisy even just by watching a video.
The most frustrating part is how apparently using two 3008x1692 on closed lid uses only 7W while pushing ~300% more pixels than with two 1080p.
I know there are a lot of variables for tweaking the display timings (looking at SwitchResX config) but I still think AMD developers should have been able to use the "low-clock-mode" of the dGPU in more combinations of monitors.
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No it doesn't. The 13" has no dedicated GPU and its integrated GPU is a good amount faster than the 16"'s integrated one.
As the 13-inch does not have a discrete GPU, I think that is probably a better match for you if the 5600M is overkill.
Sure, they advertise that. It may very well have the power, but you are talking about sustained load. Apple cannot change the laws of physics. Pushing that many pixels taxes the GPU which will then heat up, and the case is small and can’t put off that kind of heat for many hours in a row.
I'm saying it does exactly the opposite. Pushing more pixels result in less GPU power consumption in many cases.
3008x1692 x 2 = 7W (more pixels, less consumption)
1920x1080 x 2 = 18W (less pixels, more consumption)
too simplistic. Are the two HD displays same refresh, connection-type, and colorspace, and bandwidth?
And are these in clamshell?
And are these in clamshell?
This is a "normal" behavior on AMD GPUs. They have to ramp up the VRAM clock because that's necessary to keep everything smooth (don't ask me why). The issue here is, that GDDR6 (5300M/5500M) is a power hog. HBM2 (like on the 5600M) on the other hand is very power efficient. The 5600M does the same thing, but the consequences are not the same.
Apparently there are drivers for Windows that fix this behavior. But Apple isn't interested in updating them yet. The drivers in Big Sur are the same as the ones in Catalina.
And don't tell me "it's a beta". We all know that there won't be many changes till release.
Apparently there are drivers for Windows that fix this behavior. But Apple isn't interested in updating them yet. The drivers in Big Sur are the same as the ones in Catalina.
And don't tell me "it's a beta". We all know that there won't be many changes till release.
I tried 2 x 1080p@60hz and 2 x 1440p@60hz. Yes, same monitors Dell U2717D, same settings, same connection (DP, MBP, HDMI, tried them all) in clamshell, always 18-19W.
This guy tried 2 x 3008x1692 with the 7W result:
AlDente change the value of a SMC (System Management Controller) key called "BCLM" (Presumably "Battery Charge Level Max"). Li Battery last longest when work between 30-80% charging range: https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_charge_when_to_charge_table