Exactly what I thought. When using one large monitor (Ultrawide) most people use their machines in clamshell mode anyway and the 16" works flawlessly in clamshell mode.??♂️
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(2019) 16" is HOT & NOISY with an external monitor! :(
- Thread starter Appledoesnotlisten
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Works like a monster with an eGPU as well. No problems with macOS and very good performance.
Around 18W. Computer is warm to the touch not hot and fans are barely audible. 60C is not worth worrying about, subjectively.
Not true. My machine was just as hot and noisy in Clamshell mode as it was with lid open. I had the same dGPU power draw whether the lid was open or closed. Never understood all the people here who said Clamshell solved their problem. Was never the case with me, on *both* my 16" MBPs, one with 5300M and the other with 5500M.
Apple Pro XDR connected to 16" MBP 5600M sits in high 50's but I have a bit of background apps open, fans under 2k. Lid open on MBP.
I am struggling with this issue as well. Got 5300m base model ~6 months ago. Connected to a very old NEC monitor (2690WUXi2) from office. It doesn't even have HDMI port. So I have to convert it twice from USB-C -> ANKER dongle -> HDMI -> HDMI to DVI converter.
The annoying behavior here is even in clamshell mode, the power draw is high. Both are 17w+
Though I tried to connect it with my living room 5 years old Samsung 4k TV w/ lid close, the power draw does goes down to ~5w. So I guess it's either the old NEC monitor or the 2 conversions caused that.
I'm somehow ok with the fan noise, the heat is some thing I worried about. Which I haven't seen anyone mentioned. I've been a MacBook user for ~15 years. ALL of my MacBooks had swollen batteries. Some sooner and some later. I don't know the exact reason but I would say it's the heat. So I worried it working most of the time on high temp will cause my battery to be unstable sooner...
Another annoying part is I love the track pad and touch ID. I paid this money for track pad and touch ID. Now I have to close the lid and either pay a lot money for Apple trackpad or use mouse (which makes my wrist uncomfortable)?
Anyhow, just want to share my story with the old monitor (and rather newer TV), worries about the battery and see if anyone has any suggestion on how you get away with no TouchID. I'm using Dashlane for password management. Having touch ID is quite convenient. Having 2 monitors to handle work and MS Teams screen sharing is helpful too. And this mbp16 can't deliver...
The annoying behavior here is even in clamshell mode, the power draw is high. Both are 17w+
Though I tried to connect it with my living room 5 years old Samsung 4k TV w/ lid close, the power draw does goes down to ~5w. So I guess it's either the old NEC monitor or the 2 conversions caused that.
I'm somehow ok with the fan noise, the heat is some thing I worried about. Which I haven't seen anyone mentioned. I've been a MacBook user for ~15 years. ALL of my MacBooks had swollen batteries. Some sooner and some later. I don't know the exact reason but I would say it's the heat. So I worried it working most of the time on high temp will cause my battery to be unstable sooner...
Another annoying part is I love the track pad and touch ID. I paid this money for track pad and touch ID. Now I have to close the lid and either pay a lot money for Apple trackpad or use mouse (which makes my wrist uncomfortable)?
Anyhow, just want to share my story with the old monitor (and rather newer TV), worries about the battery and see if anyone has any suggestion on how you get away with no TouchID. I'm using Dashlane for password management. Having touch ID is quite convenient. Having 2 monitors to handle work and MS Teams screen sharing is helpful too. And this mbp16 can't deliver...
That's the Macbook Pro history in a nutshell.
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Your warm in winter will be HOT in May-September ))
Agreed my eGPU powering the 4K external works great and has a 2TB SSD inside plus ethernet, 5 USB and SD card reader as well as pass through 96W power. Perfect hub for me.
so it might go up a bit. Still normal temp for powerful electronics packed into a thin case. My first MBP used to get hot enough to make tea (>100C)
Mine mid level i9 5500m 16" worked fine with the laptop open on a USB C connected monitor. I was getting a eGPU as my docking station so I never tried it on a HDMI or DisplayPort monitor. Of course the eGPU works great and all my FinalCut work happens on that card.
For many they will never notice because either they can't hear any fan activity or they use it in the bed or the couch with no external monitor.
I bought the base model for my GF and she already had an iMac. It's never been connected to a monitor. She loves it. Most users will never experience the issue.
eGPU is going to help a lot on this issue based on what I read. but at the same time, I would say many of the users wouldn't want to invest extra for an eGPU when you already bought a powerful 16" machine with reasonable GPU. Though I appreciate everyone will have different use cases.
When a 4K monitor can be driven with Integrated GPU with ease (doing day to day office work) but a dedicated GPU needs to run with cooling, I would say it's a bad design. It could be the VRAM, the FW, or something else, but a bad design in my book. If they can allow us to select the GPU to use (e.g. many of us just want to use the integrated GPU to do light work most of the time), that's a win too, but it doesn't look like it's happening.
Being a 15+ years Mac user, I still love their products and brand. I doubt I can ever go back to Windows or other OS. yet, a bad design is a bad design. Btw, I'm also happy with the machine when there is no external monitor in the play. But given the WFH thing means you sit in front of the desk all the time, most of the time I'm connecting to my external monitor. This is annoying that I sometimes need to remember to disconnect the monitor not because I'm moving around in the office but because I want it to run cooler. Again, I understand you and your gf can find the right use case for the machine. I'm happy with mine for the most parts, but this external monitor thing is just stupid to me.
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I second this.
Try it in bootcamp with an Nvidia RTX and it flies !
Also we mac users are big complainers
I got the HP Zbook Studio G7 and it is vastly worse than the MBP 16". We all dont love the heat, but I can tell you with absolute certainty that Apple have done a much better job than HP.
So my top tip of the day is - DO NOT BUY A HP WORKSTATION LAPTOP. YOU WILL REGRET IT MASSIVELY.
Mine is up for grabs if anyone wants it? 4 days old and in mint condition
Can also be used to heat up a banquet hall.
I got the HP Zbook Studio G7 and it is vastly worse than the MBP 16". We all dont love the heat, but I can tell you with absolute certainty that Apple have done a much better job than HP.
So my top tip of the day is - DO NOT BUY A HP WORKSTATION LAPTOP. YOU WILL REGRET IT MASSIVELY.
Mine is up for grabs if anyone wants it? 4 days old and in mint condition
Can also be used to heat up a banquet hall.
100% this all day. This is what this entire thread distills down to. It feels like such an F-U by Apple to blatantly disregard the fact that other Macs -- older and weaker Macs -- can drive 4K displays with an integrated GPU.
I don't like knowing that I've paid top dollar for a high-end machine, but that machine, for as nice as it is in other dimensions, is inherently flawed in a major way. As @leonchu1225 said, for many of us chained to our desks at home, we're always plugged into our monitor, always hearing the fans and living with the fact that our MBPs are being cooked to death, reducing their lifespans, for no reason other than either (1) an unfixable hardware design flaw that forces dGPU to always be on when plugged in to an external; or (2) Apple and/or AMD's unwillingness to revisit their dGPU drivers.
I know Apple is capable of producing the best laptops on the planet, but these 16" MBPs weren't it, despite all the marketing around the new thermal system.
Wasn't directed at me but here is mine:
Razer Core X Chroma using an RX580. Plan is to get the 6900 XT when supported. Performance is great and runs faster than my 5500m. Bootcamp works with using 1903 V1 only. Everything works and works very well. In this circumstance I can push the laptop to fullest CPU-wise and still have headroom. The dGPU appears to power the laptop screen vs Intel but stays at 3w.
Every laptop with these similar specs has this problem. It's Intel and AMD, hence why Applie is splitting from them. This is a great laptop, better than most, limitations from vendor are what they are.
Will jump to Apple Silicon next year for me. Done with Intel.
Mantiz Saturn V2
Mantiz MZ-03 Saturn Pro II EGPU -Thunderbolt 3 MacOS/Windows/Intel Thunderbolt Certified External GPU with SATA3 2.5 SSD/HDD,SD,USB 3.0 Gigabit LAN Dual TB3 chip Manage GFX & Extra IO (Black)
Mantiz MZ-03 Saturn Pro II EGPU -Thunderbolt 3 MacOS/Windows/Intel Thunderbolt Certified External GPU with SATA3 2.5 SSD/HDD,SD,USB 3.0 Gigabit LAN Dual TB3 chip Manage GFX & Extra IO (Black)
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It was out of stock for awhile but works great. It was so quiet I thought it was DOA. The fans occasionally kick in but to me it's pretty quiet. Mine is on my hardwood floor. I've used it with MacOS and with bootcamp and it works great either way. I currently have an MSI RX 5600 XT desktop CPU installed. Waiting to see what the 6000 tiers brings b4 upgrading.
The SSD bay and all the USB connectors are a great add-on. Very reasonable at $289. A plain dock can cost that much.
It is 100% the AMD GPU. No doubt about it.
I was super disappointed with my previous 16”MBP. It drove me mad and I agree it was a bit of an Apple F-U.
I now think the 16“ MBP with the 5600m is a truly fantastic computer - was using it last night and it stayed silent where as my previous 5500m [with exact same CPU running same apps] would have sounded like a 747 was just about to take off.
I have Catalina. I dislike the UI in the new OS.
There are specific steps I have to take when powering off the eGPU enclosure while the MBP 16 is still on. I must close all apps running on the eGPU, which is most everything started after the system booted. Almost everything defaults to open on the external display (which is marked as my primary). One I close the apps I then unmount the volumes associated with the SSD mounted inside the eGPU enclosure. Finally I click on the small eGPU icon on the top of the screen and disconnect Radeon RX 5600 XT. Once all of that is done I can power down the eGPU. If I don't follow those steps and leave apps open that have accessed the eGPU it will most likely crash.
I never bothered doing that too much and just tended to disconnect the gpu only. It did cause issues though, so i guess your process is more thorough, but I am just lazy.
An egpu is also rock solid in bootcamp [with an RTX card].
I never had this issue even b4 I purchased the eGPU. No fans unless I was playing a game or doing something taxing in Windows under Parallels. It was always connected to an external Dell Monitor via USB C. 5500m and worked without issue. I know people are having this issue, however, I personally did not experience it.
I considered that one but it cost about as much without the 2 Thunderbolt 3 channels, SSD bay and all the USB A and SD slots.