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

[Daverru]

the battery seems particularly flawed on my unit (41 cycles and already down 10%? Come on...)

The battery is actually fine, I guess. There is an option in battery settings in Catalina, which limits charging level to prevent battery degradation. If you switch it off, you will see the actual capacity (after the next recharge), which should be higher.

 

[drgs4123]

I have a 16" with 5500M and with my Dell U3818DW the wattage is fine in clamshell mode, but I really need the extra space. With open lid, regular temps are between 65 and 75C. Fans don't seem to kick in too much.

Will using the laptop like this for ±10 hours a day cause any long term issues?

I plan to trade it in and get an Apple Sillicon version as soon as all the software I use is updated and the 16" version comes out, which all in all might take at least 1 year.

 

[dingobiatch]

I’m trying to figure out if an eGPU would relief my 5500m problems as well.. @panzer06 what card are you using w your eGPU? What was your Radeon high side watts when using an external monitor? I ask because i managed to get mine to sit between 7-10w, but when I’m using Logic Pro and my CPU usage is high, my fans are still loud as hell. Just wondering if you had the same situation.

 

[petterihiisila]

I’m trying to figure out if an eGPU would relief my 5500m problems as well.. @panzer06 what card are you using w your eGPU? What was your Radeon high side watts when using an external monitor? I ask because i managed to get mine to sit between 7-10w, but when I’m using Logic Pro and my CPU usage is high, my fans are still loud as hell. Just wondering if you had the same situation.

If your wattage is 7-10 W and normal work still causes fan noise, it's possible that an eGPU would not alleviate that. It's already a relatively low figure, doesn't take too much off the temp management headroom.

I managed to get the wattage between 5-6 W with an eGPU, though there was an LG 5k still direct-connected via TB3. The eGPU was driving two more monitors and didn't add to the wattage. I rarely had annoying fan noise after that during light use, but the fans did spin up when stressed. Clamshell mode. Razer Core X Chroma + Radeon RX 580. Works out the box, except Ethernet, which maxed out at 100 Mbps. At 1 Gbps it was unreliable. The non-chroma model is cheaper and doesn't have Ethernet, would have bought that if making decisions now.

Not sure what would have happened if I disconnected the 5k, because I've already moved on to a ... Macbook Air. With that the office is pin-drop silent. LG 5k still direct-connect, daisy-chained to a DisplayLink dock which drives the 2 other monitors. Performance is on par with the 16" under stress and considerably faster with app launches and quick multitasking, because the Air is about 60...70% faster at single-core burst tasks. Somehow the DisplayLink process takes only 0.5 ... 2% CPU and so doesn't affect the performance headroom. No slower than the eGPU for office work or video playback.

If you can manage the smaller display size when undocked, a 13" M1 Macbook Pro might be a good option for studio work. If you feel lucky, Air too. Air is guaranteed to be silent, but it does multicore-throttle about 10...20% after 5 minutes at 100% CPU+GPU load. It may still be fast enough to run the same projects, can't say for sure. The 13" surely is, and people say the fan is mostly inaudible, very rarely loud. The Air does not throttle under single-core loads, the wattage isn't high enough to saturate the passive cooling. When docked, it's cold to touch most of the time.

Those two laptops are essentially the same if configured the same. The main difference is passive vs. active cooling.

 

[petterihiisila]

Edit: Accidentally replied when meant to edit. Not sure how to delete this post.

 

[panzer06]

I’m trying to figure out if an eGPU would relief my 5500m problems as well.. @panzer06 what card are you using w your eGPU? What was your Radeon high side watts when using an external monitor? I ask because i managed to get mine to sit between 7-10w, but when I’m using Logic Pro and my CPU usage is high, my fans are still loud as hell. Just wondering if you had the same situation.

Even b4 the eGPU my 5500m showed 4.25w on the high side connected directly to my Dell U2720Q using USB C. I never tried it using HDMI or Displayport adapters.

The eGPU (RX 5600 XT) really helped on games and Final Cut Pro X, though the later still can cause the fans to spin up when I'm exporting video.

Running 6 QT videos on the monitor connected to the eGPU doesn't impact the wattage at all. Moving one video to the laptop display changes the high side to 8.5-9.25w but no fan noise.

 

[WilliamG]

The battery is actually fine, I guess. There is an option in battery settings in Catalina, which limits charging level to prevent battery degradation. If you switch it off, you will see the actual capacity (after the next recharge), which should be higher.

That may be true - but why is Apple limiting it then? Separate thread, maybe...

Anyway, so tempted to dump this laptop for an M1 laptop. I do most of my work in web browsers, so I feel like I would have a fine time with a 5K monitor and a 1440p monitor connected, without the noise...

 

[timelessbeing]

With open lid, regular temps are between 65 and 75C. Fans don't seem to kick in too much.

Will using the laptop like this for ±10 hours a day cause any long term issues?

No.

 

[c0ppo]

Anyway, so tempted to dump this laptop for an M1 laptop. I do most of my work in web browsers, so I feel like I would have a fine time with a 5K monitor and a 1440p monitor connected, without the noise...

But MBP supports only one external monitor.

 

[petterihiisila]

But MBP supports only one external monitor.

True for M1 Air/MBP with a direct connection. However, many more displays can be added via a DisplayLink dock, which acts as a virtual GPU after installing DisplayLink Manager. I've got 1+2 connected to an M1 Air and it works very well, no lag compared to the previous 16" + eGPU setup. And no extra CPU load either. Obviously no heat/noise.

However, this avenue may have issues with weird-shaped monitors, HiDPI modes or high refresh rates. Two 24" 2560x1440 monitors, scaled resolution 2048 x 1152 @ 60Hz, HDMI works OK here and looks sharp. As sharp as a WQHD monitor can. It's a Lenovo dock.

 

[WilliamG]

True for M1 Air/MBP with a direct connection. However, many more displays can be added via a DisplayLink dock, which acts as a virtual GPU after installing DisplayLink Manager. I've got 1+2 connected to an M1 Air and it works very well, no lag compared to the previous 16" + eGPU setup. And no extra CPU load either. Obviously no heat/noise.

However, this avenue may have issues with weird-shaped monitors, HiDPI modes or high refresh rates. Two 24" 2560x1440 monitors, scaled resolution 2048 x 1152 @ 60Hz, HDMI works OK here and looks sharp. As sharp as a WQHD monitor can. It's a Lenovo dock.

I assume my Caldigit TS3 with DisplayPort would work. I have an LG 5K and DP 1440p monitor.

 

[petterihiisila]

I assume my Caldigit TS3 with DisplayPort would work. I have an LG 5K and DP 1440p monitor.

It does work for the one and only external monitor that's rendered by the M1 GPU. But the second or more externals will show up as blank via all docks that aren't of the DisplayLink kind. Been there, tried that, with a Caldigit Mini Dock.

The 16" can handle multiple monitors like you describe, as long as the noise/heat impact is accepted.

 

[dukee101]

Update: I just bought the LG UltraFine 5K display, and so now my setup is:

16" MBP 5500M w/ display open (scaled to 1440p at 60Hz)
+ LG 27MD5KL-B (UltraFine 5K scaled to 1440p at 60Hz)
+ LG 27UN850-WK (27" HDR 4K scaled to 1440p at 60Hz, rotated 270°)

And astonishingly, my system is now cooler and quieter than when it was just plugged into the LG 4K on its own.... Makes no sense whatsoever. In fact, it's now pushing a combined 30 million pixels (!!) and is still cooler than when it was plugged in to my other setup, which was a single Dell 25" 1440p display.

My Radeon High Side GPU power draw is stable at ~20W, which is just 2W north of the usual ~18W that it hovers around when connected to a single, lower-res display. Temps steady at ~65℃ with fans at ~2200RPM.

So, something is definitely amiss here. But I'm pretty happy with my setup now that I have all this screen real estate and the machine is running cooler and quieter

 

[kzqbfxob]

Update: I just bought the LG UltraFine 5K display, and so now my setup is:

16" MBP 5500M w/ display open (scaled to 1440p at 60Hz)
+ LG 27MD5KL-B (UltraFine 5K scaled to 1440p at 60Hz)
+ LG 27UN850-WK (27" HDR 4K scaled to 1440p at 60Hz, rotated 270°)

And astonishingly, my system is now cooler and quieter than when it was just plugged into the LG 4K on its own.... Makes no sense whatsoever. In fact, it's now pushing a combined 30 million pixels (!!) and is still cooler than when it was plugged in to my other setup, which was a single Dell 25" 1440p display.

My Radeon High Side GPU power draw is stable at ~20W, which is just 2W north of the usual ~18W that it hovers around when connected to a single, lower-res display. Temps steady at ~65℃ with fans at ~2200RPM.

So, something is definitely amiss here. But I'm pretty happy with my setup now that I have all this screen real estate and the machine is running cooler and quieter

do you have a low ambient temperature?

 

[dukee101]

do you have a low ambient temperature?

Good call-out. I actually have a Govee temperature sensor in my home office, placed on my desk where the MBP is, and it's reading a steady 23℃ / 74℉, so basically your average room temperature conditions. Also, the MBP is propped up on this laptop stand (noting this for airflow considerations). I'm still blown away by how this roided out multi-monitor setup is actually cooler and quieter than a single external monitor setup. If this doesn't make the case that something is seriously wrong here, then I don't know what does...

Additional notes (for science!): both displays are plugged into the left-side TB ports. The LG 5K is with a TB3 cable that also provides 94W power delivery (per System Information .app), and the LG 4K is with a DisplayPort-->USB-C cable made by Cable Matters. My workload is basically lots of Chrome tabs, some Apple first-party apps + "friendlies" like Things, Bear, etc. The numbers I'm providing are under base load conditions, not stress conditions.

 

[apr]

But I'm pretty happy with my setup now that I have all this screen real estate and the machine is running cooler and quieter

If you still see 20w, maybe you just get happy hours. I'm typing this with open lid + LG5K native, and the machine works wonderful (2000RPM(!), 60-70C), I even have running parallels VM. But next day this exact same config could go crazy: stays hours over 3000RPM.

 

[mixedbydre]

Been following this thread for about 2 months now and have tried just about everything without any luck. Unfortunately I couldn't wait for a possible fix, so I purchased an eGPU today by Sonnet Technologies (eGFX Breakaway Puck 560)

The eGPU solved all my issues. I'm currently running an LG Ultrafine 4K 32" monitor alongside my MacBook Pro, with it's display open. I never hear the fan in my MacBook turn on and the eGPU is quiet as a mouse. My MacBook remains super cool even when running large projects within Logic Pro X.

I believe this was the best solution for me, because I couldn't upgrade to Big Sur nor the M1 due to the fact that I have an external sound card (universal Audio X8) that isn't compatible with either yet. I also run a lot of third party audio software that isn't compatible with Big Sur either.

Hopefully this helps others out.

 

[Queen6]

The Intel 16" is history. Those turning coin in the Apple's ecosystem will be dropping the Intel Mac's fast. Apple has been very much out of favour with me for numerus reasons. The new M1 is all it promises to be and far more; the quality, the reliability, the performance. The M1 just goes and goes, will take some time for Devs to make the move, but WOW make no bones about it Apple's own Silicon is the real deal.

Officially impressed...

Q-6

 

[klemn18]

Is it possible to that this is covered by warranty? I have MBP 16" 5500M 32GB with thermal throttling issues. After a few minute so coding in xcode the CPU speed lower to 1GHz. And fans working at full speed. The temperatures on CPU are initially close to 100C, but after a few minutes it stabilize at ~70C and CPU at 1GHz.

Anyone have experience with taking this to apple for repair. Will it be covered by the warranty?

 

[panzer06]

Tried a new 2K display and this one causes 18W when connected via USB C and display port. Fans at 2200 which I don't notice.

When I go back to eGPU it works at 5W

 

[petterihiisila]

Is it possible to that this is covered by warranty? I have MBP 16" 5500M 32GB with thermal throttling issues. After a few minute so coding in xcode the CPU speed lower to 1GHz. And fans working at full speed. The temperatures on CPU are initially close to 100C, but after a few minutes it stabilize at ~70C and CPU at 1GHz.

Anyone have experience with taking this to apple for repair. Will it be covered by the warranty?

That sounds unusual. The symptoms are consistent with overheating, but the described workload should not exceed what the fans can do. Not even close. Hot and noisy yes, but throttled, no. Not under normal ambient temps.

They're going to ask you to reset SMC, NVRAM, run diagnostics (probably will be OK), reinstall macOS, reinstall minimum necessary apps and try to use it again. If it still fails, you're in a position to negotiate a repair.

You could just as well try to troubleshoot it yourself with the above steps. Dual-boot to another macOS installation and try to work with freshly installed software, only what you need for work. And let it do its initial indexing. Check the Activity Monitor (View > All Processes) to be sure there are no rogue workloads. The goal is to make sure there's nothing that could generate unexpected stress, migrated from the history.

If all that checks out and it still throttles under Xcode, then I think you've got a pretty strong case for repair/swap under warranty. A related problem is that it's a bit hard to resell the laptop in that condition for good value, while staying honest. And if I were a developer I'd postpone the M1 as an option for now. Things like Homebrew and Python/pip3 are still on a shaky ground. Only native iOS/Mac development would be a safe bet with the M1. This will improve over the next few months.

 

[timelessbeing]

Is it possible to that this is covered by warranty? I have MBP 16" 5500M 32GB with thermal throttling issues. After a few minute so coding in xcode the CPU speed lower to 1GHz. And fans working at full speed. The temperatures on CPU are initially close to 100C, but after a few minutes it stabilize at ~70C and CPU at 1GHz.

Anyone have experience with taking this to apple for repair. Will it be covered by the warranty?

It’s worth bringing in. You might discover that it’s just packed with dust and lint inside.

 

[ght56]

Is it possible to that this is covered by warranty? I have MBP 16" 5500M 32GB with thermal throttling issues. After a few minute so coding in xcode the CPU speed lower to 1GHz. And fans working at full speed. The temperatures on CPU are initially close to 100C, but after a few minutes it stabilize at ~70C and CPU at 1GHz.

Anyone have experience with taking this to apple for repair. Will it be covered by the warranty?

Mine had pretty significant throttling under simultaneous CPU and GPU load, but nowhere near that level. If the normal troubleshooting does not work, I would take it in.

 

[Queen6]

Is it possible to that this is covered by warranty? I have MBP 16" 5500M 32GB with thermal throttling issues. After a few minute so coding in xcode the CPU speed lower to 1GHz. And fans working at full speed. The temperatures on CPU are initially close to 100C, but after a few minutes it stabilize at ~70C and CPU at 1GHz.

Anyone have experience with taking this to apple for repair. Will it be covered by the warranty?

Is what it is a 200W CPU in a notebook that can barely cool 70W. If mission critical opting for an M1 Mac or Mac Pro will pay dividends, rest is down to you...

Q-6

 

[kzqbfxob]

That sounds unusual. The symptoms are consistent with overheating, but the described workload should not exceed what the fans can do. Not even close. Hot and noisy yes, but throttled, no. Not under normal ambient temps.

They're going to ask you to reset SMC, NVRAM, run diagnostics (probably will be OK), reinstall macOS, reinstall minimum necessary apps and try to use it again. If it still fails, you're in a position to negotiate a repair.

I've done these things with apple support. I demonstrated throttling under light loads and approved working range ambient temperatures.

Apple engineers just deny there is a problem. "Throttling is normal to keep the system safe, there's nothing more we can do". Refused exchange or return.