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

[ght56]

I will say, after my months of complaining on this 182-page thread, and on the cusp of receiving a new M1 MBP next week, the 16" in many ways redeemed the flaws of the 15" MBP redesign in 2016. It has everything you mentioned, and for me the most important: the keyboard was finally "fixed" to become a Magic Keyboard (+ physical ESC key).

All that said, there's still a lot of problems with it besides this heat/noise issue with external displays, including ridiculous amounts of coil whine (literally sounds like it has a hard drive from 2005 in it), very odd speaker popping when switching apps under high load, and a battery that degrades in health/lifespan rapidly.

I think you either got a lemon or Apple revised the design after the initial release (if you have a launch/early version.)

 

[bomby0]

I'm echoing everyone else with the new M1 chip Macbook Airs/Pros.

The 16" MBP is STRAIGHT OVERHEATING JUNK!

My new cheap Macbook Air M1 runs really cool with the exact same external monitor plugged in than my garbage 16" MBP that overheats if you look at it.

 

[GumaRodak]

My mbp 16 is running at 35C while browsing, listening music etc. When i do work in Capture one on photos sessions + affinity it goes to the 56C range. No big deal...

 

[Minga089]

I'm echoing everyone else with the new M1 chip Macbook Airs/Pros.

The 16" MBP is STRAIGHT OVERHEATING JUNK!

My new cheap Macbook Air M1 runs really cool with the exact same external monitor plugged in than my garbage 16" MBP that overheats if you look at it.

Since you got a M1 machine now and got rid of your "garbage 16" you can finally stop whining.?

 

[interbear]

I bought the 5500M a year ago when the 16" came out, and use it when in desktop mode with a 4K monitor plus lid open. I need the camera and mic, and like using the fingerprint reader for passwords. I considered selling it and getting a 5600M model but thought I'd wait and see what Apple Silicon would bring. Now that I have, my exit strategy has changed to waiting for the M2 and trading up then. I can live with the 5500M for another year, particularly as it is just fine in "laptop mode" with great battery life, a quantum leap in GPU performance compared to my previous MBP, and a screen that rivals the late, great 17" in real estate. I'm hoping both eGPU and Windows virtualization support will arrive with the M2.

I wanted to run my MBP16 in open lid mode connected to a monitor as I liked the on board keyboard, speakers and mics for Teams/Zoom calls. I also like the Touch ID. But I found the fans ramping up and the associated noise made it virtually unusable for this. I also thought about switching to the 5600 but after reading many threads and complaints on the topic, decided to switch to clamshell mode with external keyboard, mouse (both Logi), speakers (Bose) and mic (Shure). Additional cost but it works really well and, as you say, when I want to use it in laptop mode the MBP16 is excellent. Also I did escalate it to Apple support but got the standard “expected behaviour” response. Which still irks me. However, when M2 comes along I may well switch then and pass this one on to a family member who’ll only use it in laptop mode.

 

[klemn18]

Anyone know if EU consumer protection can help when claiming that this is a flaw indeed and should be cover in standard warranty if your MBP was purchase whit-in a year?

 

[richinaus]

Anyone know if EU consumer protection can help when claiming that this is a flaw indeed and should be cover in standard warranty if your MBP was purchase whit-in a year?

Don't know about the EU, but I just used consumer rules in Australia to get a refund on a HP Crap Zbook Studio G7
My argument was it doesn't perform as a laptop as the keyboard and palm rests got too hot. Also they advertise it as running 'cool', which is false. I also had told the business rep what it was going to be used for, and although fast it didn't function as advertised. This isn't exaggerated btw it really is true, I couldn't use it as a standalone laptop, it was unbearable.
Really there is a way around anything if you want to argue hard enough.

However, I will say, and have already mentioned here previously, that the HP Zbook studio G7 is a lot worse than the 16" for heat. I think the 16" is 'acceptable', where as the HP really isnt.

 

[klemn18]

Don't know about the EU, but I just used consumer rules in Australia to get a refund on a HP Crap Zbook Studio G7
My argument was it doesn't perform as a laptop as the keyboard and palm rests got too hot. Also they advertise it as running 'cool', which is false. I also had told the business rep what it was going to be used for, and although fast it didn't function as advertised. This isn't exaggerated btw it really is true, I couldn't use it as a standalone laptop, it was unbearable.
Really there is a way around anything if you want to argue hard enough.

However, I will say, and have already mentioned here previously, that the HP Zbook studio G7 is a lot worse than the 16" for heat. I think the 16" is 'acceptable', where as the HP really isnt.

Thanks for the info. I need to try this, because I have even worst performance than it is for most of the users here in this thread. If I plug an external display I get CPU throttling down to 1GHz and at that point everything gets laggy. I can even move form one window to the other

 

[soiramk]

Thanks for the info. I need to try this, because I have even worst performance than it is for most of the users here in this thread. If I plug an external display I get CPU throttling down to 1GHz and at that point everything gets laggy. I can even move form one window to the other

Keep us posted! EU user here too.

 

[richinaus]

Thanks for the info. I need to try this, because I have even worst performance than it is for most of the users here in this thread. If I plug an external display I get CPU throttling down to 1GHz and at that point everything gets laggy. I can even move form one window to the other

You may have to give Apple the opportunity to fix it first, as it sounds like you have a defective laptop there.

 

[klemn18]

You may have to give Apple the opportunity to fix it first, as it sounds like you have a defective laptop there.

Ok, Im now in communication with to our authorized reseller in Slovenia. We dont have any Apple store here
I will let you know how I resolved my case.

 

[dukee101]

I'm echoing everyone else with the new M1 chip Macbook Airs/Pros.

The 16" MBP is STRAIGHT OVERHEATING JUNK!

My new cheap Macbook Air M1 runs really cool with the exact same external monitor plugged in than my garbage 16" MBP that overheats if you look at it.

Just got my M1 MBP a couple days ago and finally set it up and you are 100% correct!! My experience so far has been amazing. It's made it so clear the 16" is absolute junk. I've spent the last day filling this M1 MBP's SSD with 1TB worth of data, had macOS index it all and run its ML on the photos and all that, and the fan literally never even turned on. The machine never got hotter than 100℉. The battery didn't even go lower than 60% after all of this! What?!?

I've now got it hooked up to my LG 5K and it won't get hotter than 90℉, while my 16" MBP would be at least 160℉, without doing anything. I do already miss the larger, better screen of my 16" and the better speakers and mic, but there's no question that getting this M1 Mac was the right move for me. Good riddance!

 

[timelessbeing]

Goodbye!

 

[mcnuggetswithcheese]

Hello everyone, I don't know how many people are still interested, but I just wanted to share my recent findings using SwitchResX.

My setup:

• MBP 16" 5300m
• 4K monitor (LG 27UD68-P) via USB-C -> DP
• 4K monitor (DELL U2720QM) via USB-C -> USB-C

Even in clamshell mode, this setup will cause ~20W in Radeon High Side because the 2 monitors are different.
I found 2 ways to get around this. First, you will need to use SwitchResX to match the Pixel Clock, Front Porch, etc of the two monitors. Then,

• Rotate one or both of the monitors 180 degrees - this will reduce Radeon High Side to be ~7W at idle

OR

• Turn on HDR on the DELL - this will also reduce Radeon High Side to ~7W.

Lastly, if you match the external display to the internal display using SwitchResX, then low wattage with lid open is possible, *BUT* the image on the external display would be a 16:10 image squashed into a 16:9 frame and is not aesthetically pleasing.
Lemme know if you have any questions

 

[timelessbeing]

do you also have to stand on your head, wear a red socks, and say a chant too?

 

[richinaus]

do you also have to stand on your head, wear a red socks, and say a chant too?

hello !

there are 3 real solutions.

1. get an M1
2. get an egpu
3. get a 16" with the 5600m

 

[GumaRodak]

hello !

there are 3 real solutions.

1. get an M1
2. get an egpu
3. get a 16" with the 5600m

4. close lid
5. buy compatible monitor

 

[timelessbeing]

?‍♂️ humor is lost on you ppl

 

[richinaus]

?‍♂️ humor is lost on you ppl

not really. more like this is the never ending thread.......

I actually thought it was funnier you saying goodbye then 3 days later posting. you seemed to have missed that humour.

 

[timelessbeing]

I was saying goodbye to dukee101

 

[TipToe]

do you also have to stand on your head, wear a red socks, and say a chant too?

I did try this the other day and to be honest with red socks the temperature stayed around the same. However, I did find that wearing blue socks produced a 10% reduction in heat. Worth sharing all of our experiences as we are page 183 into this.

 

[whacp]

was new to this thread and completely lost in this long conversation. So is there a way to reduce radeon high side to 5w or not?

mine is running big sur 11.1, connected to a dell 1080p at 60Hz. In catalina was bearable but now whenever youtube is playing, fans stay over 3000rpm.

 

[TipToe]

@whacp, I don’t think so to be honest with you. I have noticed that since my computer was upgraded to 11.1 is does seem to run warmer than Catalina. Plugging into a dell monitor 27 inch, 1440p monitor certainly ramps the heat up quickly and that’s doing nothing with the computer just sitting.

Strange thing is under Catalina and the bootcamp drivers then my windows 10 Pro would run super cool even when plugged into the monitor! However for whatever reason it seems to be running hotter now since bootcamp drivers Updated and 11.1

To conclude, I think we are stuffed like a turkey at Christmas with the 16inch when using a monitor.

I would love a solution but now don’t plug it in to the monitor and work from the laptop screen only! Madness to be honest.

 

[timelessbeing]

Why is there such a wide variety of results? I think the computers are mostly the same, so the variable is the monitor and connection method.


It may not be an ideal solution for everyone, but there IS the option of trying a different monitor.


I'm using a 1440p Dell 27" monitor over DP on a 5300 GPU with no crazy heat or fans.

 

[dukee101]

It may not be an ideal solution for everyone, but there IS the option of trying a different monitor.

When I had the 16" 5300M, I tried it with well over 15 different monitors -- high heat and fan noise every single time. I'd be over at a friend's house trying my 16" out on their monitors, and when they plugged in their 2018 15" MBP to the same monitors, there was no where near the same heat and noise. These machines are borked, plain and simple.