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

[PeterJP]

Well, if you cant use the machine how it was designed, its buyer error or marketing scam? I do photo editing on built in screen, my machine is usualy 70c all the time, fans running like 3500. Its unde load so i expect heat and fans. I pump the music volume while fans on, i dont experience any thermall trotling…for those whi cant work with fans on and heat i propose to look for another hardware

The problem is that it's also ramping up fans while doing nothing #undhmentally heavy. Connect a second screen and do nothing special - bam, fans ramp up. Do a Teams call - bam, fans ramp up.

I expect a pro machine to ramp up the fans when necessary, when doing heavy stuff. But I also expect it to be silent in basic office situations.

 

[isohateapple]

In my humble opinion I'll say its hardware, not software related. So no fix is possible until they launch a iGPU -only model.

You are wrong. It's not hardware. It's software or possibly the GPU driver itself. The GPU wattage goes down to around 3 watts on clam shell mode while external monitor is on. How do you explain that? What bugs me is how this is not fixed yet after 1yr. You may be right at this being not fixed, but wrong to assume it is hardware.

 

[IceStormNG]

The biggest thing is: AMD fixed that in a driver update for Windows. So it works fine on Bootcamp. But doesn't on macOS.
And because of Apple's endless wisdom, we cannot update GPU drivers ourself and manufacturers are not even allowed to publish them (just ask Nvidia).

Apple already released the "solution". It's the 5600M it has HBM2 memory which doesn't heat that much. The root issue is still there, but because of the more efficient memory it doesn't cause the same problems.

The actual root issue is, that Apple doesn't know how to properly design cooling solutions. Or they gimp their machines intentionally... idk.

I know one thing for sure. My next machine likely won't be a mac, and if I will buy a Mac again, I will buy the cheapest option. No need to spend big bucks on badly designed throw-away hardware.

 

[Lerten]

The problem is that it's also ramping up fans while doing nothing #undhmentally heavy. Connect a second screen and do nothing special - bam, fans ramp up. Do a Teams call - bam, fans ramp up.

I expect a pro machine to ramp up the fans when necessary, when doing heavy stuff. But I also expect it to be silent in basic office situations.

Yup, its a problem with intel based Macs. Do a Zoom/Teams meeting and my 13-inch 2018 MacBook Pro is hot and heavy within 10 minutes. One of the reasons why I’ll consider updating to the redesigned 13-inch Air when it shows up.

 

[IceStormNG]

When I copy a file from an external SSD to a NAS (over ethernet), my mac heats up like this:

For just pushing a bit less than 1Gbps over the network and reading off an USB-C SSD.

Sorry. But the thermals of this machine are absolute trash. And the external display thing this thread is about is just one area where it clearly shows that.

The machine heats up way too much for "simple" tasks. Nobody complaints that the fans go loud when rendering in Final Cut or playing a game or run similarly demanding tasks. It's that the machine becomes hot and loud for very simple tasks.


Oh, and btw: the left Thunderbolt ports should be avoided if possible.

They have less thermal headroom than the right ports, and even copying 125MB/s from an SSD on that port heats them up enough to cause the fans to ramp up. There's nothing else connected to the left ports. Just one USB SSD.
On the right port is a TB3 dock connected, that runs a 4K display, network, an external HDD, Mouse+Keyboard, usb audio interface and delivers 100W of power.

When you also charge or run a display through those ports, it's no wonder your fans ramp up all the time and kernel_task eats your CPU.

 

[Ice_D]

Hello everyone from Russia!
Guys, I've been watching this problem for a long time. When buying my 16 mac I faced the same problem. On our local resources, no one was able to defeat the problem. Only on your forum there were at least some suggestions, for example, try SwitchRes and so on.
The configuration of my Mac is 32GB, 5500M, i9.
When an external monitor was connected, the coolers immediately took off.
At the moment I am temporarily using the Xiaomi Mi Curved Gaming Monitor 34
I connect the monitor to the laptop using this cable Thunderbolt 3 USB C DP1.4 type-c cable

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Mac stands on a stand, see attachments.
Frequency 100 Hz, screen resolution 3440 * 1440
In this setup, with the lid closed, the temperature is acceptable and the Radeon High Side is about 6 watts.
Maybe someone will find my solution useful.
In the future, I want to try switch to the dell-u3219q monitor, because it has Type C PD, and supports charging up to 90 watts, just for our 16 mac.
As a result, we have 1 cable for both charging and image transmission.

 

[IceStormNG]

The left thunderbolt port could be an issue. The left ports have much lower thermal headroom and ramp up the fans much faster. That's why you might want to avoid the leftside ports altogether. Especially for displays, fast SSDs and the charger.

The right port can run hotter and also don't trigger the fans.

 

[MNLondon]

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.

Can you guys share your thoughts on this?

Thanks a lot!

You might try the Airplay route?

Plug yourDisplay into Apple TV and sync to it that way?

Its just a thought.

 

[Y-knot]

The biggest thing is: AMD fixed that in a driver update for Windows. So it works fine on Bootcamp. But doesn't on macOS.
And because of Apple's endless wisdom, we cannot update GPU drivers ourself and manufacturers are not even allowed to publish them (just ask Nvidia).
...

Has anyone tried checking the problem under macOS Monterey dev/public beta? Apple could've updated AMD drivers.

 

[Music42]

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.

Can you guys share your thoughts on this?

Thanks a lot!

I have a 16" Mac Book pro with the same problem - however, I purchased an Apple tv and I airplay it to my tv... no cables - now my mac doesn't get hot, and no screaming fans. Simple solution.

 

[Yurk]

You are wrong. It's not hardware. It's software or possibly the GPU driver itself. The GPU wattage goes down to around 3 watts on clam shell mode while external monitor is on. How do you explain that? What bugs me is how this is not fixed yet after 1yr. You may be right at this being not fixed, but wrong to assume it is hardware.

No, you are wrong It's hardware or firmware, because the same exact behavior occurs in Windows under Bootcamp. So it cannot be the driver and it cannot be software.

 

[PeterJP]

I have a 16" Mac Book pro with the same problem - however, I purchased an Apple tv and I airplay it to my tv... no cables - now my mac doesn't get hot, and no screaming fans. Simple solution.

Buying extra equipment that I don't need or want just to make my very expensive purchase work, is not a 'simple' solution in my book.

No, you are wrong It's hardware or firmware, because the same exact behavior occurs in Windows under Bootcamp. So it cannot be the driver and it cannot be software.

Oh yes it can. If AMD releases bad drivers and bases both the macos and windows versions on the same, then the problem is the driver and it is seen in both osses. Because most software companies don't work from scratch for macos, this is likely what is happening.

 

[ateslik]

No, you are wrong It's hardware or firmware, because the same exact behavior occurs in Windows under Bootcamp. So it cannot be the driver and it cannot be software.

No, you are wrong. ?

You argued this EXACT same point a year ago:

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

It is simply not true. No change in behavior in Big Sur. Radeon High Side still has high power consumption with open lid and low power consumption with closed lid. This is a hardware/firmware defect, happens in both MacOS and Windows Bootcamp, it won'd be fixed by software.

forums.macrumors.com

Give it a rest. Other people are running perfectly fine on Windows under bootcamp - by using drivers that are NOT the default. THEY ARE UPDATING THE DRIVERS. And it works. And it's a driver issue. Period.

 

[arche3]

No, you are wrong It's hardware or firmware, because the same exact behavior occurs in Windows under Bootcamp. So it cannot be the driver and it cannot be software.

It's not the gpu lol. Software not optimized so drivers fix these issues. Happens all the time in Mac os. Even under windows.

 

[WilliamG]

Has anyone tried checking the problem under macOS Monterey dev/public beta? Apple could've updated AMD drivers.

Wondering the same thing.

 

[prospervic]

The left thunderbolt port could be an issue. The left ports have much lower thermal headroom and ramp up the fans much faster. That's why you might want to avoid the leftside ports altogether. Especially for displays, fast SSDs and the charger.

The right port can run hotter and also don't trigger the fans.

Wow! I did some research after reading your post, and you are so right!

Charging a MacBook on the wrong side can lead to noisy fans and lower performance

On the official support page, Apple states that you can charge your MacBook Pro using either one of the USB-C ports. However, it turns out that there...

www.techspot.com

Thank you! 16-inch MBP now runs cooler when connected to my LG UltraFine 5k monitor using the right-side Thunderbolt ports.

 

[WilliamG]

Wow! I did some research after reading your post, and you are so right!

Charging a MacBook on the wrong side can lead to noisy fans and lower performance

On the official support page, Apple states that you can charge your MacBook Pro using either one of the USB-C ports. However, it turns out that there...

www.techspot.com

Thank you! 16-inch MBP now runs cooler when connected to my LG UltraFine 5k monitor using the right-side Thunderbolt ports.

I didn’t notice any difference. I connect mine to the right side anyway. It runs pretty warm, and then opening the internal display at the same time as using the 5K display = fans overload.

 

[prospervic]

I didn’t notice any difference. I connect mine to the right side anyway. It runs pretty warm, and then opening the internal display at the same time as using the 5K display = fans overload.

I should mention that I also disabled Intel’s turbo boost on my MPB. That makes a difference.
Is your 5K the LG UltraFine? It being specifically designed to be used with Macs probably helps.

 

[WilliamG]

I should mention that I also disabled Intel’s turbo boost on my MPB. That makes a difference.
Is your 5K the LG UltraFine? It being specifically designed to be used with Macs probably helps.

Yes 5K LG Ultrafine.

 

[edibletorus]

Has anyone tried checking the problem under macOS Monterey dev/public beta? Apple could've updated AMD drivers.

Lurker here. I have MBP i9 2.4GHz / 64GB RAM / 5500M with a 23" Cinema HD display from 2006.

On Big Sur, just attaching the display with an HDMI/DVI adapter would yield a power baseline of 18-20W. I upgraded to macOS Monterey Beta 2 and have noticed the baseline power drop to 15W.

Generally for me, the power consumption responds to the graphics load, both apps and hardware. I don't have many more details of my experience on Big Sur, other than definitely encountering frustrating CPU throttling under light loads with an external monitor, to a point the machine was unusable.

 

[kasakka]

I've been having the same issues for a while now and just tried changing my 4K display from left to right side and lo' and behold, the computer now runs cooler and is less noisy.

This is just absolutely ridiculous.

 

[prospervic]

I've been having the same issues for a while now and just tried changing my 4K display from left to right side and lo' and behold, the computer now runs cooler and is less noisy.

This is just absolutely ridiculous.

Yeah, kinda is. But at least it solves the problem!

 

[ndf]

Based on the suggestions on this forum I 'solved' the external monitor heating issue by buying a Dell D6000 with DisplayLink software. Totally silent machine now ?.

I do perceive minor lag when DisplayLink is enabled so it is not a perfect solution. My use case is web development so I don't push or need the GPU.

Macbook Pro 16 inch i9 32Gb + AMD 5500M.

I bought this laptop second-hand and Apple helpdesk told me this problem is 'by design'.
To me (and probably anyone else here) it is ridiculous and unacceptable that a top-line Macbook cannot handle a 2nd screen without overheating ?‍♂️.
It is a shame, because otherwise the laptop is an amazing machine.

 

[bknaepen]

I have sold my 16 inch + AMD 5500M and replace it with a model with the 5600M GPU.

When connected to my LG5K ultrafine it's night and day. Previously, the power consumption was ~5W with lid closed and ~19W with lid open (when doing nothing with the laptop). With the 5600M it is ~5W with lid closed and ~6W with lid open.

After one day of regular work, I notice that the fans have been much less noisy. Even in Teams (with external screen and lid open), they remained at ~3000 rpm which is good enough for me.

It's a shame that models with the 5500M behave so bad when one wants to use an external screen...

 

[arche3]

I have sold my 16 inch + AMD 5500M and replace it with a model with the 5600M GPU.

When connected to my LG5K ultrafine it's night and day. Previously, the power consumption was ~5W with lid closed and ~19W with lid open (when doing nothing with the laptop). With the 5600M it is ~5W with lid closed and ~6W with lid open.

After one day of regular work, I notice that the fans have been much less noisy. Even in Teams (with external screen and lid open), they remained at ~3000 rpm which is good enough for me.

It's a shame that models with the 5500M behave so bad when one wants to use an external screen...

Pretty much the consensus.