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

[Pedtde]

Hello all I'm trying to build a new setup and haven't been able to find a clear answer.

I work mostly with Logic and audio production / mixing, so a quiet setup is very important. I need to use 2x 4k monitors and ideally the laptop monitor as well.

I travel often so having a all-in-one setup would be ideal.

Another option I've considered is a Mac Mini to use at home and a MacBook Pro to use on the road, although it seems a bit silly / expensive to go with this option just because the MacBook Pro can't handle 2x monitors quietly, and it's not as practical as all-in-one.

Any solution would be very much appreciated, regardless of budget

Thank you

 

[arche3]

Hello all I'm trying to build a new setup and haven't been able to find a clear answer.

I work mostly with Logic and audio production / mixing, so a quiet setup is very important. I need to use 2x 4k monitors and ideally the laptop monitor as well.

I travel often so having a all-in-one setup would be ideal.

Another option I've considered is a Mac Mini to use at home and a MacBook Pro to use on the road, although it seems a bit silly / expensive to go with this option just because the MacBook Pro can't handle 2x monitors quietly, and it's not as practical as all-in-one.

Any solution would be very much appreciated, regardless of budget

Thank you

16 with 5600m can handle what you are asking it. Logic is optimized for mac so it is very efficient on the 16.

 

[PeterJP]

16 with 5600m can handle what you are asking it. Logic is optimized for mac so it is very efficient on the 16.

Yes, indeed. I use Logic on a 5500M 16" and it's generally completely silent. I save my files on Onedrive and that application generates some heat, so fans go on, but then I pause it and it goes away.

 

[Pedtde]

Yes, indeed. I use Logic on a 5500M 16" and it's generally completely silent. I save my files on Onedrive and that application generates some heat, so fans go on, but then I pause it and it goes away.

Thanks for your reply are you able to connect 2x 4k screens without fan noise?

 

[PeterJP]

Thanks for your reply are you able to connect 2x 4k screens without fan noise?

No, not even one 2560x1440 screen. It's using Logic Pro by itself cso on the internal screen) that doesn't generate fan noise. All the known problems (connecting external screens, Windows VMs updating, Microsoft Teams, ...) also exist on my machine. But the laptop standalone with audio interface, midi etc on Logic Pro is silent.

 

[jaduffy007]

Hello all I'm trying to build a new setup and haven't been able to find a clear answer.

I work mostly with Logic and audio production / mixing, so a quiet setup is very important. I need to use 2x 4k monitors and ideally the laptop monitor as well.

I travel often so having a all-in-one setup would be ideal.

Another option I've considered is a Mac Mini to use at home and a MacBook Pro to use on the road, although it seems a bit silly / expensive to go with this option just because the MacBook Pro can't handle 2x monitors quietly, and it's not as practical as all-in-one.

Any solution would be very much appreciated, regardless of budget

Thank you

I can only share my experience. I work with UA hardware & software, Logic, Omnisphere, NI, etc, etc....I dumped my $3500 16" MBP (i9, 5500M, 32gb ram) months ago for a 13" M1 MBP with 16gb ram. I can't tell ANY difference in performance....except for the absence of heat, fan noise, and kernel attacks. The upcoming M* 14" & 16" MBPs will very likely be insanely good machines. I wouldn't touch an Intel based machine if it were given to me for free.

 

[jaduffy007]

16 with 5600m can handle what you are asking it. Logic is optimized for mac so it is very efficient on the 16.

YMMV...but I can't understand why one would buy a 5600M based machine for **music** production work...at what, $4000?!...when the humble little $2200 M1 13" MBP / 16gb ram can easily get the job done while avoiding Intel problems. Better yet, wait for the new MBPs this Fall.

 

[Appledoesnotlisten]

wait for the new MBPs this Fall.

Is this fall a sure thing? We don't trust Apple anymore

 

[arche3]

YMMV...but I can't understand why one would buy a 5600M based machine for **music** production work...at what, $4000?!...when the humble little $2200 M1 13" MBP / 16gb ram can easily get the job done while avoiding Intel problems. Better yet, wait for the new MBPs this Fall.

16 can support 4 monitors.

 

[jaduffy007]

16 can support 4 monitors.

While encased in ice? My 16" would not PROPERLY "support" one external monitor

 

[PeterJP]

YMMV...but I can't understand why one would buy a 5600M based machine for **music** production work...at what, $4000?!...when the humble little $2200 M1 13" MBP / 16gb ram can easily get the job done while avoiding Intel problems. Better yet, wait for the new MBPs this Fall.

In your previous message, you mentioned the M1 13" MBP does everything for music production your 16" does (except for the multi-screen setup perhaps). So I'm seriously considering skipping the higher end machines and just going for a basic 16/512 M1. It'll save me a ton of money.

 

[prazy]

Tried to read all the solutions, and didn't find it, if I can fix heat issue when I'm using MBP'16 screen + external standard display (1080p) with SwitchXRes?
Or there is no solution yet for such use?
What a shi**y laptop, I'm really disappointed in Apple products, for such price it shouldn't have such issues.

 

[arche3]

While encased in ice? My 16" would not PROPERLY "support" one external monitor

My 16 w 5600m is attached to 6k pro display xdr and lg 5k. Laptop open or closed it works fine. Makes no difference how many monitors attached. Only time the fans go nuts is when I am rendering video. But I usually render from a Mac pro 71 so that's not often.

I've also had my 16 hooked up to 2 lg 4k. 1 1080p. Dell And a 32 lg ultrawide at the same time. It also worked fine.

 

[Pedtde]

I can only share my experience. I work with UA hardware & software, Logic, Omnisphere, NI, etc, etc....I dumped my $3500 16" MBP (i9, 5500M, 32gb ram) months ago for a 13" M1 MBP with 16gb ram. I can't tell ANY difference in performance....except for the absence of heat, fan noise, and kernel attacks. The upcoming M* 14" & 16" MBPs will very likely be insanely good machines. I wouldn't touch an Intel based machine if it were given to me for free.

Are you able to run external monitors without noise on the 13" M1 MBP? I'm using UA hardware as well
As I'm not in a rush, the best option seems to be waiting for the new MacBooks.
Really appreciate all the replies ?

 

[jaduffy007]

My 16 w 5600m is attached to 6k pro display xdr and lg 5k. Laptop open or closed it works fine. Makes no difference how many monitors attached. Only time the fans go nuts is when I am rendering video. But I usually render from a Mac pro 71 so that's not often.

I've also had my 16 hooked up to 2 lg 4k. 1 1080p. Dell And a 32 lg ultrawide at the same time. It also worked fine.

Again...happy for you. Sounds like an awesome set up. To each their own, but spending an extra $800 (!!!) for the ***5600M*** upgrade / "fix"... for the OP to do AUDIO PRODUCTION is an utter waster of money. The OP could (almost) get a SSL UF8 and UA Octo Satellite with the money saved vs 13" M1 MBP.

For YOU, the 5600M might be the perfect machine....run Windows, play games, etc. I haven't noticed the OP mentioning such requirements.

 

[jaduffy007]

Are you able to run external monitors without noise on the 13" M1 MBP? I'm using UA hardware as well
As I'm not in a rush, the best option seems to be waiting for the new MacBooks.
Really appreciate all the replies ?

My 13" M1 MBP never even gets warm when running an external monitor (which I do 90% of the time)...and is as silent as a mouse with the lid open or clamshell. I have zero complaints running Luna via rosetta...and once Luna can run natively on the M1, it should be awesome. The upcoming MacBooks will be stellar. Logic runs extremely well, of course.

 

[jaduffy007]

Tried to read all the solutions, and didn't find it, if I can fix heat issue when I'm using MBP'16 screen + external standard display (1080p) with SwitchXRes?
Or there is no solution yet for such use?
What a shi**y laptop, I'm really disappointed in Apple products, for such price it shouldn't have such issues.

SwitchRes is not a fix. The "solution" is to pay for the 5600M ($800)...and still be stuck with Intel's crap. Non-5600M machines == "shi**y laptop" == I agree.

 

[MarceFX]

Hi,

I was about to open a new thread talking about how pissed I am with my MacBook Pro 16" 32 GB RAM. But I see my problem have been discussed here a lot.

I can't believe I can't use this expensive machine with my 32" 4K external display and Google Meet. As soon as I launch Google Meet, the computer becomes unusable.

This is what happens when I close the Google Meet window (pink arrow indicates when I turn off Meet):

Things start to go back to normal.

So I guess since I'm stuck with the Radeon Pro 5300M, I only have 2 options:

1. Buy an eGPU (expensive and inconvenient)
2. Sell my MacBook and get another one with a 5500M

Is that right? Thanks!

 

[prazy]

Oh! How I'm pissed off. MBP16 5300M is utter piece of s**it. ?
I ran 4k video on connected 1080p external monitor and CPU temperature rises to 80C! OMG! Like this s**it is trying to calculate the trajectory of the shuttle to the neighboring galaxy.

Ok, Apple, if you created such a s**it and don't want to fix the issue, just give me a f***king ability to turn off built-in monitor of that s**tty device, so I can use claimshell mode! Because if I close the lid, it will f***king melt!

So, it's totally can not be used with external monitor and keyboard/mouse etc. ?

Don't know even what should I throw away my stable working monitor or that piece of garbage?

Will try to sell it, and NEVER buy Apple devices.

P.S. I have MBP15 2019 - my another work laptop. It doesn't have heat issue with external monitor. But there are a lot of other issues like:
- sh**tty keyboard, started to double-click on 10-12 keys after half a year of use
- always crooked working UI, so if you want to start an app or see the menu, you should be lucky, get it work first time
- sometimes mac just turn off while asleep, unbelievable!!!

Comparing to cheap Windows laptop, I can't see any advantages except touchpad & Retina. I'm a developer, and always used Linux, and thought Mac OS is best system for developing. But now I see, it's a f***king joke, but a device for work!!!

Also, interesting fact, that when you are using Bootcamp and play resource-intensive games, it doesn't get heat (of course if you use ThrottleStop)! LOL! And I can turn off the built-in monitor. F***king Windows guys made better in software for Mac OS, WTF!!! ???

 

[GumaRodak]

SwitchRes is not a fix. The "solution" is to pay for the 5600M ($800)...and still be stuck with Intel's crap. Non-5600M machines == "shi**y laptop" == I agree.

So who is the crap here? Intel or Apple? I am confused…

 

[ateslik]

My 13" M1 MBP never even gets warm when running an external monitor (which I do 90% of the time)...and is as silent as a mouse with the lid open or clamshell. I have zero complaints running Luna via rosetta...and once Luna can run natively on the M1, it should be awesome. The upcoming MacBooks will be stellar. Logic runs extremely well, of course.

But worth adding that the 13" M1 can only support one external monitor (although it's technically possible to support two through HDMI and Displaylink software - yuck). Otherwise, I totally agree - this thing beats the living crap out of the 16" 5600M that I was using before. I've been running a huge number of apps all day on 3 desktops on Monterey - and it's running at 89 degrees Fahrenheit. Battery life and performance are incredible. It seems impossible when you're running it how efficient and cool it runs with no performance issues at all. Amazing.

 

[Jeo_cz]

Hi,

I was about to open a new thread talking about how pissed I am with my MacBook Pro 16" 32 GB RAM. But I see my problem have been discussed here a lot.

I can't believe I can't use this expensive machine with my 32" 4K external display and Google Meet. As soon as I launch Google Meet, the computer becomes unusable.

This is what happens when I close the Google Meet window (pink arrow indicates when I turn off Meet):

View attachment 1806286

Things start to go back to normal.

So I guess since I'm stuck with the Radeon Pro 5300M, I only have 2 options:

1. Buy an eGPU (expensive and inconvenient)
2. Sell my MacBook and get another one with a 5500M

Is that right? Thanks!

No, 5500M doesn't help either. Only 5600M is the option. :-(

 

[MarceFX]

No, 5500M doesn't help either. Only 5600M is the option. :-(

Thanks for the clarification! I just took a look at the 5600M upgrade price: 1.000 USD (in Spain). This is NUTS!!
I would have to sell my current MBP (3 months old).

However, I'd lose some money on that. So, being able to use the computer when running Google meet would cost me around 1.500 USD. INSANE!

I'm stuck with having to buy an eGPU. I'm going to start looking for the cheapest option, since I don't need it for gaming or heavy stuff.

Thank you all for the great info on this thread.

 

[jaduffy007]

Hi,

I was about to open a new thread talking about how pissed I am with my MacBook Pro 16" 32 GB RAM. But I see my problem have been discussed here a lot.

I can't believe I can't use this expensive machine with my 32" 4K external display and Google Meet. As soon as I launch Google Meet, the computer becomes unusable.

This is what happens when I close the Google Meet window (pink arrow indicates when I turn off Meet):

View attachment 1806286

Things start to go back to normal.

So I guess since I'm stuck with the Radeon Pro 5300M, I only have 2 options:

1. Buy an eGPU (expensive and inconvenient)
2. Sell my MacBook and get another one with a 5500M

Is that right? Thanks!

Hi,

I was about to open a new thread talking about how pissed I am with my MacBook Pro 16" 32 GB RAM. But I see my problem have been discussed here a lot.

I can't believe I can't use this expensive machine with my 32" 4K external display and Google Meet. As soon as I launch Google Meet, the computer becomes unusable.

This is what happens when I close the Google Meet window (pink arrow indicates when I turn off Meet):

View attachment 1806286

Things start to go back to normal.

So I guess since I'm stuck with the Radeon Pro 5300M, I only have 2 options:

1. Buy an eGPU (expensive and inconvenient)
2. Sell my MacBook and get another one with a 5500M

Is that right? Thanks!

I tried the eGPU route with the 16". It works well except for the extra costs and the extra noise...though significantly quieter than the 16" MBP on its own. For audio production, depending on your set up, that could be a problem, or not. It was an issue for me. There are also fan upgrades that make eGPUs quieter than the one I bought (and returned).

Buying a 5500M will be WORSE.

5600M (ka-ching !!) will be much better. If you need a 16" Intel machine, this is the only one *I* would consider.

My two cents...if you don't have specific Intel based needs. Get any M1 machine or wait for the upcoming machines in the Fall.

 

[argon2020]

Comparing to cheap Windows laptop, I can't see any advantages except touchpad & Retina. I'm a developer, and always used Linux, and thought Mac OS is best system for developing. But now I see, it's a f***king joke, but a device for work!!!

Also, interesting fact, that when you are using Bootcamp and play resource-intensive games, it doesn't get heat (of course if you use ThrottleStop)! LOL! And I can turn off the built-in monitor. F***king Windows guys made better in software for Mac OS, WTF!!! ???

It sounds like maybe MacOS is the problem. If so, you should be able to replace it with your favorite Linux flavor, or Windows OS. Both should run nicely on the same hardware, without the overheating or other arbitrary MacOS limitations.