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

bill-p said:
But in any case, my setup just works perfectly in clamshell.
Click to expand...

Because you're running at 60Hz in clamshell. Other people have reported Displayport 1.2 working at 60Hz in clamshell in this thread. But the number of monitors that work out of the box like this is extremely limited. Hence over 2000 posts.

What happens when you open the lid? Screenshot those istats please.
 
It's not a processing error tho, is it? This one is an explicit design choice - they designed the power delivery of these devices, which the BIOS'es control, to work like this

The average warranty is 1 year - and they will last a year
 
ateslik said:
Because you're running at 60Hz in clamshell. Other people have reported Displayport 1.2 working at 60Hz in clamshell in this thread. But the number of monitors that work out of the box like this is extremely limited. Hence over 2000 posts.
Click to expand...

Displayport 1.4 and 60 Hz has almost every new screen. Of course, not the cheapest.
 
dooyou said:
With ARM they will make the devices even thinner 😃
Click to expand...

That is my fear because why wouldn't they. They clearly have a performance goal in mind with their devices and once that is met they will sacrifice anything above that to aesthetics.

Apple have been form over function for years now with the Mac lineup.
 
Frankied22 said:
Are you all experiencing the loud fans when hooked up to a 4K display? I have a refurb 16" and when I use it with my Dell 1440p/144hz monitor with the laptop screen also open I am not getting any fan noise unless I do something that always kicks on the fans (watching 4k video, exporting video, playing games).
Click to expand...

We should probably make note of this. There is another user on the Apple Community discussions page using a 1440p display @59Hz with a screenshot to show that the fans remain quite (around 1800RPM) even with the lid open. The higher power draw of the GPU is still there, though.
 
ateslik said:
Because you're running at 60Hz in clamshell. Other people have reported Displayport 1.2 working at 60Hz in clamshell in this thread. But the number of monitors that work out of the box like this is extremely limited. Hence over 2000 posts.

What happens when you open the lid? Screenshot those istats please.
Click to expand...

Sigh...

I have done exactly this like... 23 - 24 pages ago. Been there, done that.

Here's what happens when my lid is open:

Idle:
tx7IonG.png


Maximum load:
oOtDNGb.png


TL;DR: I do not see max fans at idle even with the lid open despite 20W reported on the GPU side. If you do see that, note your ambient temperature, perhaps? Mine is constantly about 24 - 27 Celsius. Either way, lid open is not that big of a problem for me. The problem is mostly that at max load, max CPU frequency is about 2.9GHz on average for me, because it's losing the extra 15W power draw headroom that the GPU is constantly taking up. If I close the lid, I can get 3.1 - 3.2GHz sustained CPU performance.

So lid open for me is not a matter of heat or fan noise, but of reduced performance. I don't have any fan noise or heat issue with the lid being open.

There was one time I got the fans stuck at max after returning from Bootcamp when I foolishly tried to use Macs Fan Control to fudge with the fan profile. The issue persisted even after shutting down, starting up all over again, and it only went away after 3 - 4 SMC resets. After that, everything has been rock solid. I make it a point to never use 3rd-party software to mess with the SMC again.
 
By the way, I noticed my device doesn't sleep when plugged in, nothing "Preventing Sleep" in Activity Monitor - all the settings are there to allow it to sleep

But I walked out for 2-3 hours, came back, it's been 70 Celsius all these hours for no reason :(

The screen sleeps, yet the machine seems to keep on working for some reason, by working, It's very hot - so I assume it's working
 
Curious if anyone has explored the concept of "DisplayPort Alternate Mode" support or lack thereof.

For example, Plugable makes a dock and adapter cable that they say is **required** for some set ups. My Benq SW271
monitor specifies that the its USB-C input is "DisplayPort Alternate Mode".

www.amazon.com

Plugable USB C to DisplayPort Cable 6 feet (1.8m), Up to 4K at 60Hz, USB C DisplayPort Cable - Compatible with Thunderbolt and USB-C - Driverless

Plugable USB-C to DisplayPort Adapter Cable The Plugable USB-C to DisplayPort Adapter​​ Cable enables you to connect USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 / 4 enabled devices that support "VESA DisplayPort Alternate Mode over USB-C" ("Alt Mode") to external displays with DisplayPort (DP). 6 foot display ca...
www.amazon.com
 
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FINALLY!

I'm posting this as a confirmation of a reportedly "fix", which is using a Type-C to Displayport (which should support 4K and 60Hz).

I just bought the following cable, and the moment I connected my MBP 16" to my DELL U2515H (2560x1440) and enabled 60Hz (instead of 58.9 that my previous cable-supported), everything fell into place, just like they're supposed to. FINALLY.

MacBook Pro 16" state: Clamshell Mode
Average Temp: 50°C
Radeon High Tide: ~4.5W
Cable: https://www.delock.de/produkte/G_85257/merkmale.html?setLanguage=en
Monitor: https://www.amazon.co.uk/DELL-U2515H-ADZG-25-Inch-Monitor/dp/B00P6O3YYO


c3f9b345-8f37-45ec-8f6e-b4953d21ee61.png



My Macbook stays at 50°C, and my fans at 1800RPM (0%) while I'm currently browsing 7 tabs on Chrome, running Adobe Illustrator & Sketch.

Now, my only concern which I'll need to test by the end of the week is a dual-monitor setup. That is, by using the same cable mentioned above at both my monitors (since they're both the same model).
 
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ateslik said:
Lol, if you're cool with 20W just because your lid is open - versus the 5W you showed with the lid close - then good for you. Glad you're happy.
Click to expand...

I don't care about the power consumption as long as it's not causing fan noise (which it isn't, as you can see from my screenshot), and not throttling performance (unfortunately, it does throttle performance).

So I use my MacBook mostly in clamshell with my ultrawide monitor, and yes, I'm happy. Just watched the entirety of Apple's Keynote just now with the lid open because I needed one screen to work on. Fans stayed at 2000RPM or less.

P.S.: proof or it didn't happen
172u6ud.png


20W by itself is not a problem at all if the fans are barely audible, if at all. Also my idle temps are there if you want to see them.
 
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Appledoesnotlisten said:
I received a base 16" today and am disappointed because it gets 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 these respects.

Can you guys share your thoughts on this?

Thanks a lot!
Click to expand...


I did face the same issue (Heat & sound when connected to external monitor) when my employer provided me a new 16" high-end MacBook Pro. I did contact support team & they couldn't figure out the issue. Later (after some troubleshooting, re-imaging) they sent me a new laptop thinking that hardware/software has some issues. But I started facing the same issue. Then after some troubleshooting & researching, I came to know this. As we connect external display, GPU automagically kicks in resulting, high speed fans & stupid sound & heat in addition to that. To resolve this you need to download this plugin - Turbo Boost Switcher for Mac OS X. Free version should help in disabling turbo boost mode whenever you are performing any graphic intensive work. This is a savior for me & it WORKED just like that.
 
leokost said:
FINALLY!

I'm posting this as a confirmation of a reportedly "fix", which is using a Type-C to Displayport (which should support 4K and 60Hz).

I just bought the following cable, and the moment I connected my MBP 16" to my DELL U2515H (2560x1440) and enabled 60Hz (instead of 58.9 that my previous cable-supported), everything fell into place, just like they're supposed to. FINALLY.

MacBook Pro 16" state: Clamshell Mode
Average Temp: 50°C
Radeon High Tide: ~4.5W
Cable: https://www.delock.de/produkte/G_85257/merkmale.html?setLanguage=en
Monitor: https://www.amazon.co.uk/DELL-U2515H-ADZG-25-Inch-Monitor/dp/B00P6O3YYO


View attachment 925926


My Macbook stays at 50°C, and my fans at 1800RPM (0%) while I'm currently browsing 7 tabs on Chrome, running Adobe Illustrator & Sketch.

Now, my only concern which I'll need to test by the end of the week is a dual-monitor setup. That is, by using the same cable mentioned above at both my monitors (since they're both the same model).
Click to expand...

I have a Type-C to Displayport cable too (60hz/4K), idle temps are close to 70C - but I recently ordered this: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000318951285.html - I hope the extra bandwidth from this cable will ease things - but honestly, it's a slim chance this is a cable issue :/

Screen Shot 2020-06-22 at 21.22.40.png


I just wrote a NodeJS program to log how much the computer has been sleeping when I wake it up, I use it to easily check whether the device sleeps

1) The device doesn't sleep when connected to an External Display
2) Even if you manually sleep it, for some reason, it seems to wake up every 40 seconds

Normally these wouldn't be that bothersome, but considering we all have a 70C idle system - you guys better make sure your systems sleep too, otherwise, instead of getting tortured ~6 hours a day, it ends up being tortured ~18 hours - 3 times more wear :(
 
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Thanks to all posters of this thread!

I think every hardware developer at Apple should have enough information now to analyze this issue (or they just plug in their display 😂).

I've gone through a lot of time consuming thoughts (3 weekends) about eGPUs or even building an insulation box for this failed construction of a laptop. Here are my results.

Approach 1: eGPU

I've read to much about issues with an eGPU and Apples (future) support for this technology. They even can't reliably support their "own" made eGPUs (Blackmagic with RX 580).

On top the eGPU is not the only component producing heat. Looking at you 8 core Turbo Boosty.

Approach 2: Insulation box

Sounds like a nice project for retirement. Ok I almost ordered every part for this. Ikea cabinets to Basotect insulation material (hardly to inflame). But after all I was not sure if sawing holes in the box for the fans won't eliminate my efforts.

Chosen Solution:

I've read this a lot of times on gamers hardware forums: "Buy a longer cable and put it as far away from you as possible."

Ok. So I now put it in the hall and using 7 to 10 meter cables to reach out there. What a journey that was/is?. Finding display port cables for this distance (with repeaters or by using fiber) to keep 4k 60 Hz. Same with USB 3.0.

After all I have my long shopping list of external trackpad, keyboard, webcam, cables, cables, cables and will solve that as best as I can for my environment.

This is not the idea of a laptop in the first place (single package of important hardware components), but I want a system from ONE filesystem only that is hot pluggable to external hardware that I can use on the go.

Hope these ideas might help one or two of you for their setup.
 
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skyrocketer said:
I did face the same issue (Heat & sound when connected to external monitor) when my employer provided me a new 16" high-end MacBook Pro. I did contact support team & they couldn't figure out the issue. Later (after some troubleshooting, re-imaging) they sent me a new laptop thinking that hardware/software has some issues. But I started facing the same issue. Then after some troubleshooting & researching, I came to know this. As we connect external display, GPU automagically kicks in resulting, high speed fans & stupid sound & heat in addition to that. To resolve this you need to download this plugin - Turbo Boost Switcher for Mac OS X. Free version should help in disabling turbo boost mode whenever you are performing any graphic intensive work. This is a savior for me & it WORKED just like that.
Click to expand...
Sorry, but very old news at this point...and crippling performance isn't considered a "fix" by many.
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leokost said:
FINALLY!

I'm posting this as a confirmation of a reportedly "fix", which is using a Type-C to Displayport (which should support 4K and 60Hz).

I just bought the following cable, and the moment I connected my MBP 16" to my DELL U2515H (2560x1440) and enabled 60Hz (instead of 58.9 that my previous cable-supported), everything fell into place, just like they're supposed to. FINALLY.

MacBook Pro 16" state: Clamshell Mode
Average Temp: 50°C
Radeon High Tide: ~4.5W
Cable: https://www.delock.de/produkte/G_85257/merkmale.html?setLanguage=en
Monitor: https://www.amazon.co.uk/DELL-U2515H-ADZG-25-Inch-Monitor/dp/B00P6O3YYO


View attachment 925926


My Macbook stays at 50°C, and my fans at 1800RPM (0%) while I'm currently browsing 7 tabs on Chrome, running Adobe Illustrator & Sketch.

Now, my only concern which I'll need to test by the end of the week is a dual-monitor setup. That is, by using the same cable mentioned above at both my monitors (since they're both the same model).
Click to expand...

Do you think it's because the cable supports DisplayPort Alternate Mode? "The interface has to support the DisplayPort Alternate Mode." ??? Is support for DisplayPort Alternate Mode unusual??
 
Last edited:
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lǝʍɐd said:
Installing macOS Big Sur to see if anything changed.
Click to expand...

Thank you! We asked nicely in the Apple discussion thread if anyone could test the Big Sur beta with external monitors and our posts got deleted(!) You're my only hope Obi Wan!
 
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