Complete Guide to Permanently Disable AMD 6XXXm series dGPU and Prevent Thermal Throttling
Acknowledgements: This guide is entirely based on
nsgr's work.
1. This is an optional step. If you have previously attempted to remove AMD kexts, revert your system to the original state by installing the latest Mac OS combo update. At the time of writing of this guide, the latest combo update can be found
here. Installing the update will update your kext files to the latest version. After the update is finished, your macbook will restart and freeze as soon as the dGPU is activated. Shutdown or force a restart.
2. Clear the NVRAM by holding
Option +
Command +
P +
R on startup until the macbook reboots.
3. Boot into the single user mode by pressing
Command +
S on startup
. Execute the following commands to enable the iGPU during the boot phase:
4. Disable System Integrity Protection to allow editing system files. Boot into the verbose recovery mode by pressing
Command +
R + S on startup
. Execute
5. Go again into the the single user mode by pressing
Command + S on startup. Mount root with write permissions via
(Note the space in front of the last forward slash). Next, create a backup folder by executing
Move the
AMDRadeonX3000.kext file to the backup folder you created by executing
Moving this kext file is sufficient to prevent graphics switching.
6. Re-enable System Integrity Protection inside the verbose recovery mode (
Command +
R + S) by executing
7. Boot into Mac OS normally and start the
Terminal. Navigate to your backup folder using
Load the former kext file manually by executing
to prevent the dGPU from idling at maximum TDP. This will not re-enable graphics switching. A restart is not required.
Closing remarks: Step 7 will have to be executed after every system restart to prevent overheating. Steps 4, 5 and 6 will have to be executed after each major system update that breaks graphics switching. Step 3 has to be repeated after a NVRAM reset.
