MacBook 16-inch Fan Noise

One day old MBP 16" i7 version.

My fans are spinning all the time and the top part of the machine gets warm to the touch.

I have noticed that Chrome is a problem since it by default will use the GPU and that has keep my previous two MBPs busy and hot. Settings -> System -> Use hardware acceleration when available is set to OFF and work pretty fine for my daily use (I'm a web-developer in JavaScript)

Never had any issues with Safari, but the developer tools stinks so my daily driver is Chrome.

My previous MBP 15" i7 mid-2018 was a bit smaller and didn't start the fans this often.

I just found that when the computer has a second screen, the fan will increase to 3000+ rpm, which makes it very noisey. otherwise it is very quite. I will change the HDMI cable to see if it is the cable's problem.

I'll join the chorus as one experiencing frequent and load fan noise. I came from a 2018 15" MBP that rarely made audible fan noise, and when it did, it was understandable (Premiere export, live streaming, etc.).

Granted, the new 16" MBP's loudest noise is likely not as loud as the 15", it is certainly occurring more often. I just opened Premiere—opened the app!—and the fans went on a 5 minute tirade. Most of the other occurrences are seemingly random and unexplainable as well.

There are other issues with this MBP as well that are off topic for this thread, but that are making me seriously consider returning the machine. They all seem comical for a ~$4,800 setup.

Hello.

I must also join the chorus about the MacBook Pro 16 inch's fan noise. Mine was received 10 days ago and I've connected it to two 1440p monitors. When doing anything with the machine the fans speed up. This is the somewhat same behavior I have experienced with my old late 2013 MacBook Pro 15 (only its other problems are more severe, reasons why I was looking for a replacement.) I also have a Mac mini 2018 which I planned on selling after purchasing the MacBook. When doing the same tasks on the mini the fan speed didn't go up at all. I am curious as to why the Mac mini with its much less body and worse GPU doesn't have a problem with connecting to two 1440p monitors but the MacBook Pro 16 inch does.

This inconsistency makes this machine seem like it is not reliable enough for me to invest over 3200 dollars (this is what it costs in my country) for the base model. This is why I am returning the MacBook.

Yeah, definitely something going on with the external monitors. Looking in Activity Monitor I see that the WindowServer process has more than 7 days of GPU time - this on a machine with an uptime of only 3 days.

Running only Safari and my fans are running on high. I get this a lot on the new 16" MacBook Pro. Tempuratures as high at 215°F. It can take awhile to cool down. On of my fan's max RPM speed is 5616 and the other is 5200. I don't know why the fans are different but they are. The min is 1836 on one and the other is 1700. You'd think Apple would put in identical fans.

Right above the touchbar my maxed out 16" MBP gets super high. So hot it can burn your fingers. Even the touchbar itself gets hot.

What is strange is the machine runs hot when it's only running Safari. This is a farce. I have a 2008 Mac Pro that has way more fans inside and it doesn't make any noise. And I have been able to run Mojave and Catalina on it. I just wanted to have something solid and reliable moving forward as Apple has been removing things like Display Port support on the 2008's natively and I really did not want to hack it any further to keep using it. So I bit the bullet and got the best 16" money could buy but I don't think Apple ran it through its paces before giving it the green light.

I have been in touch with Apple and I really don't want to return this thing. I am hoping the heating issues and fan noise is something that can be fixed via a software update from Apple.

I was reluctant from participating anymore in this thread as my comments are getting deleted for no good reason.

But felt the urge to give you shout out for the amazing job you have done to get some work arounds for this consistent issue. Thank you!

You have done something that Apple should have done and acknowledged, but somehow Apple didn't! so again Thank you!

With that said, I don't believe using third party tools to bring a brand new machine to a normal behavior (no noise is expected while the device is idle) is a solution. Add to that if any of these third party tools caused any hardware failure, it wouldn't be fair to expect Apple to fix this failure; so it is better to have official solution so we can hold Apple warranty accountable for the machines.

HI at All

Loud fans & less power: MacBooks can be loaded incorrectly

Image source: iFixit

The MacBook Pro can be charged on both sides via the USB-C ports. Reports suggest that the choice of page can affect the performance of Apple notebooks. It is therefore better to plug in the charging cable on the right.

With the MacBook Pro, the choice of port seems to make a difference

Apple's official recommendation is clear: the company writes in a support document that MacBook Pro models can be loaded on both sides. As Techspot now writes in its report, there have been user reports for months that contradict this reference. As a user of the StackExchange platform writes, he investigated the cause of an unusually high CPU load and the resulting heat development by the process "kernel_task" and found unusual results.

Apple itself states that the corresponding process is responsible, among other things, for controlling the fan control in connection with the CPU temperature, and the access options of programs to the performance of the processor are also determined here. The curious finding during a detailed examination: If the charging cable is connected together with other devices on the left, the temperature and system load increase significantly. A closer look at the values ​​of the sensors on the Thunderbolt connections confirms this observation, according to the user concerned.

Just load on the right

The solution to the problem is similarly curious: If only the right side is used for loading and the left side is used exclusively for peripherals, the heat problem does not occur and the kernel process is also ended. As a further investigation by another user shows, the measurable differences of up to 15 degrees are very clear. Currently, two models seem to be affected by the problem: the 15-inch MacBook Pro 2017 and the 16-inch MacBook Pro 2019. Apple has not confirmed the problems so far - but the company is happy to take a lot of time to make such statements. Apple, teardown, MacBook Pro, Ifixit, Apple MacBook ProiFixit

https://winfuture.de/news,115555.html

It's easy to do - use what is now an underpowered and uncompetitive GPU as was used in previous generations of MacBook Pros, but for many the capability of the GPU outweighs the need for absolute silence.

There is a reason: extremely poor design and QC from apple.

if this was a pc no one would be excusing the behaviour and apple is the one that you pay a premium for ‘it just works’.

i dunno why they made the 16” when their focus is clearly on their arm laptops which everyone at apple is (justifiably) excited for.

Hello everyone. I just talked with Apple support on a follow up of my 16" Base mode MBP. As many of you have commented, they just told me it is expected behavior. I told them im very disappointed with the quality of the product and that fans spinning so fast depletes my battery in just a couple of hours.

They just filled my complaint and said there was nothing else they could do to assist me. So I think now its just a matter of filling complaints and waiting to see if its gets fixed with the new Mac OS. Very disappointed at Apple.

The move to add the new 5600 GPU so quickly, 7 months after introducing the first MBP 16, was a tacit admission that something wasn't right with the 5500.

This was also done quickly to limit the number of machines that were out there; most high-end machine hunter will choose the new 5600 GPU with the HBM2 memory. I would be surprised to see the first two GPU models out there much longer.

If this don't fix this, they will be sued for it. But it doesn't seem to matter, because even with all of Tim Cook's face time in the media for the app store lawsuit, the stock keeps going up.

I'll just keep it covered under Apple Care and use noise cancelling headphones. And run my air conditioner. And make this my last MacBook Pro.

I just found out when I connect at exact 60Hertz with 1600 x 1200 (after pressing option to receive the resolution) the watt consumption on Radeon high side went down from 18 to 5 watt. Which brings the fans down. I have two external monitors (Eizo EV2455) over OWC Thunderbolt 3. However, the standard monitor resolution is 1920 x 1200 at 59.88 Hertz. Change to 50 Hertz seems not possible. After switching one or two of my monitors to that resolution the watt consumption goes back to 18 and fans are starting. So seems a driver issue. 18 watt consumption is not needed. Apple please fix.