MacBook 16-inch Fan Noise

I've just bought a USB-C to DisplayPort cable as I realize that my usb-c to hdmi adapter (raycue) was getting very hot too. I will update with results in few days.

One tip if you are fed up with fan noise - you can ask for Siri and usually the fan stops automatically while Siri is listening to you. Easy tip to get few seconds of silence :D

I tested one laptop with two different monitors, the only two monitors I have on-hand, and got the same result.

I didn't say the results would be the same for everyone, but rather for the two monitors I have, the fans just never went above 2400 RPM.

The adapter you linked to at Amazon is indeed the one I have.

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.

<<And make this my last MacBook Pro. >>

I think Apple sort of agrees with you, in a backhanded way ...

Some in the trade press have suggested that the fundamental problem is the Intel CPU. Lesser processors do not have 'over 16GB memory' capability.

There were supposed to be Intel processors with this sort of performance available in 7nm technology, with far lower power requirements, but Intel has missed its promised dates repeatedly, and can't really get even its 10nm process working properly.

In my opinion, THIS SYTEM is the reason Apple announced "We are moving to Apple silicon" over the next few years.

dcristof wrote:

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.

That's simply not true; Apple has made hardware updates to MBPs before after several months on the market, and the MBP 16 was introduced as of now 262 days ago.

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 it was done to "limit" machines they would have directly replaced the 5500 with the 5600 rather than add it as an additional option.

Certainly the price difference for the 5600 is going to dissuade few who were going to purchase the 5500.

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.

Apple gets sued for all sorts of nonsense like this all the time, very unfortunately.

If the drivers are not software handcrafted with a good quality control then this might happen. Not an Intel issue if the GPU is the issue. In particular as the Intel GPU (onboard) does not utilize so much power hence not produces so much heat. Apple should give the choice of selecting the GPU or fix the driver together with AMD.

As long as the title of the topic remains "Fan Noise", we won't see the solution soon.

Why? because I guess that most of the members are calling to Apple support and don't describe the issue as needed.

Fan noise is something usual among computers, and among MacBooks as well.

The real issue is the high GPU watt usage with the external monitor while the lid is open, which leads to fan noise.

In case you didn't describe the issue as I wrote, call Apple support again and make sure you open a new ticket.

We must bring this problem into consciousness in every way possible, be precise in formulating the problem wherever you present it, and only then will change appear.

A lot of us experience this problem. I also have this problem. Tried already 3 different monitors, different video cables, bought the Call Digit TS3 Plus. No solution.

I noticed that William Kucharski does not have this problem, he has a 16inch MB Pro with the AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 8GB VRAM.

Can it be that the size of the VRAM makes the difference ?

That sound reasonable. But maybe also many of the folks do not search for high GPU watt usage and maybe would not find the discussion.

Calling Apple support with the usual tipp like reboot, plug in cable, re-install and so on seems help. At least never did for me. I am fully with you, without consciousness in the level three support of Apple nothing will happen. As an idea ticket id's can be shared to give a reference. With many incident tickets going into same problem solution the pressure to not longer wait would increase.

Yes - I played around with other resolutions and frequencies (60Hertz). With 1600x1200 and 60Hertz the consumption of the Radeon goes below 5 watt hence the fans are below 2'000 turns and almost not noticeable. As soon as I go back to 1920x1200, 59.950 or 60Hertz the game starts again (18W and noise). I use iStat Menu to measure. I also tried SwitchResX and TG Pro - but no luck. External monitors are behind OWC Thunderbolt docking station. I also tried out direct connect MacBook pro 16 to monitor (via HDMI and via Display Port) Also no luck.

I have the same issue with my 16" MBP 2.4GHz i9, 5300M and 64GB memory. As soon as I connect a monitor the power consumption increases with around 20W and the fan-speed slowly increases. Combined with Intel's aggressive Turbo Boost my fanes usually run at 80%-100% speed.

Until (hopefully) Apple fixes this issue I use this Displaylink based adapter https://www.club-3d.com/en/detail/2412/usb_3.2_gen1_type_a_to_hdmit_dual_monitor_4k60hz/

For offices use it works fine and the power hungry 5300M is never activated.