MacBook 16-inch Fan Noise

Just to be clear about devices we're talking here:

Mine - used on 3 devices MacBook Air 11" 2011, MacBook Pro 15" 2019, MacBook Pro 16" 2019:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008CXFM64/

StarTech.com USB 3.0 to DisplayPort Adapter - 4K 30Hz - External Video &

Graphics Card - Dual Monitor Display Adapter - Supports Windows

(USB32DPES2)

Yours:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00O6G5ZGI/

StarTech.com USB 3.0 to HDMI External Video Card Adapter - DisplayLink Certified -

1920x1200 - MultiMonitor Graphics Adapter - Supports Mac & Windows

(USB32HDPRO)

Glad yours are working fine but please bear in mind there's no gurantee they'll work on Apple's next software update / release. This is a workaround some people might choose but not for me after being cut off from my external monitors and left really frustrated for over half a year once. One of reasons about switching first to MBP 15" then 16" was to drop DL completly. So, it's individual's choice based on the above experiences and potential risks.

DsiplayLink "fakes" an un-accelerated display in a buffer in main RAM, and uses 'ordinary' USB to send the screen image out to its stunt-box, where it is turned into regular display image.

Such a display can be used where fine mouse-tracking on that display is not a requirement, and where fairly static images are the only requirement. Good uses are for stock quote display or developer code listings that are NOT being actively edited. You might even 'get away with' using it for some Web Browsing.

Users generally rate it NOT acceptable for moving pictures (including any sort of video or picture editing or rendering) or fine mouse tracking.

Thanks for the Advise. My external Samsung 34 inch screen has native 50hz which i was reducing to 40hz and that accomplished a drop from roughly 18W to 4-7W depending on what i am working on. Its a scandal. Is there an update on the official statement from apple?

I've never said people are "wrong," but when people say this is a defect, I am going to ask in what way the product doesn't do what it was advertised and specified to do.

I have provided details on my configuration which does not cause the fans to speed to 5000 RPM+, and others have used that data to help determine what is going on.

I've also provided quotes from AMD and other industry sources to help put the issue into context technologically.

Oh yeah, that is right! They didn't advertise that my MacBook Pro is like an Airbus A380 taking off when I connect an external monitor. Because if they advertised that I wouldn't have got it. 

For me it is not exactly about what "they advertise" (which, by the way, is pure Marketing most of the times), it is about what I expect from the "most powerful notebook we’ve ever made" (yes, they "advertise" that). In my opinion this behaviour it is not expected from a computer that is supposed to be designed for "powerful" users. Because for me "powerful" means that a computer that is at 7% of CPU shouldn't be **** hot just because I have more than one screen connected, and this is what actually happens.

I have been doing tests with this issue the last two months, using different cables (direct and adaptors), changing resolution configurations, disabling and enabling Turbo Boost, using clamshell and not using it... and the conclusion it is just the same: every time a second screen is recognized by the OS, the fans start to spin too fast after a couple of minutes. When disconnecting the screens the fans get back to low speed. My best case scenario was 3.5K rpm with a 6% CPU usage with the two monitors connected, and most of the times they were at 5K rpm. And sometimes, if I start to do real work with the computer (starting at 25-30% of CPU), a kernel task appears consuming more than 1000%CPU and everything in Catalina is slow and almost impossible to use, but I couldn't reproduce this every time, it happened randomly and I needed to restart MacOS if I wanted to work with external monitors. The only pattern with this kernel task is that if you disconnect the monitors, it disappears and everything gets back to normal again... It didn't make a difference between having one or two external screens (two or three recognized screens). 

Today, I am going to the Genius Bar because of this, and frankly, I am expecting that common stupid answer: "oh, but this is normal. It is expected". And probably, the nice guy from the Apple Store will not know anything about that and he or she won't be able to help. Of course, I would love to be wrong.

I hope they find a solution, because this laptop should last more than three years for me, and I work with it all day with my monitors. I cannot work with that crazy noise coming from the fans. My previous MBP 13" i7 wasn't loud at all (it had other issues, like that stupid butterfly keyboard that I needed to change three times, btw). It is very sad that a more powerful computer behaves like this.

In my case this issue could be finally a reason to get back to a Linux PC laptop after 17 years with MacOS, and the last 4 with unexpected issues with Macs (failing keyboards, poor battery life, motherboard replacements...). I still have some hope, but I am too tired of this.

100 points for MacDeivid ! Perfectly described this piece of hardware.

Because for me "powerful" means that a computer that is at 7% of CPU shouldn't be **** hot just because I have more than one screen connected, and this is what actually happens.

This was probably the last Apple machine I bought. Until now I was a loyal customer for around 25 years.

I sold a quiet MacBook Pro 13" and bought an 16" for only one reason : my eyesight is getting worse and I'm not always in the occasion to use an external monitor.

I solved that problem with a bigger screen 16". But now I'm stuck with a very noisy machine, I need an external screen.

How were your Dell U2717Ds connected?

Connected via a USB-C to MiniDisplay Port adapter and a MiniDisplay Port connector to my (single) U2717D, I ran a test with a full screen HD video playing on the Dell monitor and web surfing on the built-in display (so two screens total) on my MBP16 with 5500M, I never saw my fans go over 2400 RPM in the 40 or so minutes I ran the test.

I've not known others with a U2717D to give this a try, but if you have a USB-C to MDP adapter and MDP cable, maybe you could give it a shot.

Oh, true ! I didn't test it with 2 external monitors in clamshell as I have a 43" LG monitor that is sufficient for my needs. And, again, I want to be able to use it with the internal display open without having the fans' turning crazy :-)

Right now I am using a DP-->USBC direct cable with no adaptors for the U2717D and a Thunderbolt-->Thunderbolt cable for the U4320Q. I also tried HDMI-->HDMI cable with USBC adaptor (Apple original and also tried with an Aukey) for the U2717D, but no luck. It is true that the cable DP-->USBC improved a little bit compared with the HDMI, but getting an average of 3.8K rpm with low CPU usage (with HDMI I was most of the time close to 5K rpm), so still having the fan issue.

By the way, in your case, 2.4K rpm is a success considering all these issues, but I still think it is too much if your laptop is not "working seriously" in CPU. Maybe I should try with MDP like you instead of DisplayPort, but I already spent too much money on this between adaptors and cables (not even thinking about how much money the laptop is), and I think it's time to ask Apple for their recommendation/solution.

In my opinion this is clearly kind of an issue to solve by Apple. I wanted to see if it's just a Catalina thing by downgrading to Mojave, but my MBP 16" came with Catalina and couldn't downgrade easily (and I cannot force a downgrade to test because it is my work laptop and shouldn't install whatever I want). My last hope is that new Big Sur drivers could solve the issue when released, because to be honest I don't see here a solution for the next couple of months.

In my case even in clamshell mode if I don't change the refresh rate to 144 hertz and I'm not using version 10.15.4 the fans will go crazy, I tried every macOS Catalina available (and future versions as well) and the only one it works for me is 10.15.4 but with a refresh rate of 144 hertz, any other combination and the fans will go crazy in less than 5 minutes.

MacDeivid wrote:

By the way, in your case, 2.4K rpm is a success considering all these issues, but I still think it is too much if your laptop is not "working seriously" in CPU. Maybe I should try with MDP like you instead of DisplayPort, but I already spent too much money on this between adaptors and cables (not even thinking about how much money the laptop is), and I think it's time to ask Apple for their recommendation/solution.

I think that's somewhat misguided.

The main complaint about the fans has been them being too loud, and at 2400 RPM the MBP 16's fans are still inaudible; even when putting my head on the unit I couldn't hear anything.

FWIW, it looks like it is no longer made, but this is the adapter I was using with an MDP cable to my U2717D:

Amazon: USB-C to Mini DisplayPort Adapter, ITD ITANDA 4K Thunderbolt 3 to Mini DP Adapter Cable for Apple New MacBook 2017, ChromeBook Pixel Samsung S8(No Thunderbolt 2)

I brought my MBP to the Apple Store in Brussels and, of course, they did nothing else than resetting the computer at its original settings pretending there is no issue with the hardware. This is maybe true but, in my view, there is a conceptual issue with the graphic card handling of external displays.

I have a MBP 16" with 64GB, 1TB SSD and AMD Raedon Pro 5500M 8GB and this computer is not able to have only one external display without going crazy with fans continuously running at 3500+ rmp !!! Even my iPad Pro does a better job while connected to a HDMI external display ! I'll try to get the US Support involved to escalate the whole story back to HQ's in Cupertino.

Thanks for your advices. Yes, I’ve tried everything so far. The only solution is the clamshell mode. However, it is only a workaround because such a machine should be able to behave correctly with one external display and the internal display open at the same time, don’t you think ?

I'm on a 2019 Macbook Pro, 15 inch, with 2.3 GHz 8-core Intel Core i9, 16 GB 2400 MHz DDR, Radeon Pro 560 X 4GB and Intel UHD Graphics 630 1536 graphics. Connected to 49-inch (5120 x 1440) C49RG9x Display.

In Activity Monitor, the WindowServer is constantly at 19-30% CPU usage.

I've done the turn off transparency, turned off the displays have separate spaces.

In Terminal, running log stream --predicate '(process == "WindowServer")' --debug shows, constantly, 10x a second:

2020-08-19 16:52:23.413868-0700 0x524 Debug 0x0 296 0 WindowServer: (CoreDisplay) [com.apple.CoreDisplay:default] [DEBUG] - On display 0x04281006, surface is not detached, CoreDisplay is detached (0x00000000), DetachCode = 0.

What can I do?

Does anyone have feedback using Macs Fan Control solution ?

It seems to be able to manage fan speed - I'm guessing this could be an issue if wrongly set but I'm guessing this could help having a mac slightly hot but still silent. Any ideas ?

more details : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeJNLwtl-TM