MacBook 16-inch Fan Noise

You can't really damage your Mac with this tools. Because Apple has some system-level build in checks, which throttle the cpu to very low frequency. I bought TG PRO and have some custom setups, to throttle the fans while some senors have a given temperature. (I saw a video on youtube: https://youtu.be/EkmdHVfk4XE?t=271)

But in any case, if the system "thinks" it have to cool down the system, i saw it throttled the cpu to 800 Mhz - the Mac is unsuable then. And it took a long time to react with (like run fans faster) such a slow system.

So the trigger the fans to lower speed, is just academic - in real life it doesn't work. You can't cheat the system with it.

Update: TG Pro has a new option "CPU Throttle Fix" in their Software - for the issue off cpu-throttling while lowering fan-speed

"Avoid CPU throttling when lowering fan speeds:

On newer models, especially the T2 based Macs, lowering the fan speeds can cause throttling with the kernel_task process taking all available CPU resources (ex: 900-1000% usage). It seems to be fairly common on the 16-inch MacBook Pro when using the option to completely override the system and have TG Pro always control the fans. This combination is popular (even more if it has the Intel Core i9) since this model likes to run the fans very high (ie: loud), even when the temperatures are fairly low.

Having TG Pro completely control the fans works very well, except now on the newer hardware, if system detects that the thermal values are getting too high for its liking, it will lower the CPU speed and/or cause the kernel_task process to use all available CPU resources. This is why the Mac will suddenly slow down to a crawl until the fan control is given back to the system.

…"

https://www.tunabellysoftware.com/support/tgpro_tutorial/#fan_control_override_completely_avoid_cpu_throttling

Hi all,

I contacted AppleCare and have a case with a senior advisor. It's been escalated to Apple Engineering, who have confirmed that we are seeing a bug, after collecting what felt like countless diagnostic runs and video clips. I haven't been supplied more than that. I encourage everyone else to do the same. Complaining in this echo chamber will not help. There are some workarounds here that may work for those who are willing to compromise on what they thought they were paying for.

I am continuing to see thermal throttle issues on the CPU where it will hit 1GHz, sometimes 0.9GHz. The system becomes unusable at that point. I have been able to replicate significant performance degradation when the CPU and GPU are both being used at load, so the extra 15W from the GPU robs the CPU of performance. The throttle issue seems weird, as I don't see evidence crop up on the temp sensors (with the CPU pegged at 1GHz, it's showing 60c with fans on full) so it looks like another component that's not being cooled properly that seems to be triggering this condition.

I will wait a bit longer with Apple to find out that they're going to do. We're in COVID lockdown, so having the system assessed by a tech is going to be challenging.

Has anyone upgraded to the 5600M and seen the issue disappear? Genuinely interested in that outcome. I spent around $10K AUD on this system (top spec at the time) and for that sort of money, I should not be experiencing these issues, especially when my 15" system worked in the same situation, with the same peripherals etc.

[Edited by Moderator]

Very sad for you

I took the 5600 option even it's very expensive since I was quit sure that with 50W this card was the answer for the particularity if the i9 and the troubles associate with the MacBook Pro

looking forward to see on more hard tasks

but for sue when you start running some benchmarking solution the computer jumped quickly à 100 degres Celcius which look surnatural for me since my old MacBook Pro was unusable after 85 degrees and became crazy just on the hot days of the summer

it woks well with a old Cinema HD Display connected via a Thunderbolt Hub which as go an dual Link DVI connected to it

I experienced some strange issue with just few windows and one with. streaming while connected on the left side and since few week s I moved to the right side and it's ok for me know

i am know on 15.5.6 with it second update which later associate with it !

Not the best silencing experience for a computer but that's not crazy like I can see

Looking forward for more test and work ……

Hi, same problem here. I've just switched from a 27" iMac to a 16" i9 MBP and I'm starting to get quite frustrated ... this machine was bought primarily for music (Logic and Mainstage, mostly) so noise is important to me. If I'm using my external 4k monitor via a USB-C - Displayport cable the fans tend to sit a bit over 4k rpm at very low CPU load (~10%) and it gets worse from there! The situation is definitely better without the external monitor connected, but given the ergonomics of my setup and the money I've spent on the monitor that isn't a great solution.

I'd love it if Apple could come up with a solution to limit usage of the dGPU where it is not really needed, as it seems like that is one of the sources of the problem.

I decided not to pay even though am able to buy again after loosing about 25% what I pid for the machine with Radeon 5500.

Apple need to learn that for such a high price tag we should not be treated as guinea pigs willing to fork out even more money to get a decent piece of hardware/system that does what is supposed to do in the first place. If we continue to just accept they'll simply get used to customers spending ridiculous amounts of money on their faulty or user unfriendly products so please don't do it and those who can RETURN (I understand you can't do it and are left like many others in a limbo with the unwanted product). I've left negative feedback about this laptop wherever I could so new professional customers using external monitors don't fall into the same trap as we did. This is a lesson for me to search on the internet for new product problems before clicking with full confidence Buy button as the hard earned trust from Steve Jobs' times is now completely gone.

Apple should have recalled this product or at least offer FREE of charge upgrades for our wasted time, loss of value and most importantly frustration caused to us. Instead they choose to avoid admitting their mistakes and completely ignore us pretending we're at fault imagining the problem. They also know people quickly suffer from amnesia once a new product is released, easily forgetting about past and run to the stores like hipnotised to buy more! Not anymore from me, my clients or friends who I no longer try to peruade to switch to Apple as it's not worth the money/hassle anymore. Their OS X team seem to also be prioritising silly features over stability which has a serious impact on pros (I really loved Snow Leopard that was the best and most robust OS X ever!).

Totally agree!

BTW, I already took the laptop to the Apple Genius and... surprise!! They perfectly reproduced the problem and recognized that there is an issue, so they are completely aware. The answer I got is that this is going to be reported internally to Engineering and we may find a future software update that could solve the issue. But of course, no confirmation and no roadmap.

The only hope about this is that the coming Big Sur update could solve it... but again, there is no certain about a specific solution. In the meantime we will get frustrated with this expensive noisy aluminum laptop.

As an example, yesterday, after 6 hours with my MacBook Pro fans continuously at 5300rpm a kernel task appeared consuming ~1500%CPU and everything started to be slow and impossible to manage. Guess what... disconnecting the monitors did the kernel task disappear.

Thanks MacDeivid!

great to hear they are finally becoming aware

of the heating & fan noise issues plaguing these MacBook Pro 16” laptops!

the Logic Pro community is really being affected with this issue ! Fans ramp up with minimal loads with or without an external monitor. Please keep us updated!

Yeah, I think that we all need to report this to Apple. We spend so much time trying with specific configurations, cables, monitors and others, and what we need is just to report this if we think that is a real problem (which I really think it is). It is not acceptable that this kind of machine behaves like this only because of using external displays.

They won't really do anything until they see that lots of users are finding this issue so they can reproduce it with a specific model.

Wow, so thankful for this thread and to see so many others are experiencing this same issue.

I'd like to report on my unique case. I had a 16" MBPro, used it on my Samsung widescreen monitor everyday, and fans would always go to high speed even on light tasks with the laptop itself heating up as well. Eventually after a few weeks of constant use on the monitor, the USB-C ports on the right side stopped working completely. They would not recognize the Apple charging cable, nor my USB-C cable for the monitor connection. Few days later, all USB-C ports stopped working, computer died, lost all my data.

I returned the computer to Apple. Now I am wondering if I just had a defective piece, or if the overheating just fried the ports? Should I get a 13" MBPro now, seeing that it might not have this issue? Or should I repurchase the same MBPro 16" I had before (i9, 16GBofRAM, 5500 AMD, 1TB)?

Very frustrated that Apple hasn't done anything about this. I am wondering if the 13" will have same issue or not since it doesn't have the AMD GPU chip? Could someone please help?

I also had issues where the USB ports died with my first MBP16 just after 2 day, after that I sold the one with the replaced board and bought another one. No issues with the new one. Just the one everybody is having with the external monitors

Does not resolve the issue. Still after SMC reset the power consumption jumps to 18 watt when the 5500 is going into service with 1920 x 1200. Starting with 1600 x 1200 (same monitor) keeps the power consumption with 4..5 watt. However, this needs to be resolved from Apple.

Thanks for sharing. Do you think it might have been the overheat from the monitor that caused your logic board/usb c ports to fry and die? I’m wondering if that caused the issue for me or if it was just defective. Not sure if I should repurchase a 16 if it will just overheat and fry my logic board again on monitor.

I have had exactly the same experience in Brussels some days back. The only difference is that I left my computer for one day at Apple Store to let them re-install the OS and, of course, it resulted with no solution at all.

So, I'm now in the mood to get them on the phone and try to arrange an replacement with the 5600 instead of the 5500M.

I have a MBP 16", i9, 5500M with 8GB, 64GB RAM and 1TB SSD, so I presume that such a machine should be able to run at least a 2nd screen without warming up and having its fans running continuously at 4500+ RPM's. I think that a EUR 1,250 machine can do that so my EUR 4,500 should also be able to propose me such an experience :-(

There might be a solution with trying different resolutions. The 5500 takes only 4 watt with dualscreen 1600 x 1200 but 18 watt with 1920 x 1200. Same monitors. Standard resolution of the EIZO monitor is 1920 x 1200. I tried 2x EV2455 and in addition 1x EV2457. Same result

A possible solution is to buy an external GPU with liquid cooling and attach via Thunderbolt. I tried with OWC Mercury Helios 650, Powercolor RX 5700 XT and replaced case fan and power supply with respective products from be quiet! But also not a really feasible way - the fanx on the RX 5700 are not under control of the MacBook and start sometimes. And it was again to spend another 1‘000 dollars...

If the 5600 in the 2020 MacBook does not have this defect as all 5500 have I am really would like to switch.